TED-Ed

Trace the life cycle of a pair of denim jeans, and discover the labor and environmental costs of this fashion staple.--The first pairs of jeans were designed for durability; denim was constructed as a sturdy weave worn by sailors and miners. But over the course of the 20th century, as the demand for jeans has gone up, their durability has gone down. Today, most pairs last no longer than a year. An...

The disastrous earthquake in Haiti taught humanitarian groups an unexpected lesson: the power of mobile devices to coordinate, inform, and guide relief efforts. At TEDxRC2, Paul Conneally shows extraordinary examples of social media and other new technologies becoming central to humanitarian aid. (Filmed at TEDxRC2.)Talk by Paul Conneally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/parasite-tales-the-jewel-wasp-s-zombie-slave-carl-zimmerThis is stranger than science fiction. The jewel wasp and the cockroach have a disgusting and fascinating parasitic relationship. The jewel wasp stuns the cockroach, and months later, a jewel wasp hatches out of the cockroach. At TEDYouth 2012, Carl Zimmer walks us through how this happens and why i...

Dig into the evolutionary strategy of brood parasitism, where one animal tricks another into rearing its young.--A mother honeyguide has placed its chick into a bee-eater’s nest— puncturing all the other eggs in the nest and leaving only its own hatching alive. Over the following weeks, the host parents devotedly care for the hatchling whose mother murdered their offspring. This is brood parasitis...

Follow Babylonian priestess and businesswoman Beltani as she investigates who is undermining her barley fields and tavern.--It’s 1762 BCE. As dawn breaks in the Babylonian city of Sippar, Beltani— a priestess and businesswoman— receives an urgent visit from her brother. He makes a troubling accusation: her tavern keeper has been undermining the business Beltani relies on in her old age. Now she ha...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/surviving-a-nuclear-attack-irwin-redlenerThe face of nuclear terror has changed since the Cold War, but disaster-medicine expert Irwin Redlener reminds us the threat is still real. He looks at some of history's farcical countermeasures and offers practical advice on how to survive an attack. Talk by Irwin Redlener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

A group of adventurers has broken into your lair. Can you figure out who the cleric is before they start casting spells?--Yet another party of adventurers has broken into your lair to slay your minions and steal your treasures. Judging by the trail of destruction, you’re up against a fighter, a rogue, and a cleric. The first two won’t be a problem for a powerful necromancer like you— but the cleri...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-coming-neurological-epidemic-gregory-petskoBiochemist Gregory Petsko makes a convincing argument that, in the next 50 years, we'll see an epidemic of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's, as the world population ages. His solution: more research into the brain and its functions. Talk by Gregory Petsko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...

Dig into W.W. Jacobs’ horror story, “The Monkey’s Paw,” about an artifact that grants wishes — with great consequences.--Sergeant-Major Morris regaled his friends with epic tales from faraway lands— until one asked about an artifact the Sergeant had alluded to. Slowly, he produced the object: a mummified monkey’s paw. He explained that a holy man had imbued the paw with the power to grant three wi...

Take a look at the US supply chain to explore the three main reasons why medications like insulin are so expensive.--A century after its discovery, insulin remain essential in treating diabetes, and has a relatively low production cost, with a vial generally costing less than $6 to make. But those in the US pay on average 10 times more than those in other countries— leading some patients to take l...

Todd Humphreys forecasts the near-future of geolocation when millimeter-accurate GPS "dots" will enable you to find pin-point locations, index-search your physical possessions ... or to track people without their knowledge. And the response to the sinister side of this technology may have unintended consequences of its own. (Filmed at TEDxAustin.)Talk by Todd Humphreys. Learn more about your ad ch...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/slowing-down-time-in-writing-film-aaron-sitzeCertain moments in our lives seem to last forever. Whether it is a first kiss or a car crash, time can can seem to stretch...or even stop. Aaron Sitze explains how this sensation is conveyed in cinema and how the same conventions can be used to slow down time in your writing. Lesson by Aaron Sitze, animation b...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mysteries-of-vernacular-keister-jessica-oreck-and-rachael-teelOriginally meaning a woven container, the word keister has roots all over the place. The devil's tool box? Sure. A safe? That too. So, how did it become associated with the buttocks? Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel get to the bottom of the word keister. Lesson by Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel,...

Explore what makes polio so dangerous, what is causing the 21st century resurgence of cases, and how we can eradicate the disease.--In 1952, polio was everywhere: killing or paralyzing roughly half a million people annually. Yet just 10 years later, paralytic polio cases in the US dropped by 96% and we were on track to get rid of polio for good. But in recent years, the virus started striking back...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-facebook-and-the-flu-have-in-common-marc-sametFrom social media to massive financial institutions, we live within a web of networks. But how do they work? How does Googling a single word provide millions of results? Marc Samet investigates how these networks keep us connected and how they remain "alive."Lesson by Marc Samet, animation by Thinkmore S...

Dig into the science of how kidney transplants work, how donors are matched and find out how this surgery saves lives.--In 1954, Joseph Murray attempted a type of kidney swap that no doctor had tried before. The surgery was a success, and the patient would go on to live with the transplanted organ thanks to one key factor: it came from his identical twin. 70 years later, nearly 100,000 kidneys are...

Uncover the hidden history of the building of Mount Rushmore, and how its creation destroyed sacred Native American land.--Between 1927 and 1941, workers blasted 450,000 tons of rock from a mountainside using chisels, jackhammers, and dynamite. Gradually, they carved out Mount Rushmore. Today, the monument draws nearly 3 million people to South Dakota’s Black Hills every year. But its façade belie...

Dive into the incredible flying capabilities of squids, and how they use flight as a survival tactic.--In 1947, explorers noticed a strange phenomenon while crossing the Pacific Ocean. Somehow, small squid known to live deep beneath the waves kept appearing on the roof of their boat. The crew was mystified— until they saw the squids soaring above the sea for roughly 50 meters. How and why do these...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/rapid-prototyping-google-glass-tom-chiRapid prototyping is a method used to accelerate the innovation process. At TEDYouth 2012, Tom Chi explains how this method was used to create one of Google's newest inventions, Google Glass. Talk by Tom Chi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig into the history of the Armenian Genocide, during which the Ottoman Empire killed over 1 million Armenians during WWI.--When an Armenian resistance movement began to form in the 19th century, Sultan Abdul Hamid II took decisive action. He led the Hamidian Massacres— a relentless campaign of violence that killed over 150,000 Armenians. These massacres were the culmination of centuries of oppres...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/learning-from-past-presidents-doris-kearns-goodwinHistorian Doris Kearns Goodwin talks about what we can learn from American presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson. Then she shares a moving memory of her own father and of their shared love of baseball. Talk by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

Puzzle through this classic ethical dilemma and decide: is community safety more important than individual privacy?--Your government has introduced a plan to address record-breaking rates of traffic tickets and deadly hovercar accidents. They propose assigning “driver credit scores” to every citizen, but would need to install cameras and microphones in every vehicle. While it would make the roads...

After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. In this talk, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately -- all for free. (Filmed at TEDxCMU.)Talk by Luis von Ahn. Learn mor...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-set-the-table-anna-postCan't remember where your soup spoon ought to go? What about your salad fork? Knowing how to set a traditional table can seem like antiquated etiquette -- but it can come in handy! Anna Post, great-great-granddaughter of etiquette expert Emily Post, shows how to set a table with a plate full of tips and tricks to boot (even...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/digging-for-humanity-s-origins-louise-leakeyLouise Leakey asks, "Who are we?" The question takes her to the Rift Valley in Eastern Africa, where she digs for the evolutionary origins of humankind -- and suggests a stunning new vision of our competing ancestors. Talk by Louise Leakey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices