TED-Ed

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-tornadoes-form-james-spannUploaded 19-08-14Tornadoes are the most violent storms on Earth, with wind velocities that can exceed 200 miles per hour. How do these terrifying cyclones form? Meteorologist James Spann sheds light on the lifespan of tornadoes as they go from supercell thunderstorms to terrible twisters before eventually dissolving back...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 14-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-truth-about-electroconvulsive-therapy-ect-helen-m-farrellIn 1982, a young nurse was suffering from severe, unrelenting depression. She couldn’t work, socialize or concentrate. One controversial treatment changed everything: after two courses of elec...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-past-present-and-future-of-the-bubonic-plague-sharon-n-dewitteUploaded 18-08-14The bubonic plague, which killed around 1/5 of the world’s population in the 14th century, is still around today -- but it now claims only a few thousand lives each year. How did that number shrink so drastically? Sharon N. DeWitte investigates the causes and effects of th...

Find out how students can share their ideas as TED Talks here: http://bit.ly/2zpAQUcUploaded 15-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-myth-of-pandora-s-box-iseult-gillespiePandora was the first mortal woman, breathed into being by Hephaestus, god of fire. The gods gave her gifts of language, craftsmanship and emotion. From Zeus she received two gifts: the trait of curiosity and a h...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-you-know-you-exist-james-zuckerUploaded 14-08-14How do you know you’re real? Is existence all just a big dream? Has some mad scientist duped us into simply believing that we exist? James Zucker investigates all of these questions (and more) in this mind-boggling tribute to René Descartes’s "Meditations on First Philosophy."Lesson by James Zucker,...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 17-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-mongolian-queen-anne-f-broadbridgeAs dawn breaks over a moveable city of ten thousand yurts, Queen Boraqchin readies her kingdom for departure to their summer camping grounds. While her husband, the grandson of Genghis Khan, is ou...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-optical-illusions-trick-your-brain-nathan-s-jacobsUploaded 12-08-14Optical illusions are images that seem to trick our minds into seeing something different from what they actually are. But how do they work? Nathan S. Jacobs walks us through a few common optical illusions and explains what these tricks of the eye can tell us about how our brains asse...

Sign up for our newsletter and never miss an animation: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterUploaded 22-01-19View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-should-you-read-fahrenheit-451-iseult-gillespieRay Bradbury’s novel imagines a world where books are banned- and possessing, let alone reading them, is forbidden. The protagonist, Montag, is a fireman responsible for destroying what remains. The sto...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-secret-lives-of-baby-fish-amy-mcdermottUploaded 11-08-14Coral reef fish, like the yellow tang surgeonfish, begin life in a fascinating and weird way – as tiny floating larvae! These babies are capable of drifting thousands of miles on ocean currents, far from the reefs where they were born. Amy McDermott describes how these tiny trekkers travel acros...

Explore the science of the groundbreaking technology for editing genes, called CRISPR- Cas9, and how the tool could be used to cure diseases. Uploaded 24-01-19--From the smallest single-celled organism to the largest creatures on Earth, every living thing is defined by its genes. With recent advancements, scientists can change an organism’s fundamental features in record time using gene editing to...

Explore how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics and turn into superbugs, and what scientists are doing to stop it. Uploaded 07-08-14--Right now, you are inhabited by trillions of microorganisms. Many of these bacteria are harmless (or even helpful!), but there are a few strains of ‘super bacteria’ that are pretty nasty -- and they’re growing resistant to our antibiotics. Why is this happening...

You’re a vampire hunter entering the enemy’s lair. Can you outsmart this tricky brainteaser and vanquish the vampires? Uploaded 28-01-19--You’ve stealthily descended into the darkness of a vampire cave, setting a sequence of mirrors as you go. When the sun reaches the right angle in the sky, a beam of light will ricochet along the mirrors, strike a diffuser, and illuminate the great chamber where...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-s-hidden-among-the-tallest-trees-on-earth-wendell-oshiroUploaded 05-08-14When Stephen Sillett was a boy, he took to the forests of Pennsylvania with his brother and grandmother. Looking up into the dense branches and leaves, his curiosity was piqued: What was hidden up there? Wendell Oshiro tells the story of an adult Sillett's bold (if not a little...

Find out why Flannery O’Connor, an American novelist, is known as a master of the grotesque in Southern Gothic literature. Uploaded 29-01-19--Flannery O’Connor scribbled tales of outcasts, intruders and misfits staged in the world she knew best: the American South. She was a master of the grotesque, but her work pushed beyond the purely ridiculous and frightening to reveal the variety and nuance o...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-nurdles-quest-for-ocean-domination-kim-preshoffUploaded 04-08-14Nurdles are the tiny, factory-made pellets that form the raw material for every plastic product that we use, from toys to toothbrushes. And while they look pretty harmless on land, they can really wreak havoc on our oceans. Kim Preshoff details the nurdles' quest for ocean domination, sh...

Dive into the science of ocean currents (including the Global Conveyor Belt current), and find out how climate change affects them. Uploaded 31-01-19--In 1992, a cargo ship carrying bath toys got caught in a storm. Shipping containers washed overboard, and the waves swept 28,000 rubber ducks and other toys into the North Pacific. But they didn’t stick together -- the ducks have since washed up all...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-light-can-teach-us-about-the-universe-pete-edwardsUploaded 31-07-14Humanity has long been looking at the universe and asking the big questions: How did it begin? How will it end? Cosmologists are searching hard for the answers, but where do they even start? The answer is light. Pete Edwards outlines the six unique messages that light carries which,...

An animated interpretation of Safia Elhillo's poem "To Make Use of Water"Uploaded 02-02-19--Watch an interview with the poet here: http://bit.ly/TEDEdSafiaInterviewThis animation is part of our series, "There's a Poem for That," which features animated interpretations of poems both old and new that give language to some of life's biggest feelings. Check out the full series here: http://bit.ly/TEDE...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-coelacanth-a-living-fossil-of-a-fish-erin-eastwoodUploaded 29-07-14The coelacanth, a prehistoric fish that was mistakenly thought to have gone extinct at the same time as the dinosaurs, has managed to stick around our seas for 360 million years. Erin Eastwood details the surprising "back from the dead" discovery of the coelacanth and explains how thi...

An animated interpretation of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken"Uploaded 02-02-19--For an analysis of this poem, watch this video: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFrostAnalysisThis animation is part of our series, "There's a Poem for That," which features animated interpretations of poems both old and new that give language to some of life's biggest feelings. Check out the full series here: http://bit.ly...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-history-of-the-barometer-and-how-it-works-asaf-bar-yosefUploaded 28-07-14A barometer is an instrument that measures air pressure, allowing weather forecasters and scientists to better predict extreme weather events. Despite its incredible usefulness, inventing the barometer was no walk in the park. Asaf Bar-Yosef describes the series of scientists an...

An animated interpretation of William Shakespeare's poem "All the World's a Stage"Uploaded 02-02-19--For an analysis of this poem, watch this video: http://bit.ly/TEDEdShakespeareAnalysisThis animation is part of our series, "There's a Poem for That," which features animated interpretations of poems both old and new that give language to some of life's biggest feelings. Check out the full series h...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/under-the-hood-the-chemistry-of-cars-cynthia-chubbuckUploaded 24-07-14There are over one billion cars in the world right now, getting people from point A to point B. But cars aren't just a mode of transportation; they also teach an excellent lesson in chemistry. Cynthia Chubbuck navigates the intricate chemistry performed in our car engines that keep the...

An animated interpretation of Andrea Gibson's poem "The Nutritionist"--For an interview with the poet, watch this video: http://bit.ly/TEDEdAndreaInterviewThis animation is part of our series, "There's a Poem for That," which features animated interpretations of poems both old and new that give language to some of life's biggest feelings. Check out the full series here: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTheresAP...

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/tededView full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collinsWhen you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks tha...