TED-Ed

Explore the history of humanity’s deadliest diseases, and find out how our progress and innovation exposed us to new pathogens.--Since humanity’s earliest days, we’ve been plagued by countless disease-causing pathogens. Invisible and persistent, these microorganisms and the illnesses they incur have killed more humans than anything else in history. But which disease has been the deadliest? Dan Kwa...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-weird-wonderful-world-of-bioluminescence-edith-widderIn the deep, dark ocean, many sea creatures make their own light for hunting, mating and self-defense. Bioluminescence expert Edith Widder was one of the first to film this glimmering world. At TED2011, she brings some of her glowing friends onstage, and shows more astonishing footage of glowing un...

Explore the psychology of decision fatigue, what kinds of choices lead us to this state and what we can do to fight it.--Everything our bodies do— whether physical or mental— uses energy. Studies have found that many individuals seem to have a daily threshold for making decisions, and an extended period of decision-making can lead to cognitive exhaustion. So, what kinds of choices lead us to this...

Explore the data analysis method known as p-hacking, where data is misrepresented as statistically significant.--In 2011, a group of researchers conducted a study designed to find an impossible result. Their study involved real people, truthfully reported data, and commonplace statistical analyses. So how did they do it? The answer lies in a statistical method scientists often use to try to figure...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/want-to-be-happier-stay-in-the-moment-matt-killingsworthWhen are humans most happy? To gather data on this question, Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the surprising results: We're often happiest when we're lost in the moment. And the flip side: The more our mind wanders, the...

Explore how Dutch and British colonization of South Africa led to Apartheid, the strict national policy of racial segregation.--For 46 years, South Africans lived under Apartheid, a strict policy of segregation that barred the country’s Black majority from skilled, high-paying jobs, quality education, voting, and much more. So, how did these laws come to be? And how did this era of institutionaliz...

How do fast-paced video games affect the brain? Step into the lab with cognitive researcher Daphne Bavelier to hear surprising news about how video games, even action-packed shooter games, can help us learn, focus and, fascinatingly, multitask. (Filmed at TEDxCHUV.)Talk by Daphne Bavelier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you have a right to a healthy planet? Dig into the movement to hold governments accountable for climate change inaction.--Since 2015, an unprecedented movement has been sweeping courts around the world. Groups of young plaintiffs are suing their governments for their inaction on tackling climate change. These suits argue that climate inaction violates their basic human rights. But what do human...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/making-a-ted-ed-lesson-synesthesia-and-playing-cardsHow can a pack of playing cards accurately explain the complicated and nuanced neurological condition, synesthesia? TED-Ed animators explain the process of creating an original animation from planning (storyboard and animatic) to fruition, including the special secrets behind this animation (think playd...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/become-a-slam-poet-in-five-steps-gayle-danleyWith enough passion and practice, becoming a slam poet is within your reach. Explore a distant memory on paper, then read it out loud. Edit. Try reading it out loud again, and add your finishing touches. Gayle Danley offers five steps to being a slam poet -- while being downright poetic in the process. Lesson...

Explore the Amazon rainforest’s flying rivers, and dig into why these invisible waterways are essential to life on Earth.--The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, exists between two rivers — but not in the way you might think. At ground level, the Amazon River and its tributaries weave their path. But above the canopy, bigger waterways are on the move. These flying rivers are almost invis...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/euclid-s-puzzling-parallel-postulate-jeff-dekofskyEuclid, known as the "Father of Geometry," developed several of modern geometry's most enduring theorems--but what can we make of his mysterious fifth postulate, the parallel postulate? Jeff Dekofsky shows us how mathematical minds have put the postulate to the test and led to larger questions of how we u...

Explore how sperm whales use an array of complex vocalizations to communicate with each other, hunt, and assess their surroundings. --Soon after whaling ships began operating in the North Pacific, an interesting trend emerged. Within just a few years, whalers saw a 58% drop in their successful strikes. Sperm whales had suddenly become harder to kill— they had begun fleeing the boats instead of for...

Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd--Once every century, the world’s greatest spiders gather to compete in a series of grueling games. The winner will become the next arachnomonarch, able to command all the world’s spiders to their will. That day is today, and for the first time, you’re casting your name into the ring. Can you attain the mantle of spider supremacy? Dan Fin...

Our bodies get Vitamin D from the sun, but as dermatologist Richard Weller suggests, sunlight may confer another surprising benefit too. New research by his team shows that nitric oxide, a chemical transmitter stored in huge reserves in the skin, can be released by UV light, to great benefit for blood pressure and the cardiovascular system. What does it mean? Well, it might begin to explain why Sc...

Dig into common mistakes that tree-planting programs make, and explore strategies that can successfully re-green the planet.--In fighting climate change, few solutions are discussed more than planting lots and lots of trees. It sounds simple enough: trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, so planting more should help eliminate greenhouse gasses. The trouble is, tree planting efforts don’t always wor...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/haptography-digitizing-our-sense-of-touch-katherine-kuchenbeckerCan the sense of touch be harnessed with technology? The field of haptics explores the revolutionary: interactive touch technology. At TEDYouth 2012, Katherine Kuchenbecker discusses how haptics has the potential to change fields as disparate as museums, dentistry, and stroke rehabilitation....

Explore the common scientific theories about why humans laugh, and how this universal behavior evolved.--Isn’t it odd that, when something’s funny, you might show your teeth, change your breathing, become weak and achy in some places, and maybe even cry? In other words, why do we do this bizarre thing that is laughter? Since there’s no archaeological record of laughter, it’s impossible to say exac...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/4-lessons-from-robots-about-being-human-ken-goldbergThe more that robots ingrain themselves into our everyday lives, the more we're forced to examine ourselves as people. At TEDxBerkeley, Ken Goldberg shares four very human lessons that he's learned from working with robots. (Filmed at TEDxBerkeley.)Talk by Ken Goldberg. Learn more about your ad choices....

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/are-we-ready-for-neo-evolution-harvey-finebergMedical ethicist Harvey Fineberg shows us three paths forward for the ever-evolving human species: to stop evolving completely, to evolve naturally -- or to control the next steps of human evolution, using genetic modification, to make ourselves smarter, faster, better. Neo-evolution is within our grasp. What...

Explore the psychology of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and dig into how these forces contribute to our drive.--Motivation is complicated. Psychologists define motivation as the desire or impetus to initiate and maintain a particular behavior. But sometimes, no matter how passionate you are about a goal or hobby, finding the motivation to actually do it can be difficult. Why is motivation so...

Uncover the history of the hidden communities that inhabited the Great Dismal Swamp in North America. --Straddling Virginia and North Carolina is an area that was once described as the “most repulsive of American possessions.” By 1728, it was known as the Great Dismal Swamp. But while many deemed it uninhabitable, recent findings suggest that a hidden society persisted in the Swamp until the mid-1...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/toward-a-new-understanding-of-mental-illness-thomas-inselToday, thanks to better early detection, there are 63% fewer deaths from heart disease than there were just a few decades ago. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, wonders: Could we do the same for depression and schizophrenia? The first step in this new avenue of rese...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-lost-art-of-democratic-debate-michael-sandelDemocracy thrives on civil debate, Michael Sandel says -- but we're shamefully out of practice. He leads a fun refresher, with TEDsters sparring over a recent Supreme Court case (PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin) whose outcome reveals the critical ingredient in justice. Talk by Michael Sandel. Learn more about your...

Dig into the history of poker, from the game’s invention in the American South to its explosion of popularity across the world.--From its earliest incarnations, poker has always been a contest of guile, guts, and gambling. The game first emerged around 1800 in the melting pot of New Orleans, and soon spread up the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers. So, how did this simple game of the American...