TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Should you be suing your government? | Shannon Odell
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...
TED Talks
TED: The case for a new Great Migration in the US | Charles M. Blow
Social progress in the United States often seems to take two steps forward and one step back, with hard-fought civil rights wins countered by a seemingly inevitable backlash. In this spirited talk, writer Charles M. Blow makes the case...
TED Talks
TED: Democracy works — we just need better leaders | Lindiwe Mazibuko
South Africa transitioned to democracy in the 1990s with a visionary constitution, but the promises of that constitution are largely unfulfilled to this day. Public leader Lindiwe Mazibuko explores how poor leadership failed to deliver a...
TED Talks
TED: Can we hack photosynthesis to feed the world? | Steve Long
Photosynthesis is one of the most important processes on the planet, helping produce the food we eat and the air we breathe. Crop scientist Steve Long thinks it could be more efficient — and he's intent on giving it a boost. He shows how...
TED Talks
TED: The secret perks of driving electric | Cynthia Williams
Electric vehicles need to be more than just eco-friendly — they have to be more chic, convenient and affordable than their gas-powered alternatives, says sustainability leader Cynthia Williams. She explores what it'll take for an...
TED Talks
TED: Why you should ditch deadly fossil-fuel appliances | Donnel Baird
In the US, people spend the overwhelming majority of their time inside buildings that burn fossil fuels, which are bad for both the environment and human health. (Think: breathing in air pollution from gas stoves, furnaces and water...
TED Talks
TED: Is technology our savior — or our slayer? | Ruha Benjamin
When it comes to technology, we're often presented with two contrasting visions of the future: one where technology fulfills all our desires, and another where it leads to chaos and conflict. Sociologist Ruha Benjamin is here with a more...
TED Talks
TED: My quest to end the horror of gun violence in the US | Lucy McBath
US Congresswoman Lucy McBath has made it her mission to seek bipartisan solutions for gun safety, leading the way in sponsoring so-called "red flag" laws that prevent gun violence and mass shootings. In a searing and timely talk, she...
TED Talks
TED: Meet methane, the invisible climate villain | Marcelo Mena
A landfill on fire doesn't only emit a horrid stench — it has devastating consequences for the environment, too. The culprit is methane, an often underestimated greenhouse gas produced in large part by food systems, organic waste and...
TED Talks
TED: AI is dangerous, but not for the reasons you think | Sasha Luccioni
AI won't kill us all — but that doesn't make it trustworthy. Instead of getting distracted by future existential risks, AI ethics researcher Sasha Luccioni thinks we need to focus on the technology's current negative impacts, like...
TED Talks
TED: The ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Ukraine | Oleksandra Matviichuk
How do we defend people's freedom and dignity against authoritarianism, when the "law of war" doesn't seem to apply anymore? In the face of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, human rights lawyer and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk...
TED Talks
TED: A cleaner world could start in a rice field | Jim Whitaker and Jessica Whitaker Allen
Rice is the world's largest food source — and it's also a massive emitter of methane gas, a key contributor to climate change. Fifth-generation rice farmer Jim Whitaker and his daughter, farmer and conservationist Jessica Whitaker Allen,...
TED Talks
TED: How to make learning as addictive as social media | Luis von Ahn
When technologist Luis von Ahn was building the popular language-learning platform Duolingo, he faced a big problem: Could an app designed to teach you something ever compete with addictive platforms like Instagram and TikTok? He...
TED Talks
TED: How business can drive solutions to social problems | Carlos Rodríguez-Pastor
Driven by the belief that businesses can — and should — invest in the communities around them, Intercorp founder and philanthropist Carlos Rodríguez-Pastor has built schools, pharmacies and a literal bridge to better serve Peru's growing...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The largest river on Earth is actually in the sky | Iseult Gillespie
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...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The diseases that changed humanity forever | Dan Kwartler
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...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to make smart decisions more easily | TED-Ed
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....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why did the US try to kill all the bison? | Andrew C. Isenberg
By the mid-1700s, many Plains nations survived on North America’s largest land mammals: bison. They ate its meat, made the hides into winter coats and blankets, and used the bones and horns for tools. But in the following decades,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What really killed the dinosaurs? (It wasn’t just the asteroid) | Sean P. S. Gulick
Sixty-six million years ago, near what’s now the Yucatán Peninsula, a juvenile sauropod feasted on horsetail plants on a riverbank. Earth was a tropical planet. Behemoth and tiny dinosaurs alike soared its skies and roamed its lands...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The dark history of werewolves | Craig Thomson
Stories of werewolves have existed for thousands of years and continue to live on today. They're especially prominent in European literature and folklore, and often found in cultures where the wolf is the largest natural predator. Over...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to overcome your mistakes | TED-Ed
People often describe failure as a teachable moment— a necessary stumble on our way to improvement. But learning from our mistakes isn't always easy, especially when those failures are demoralizing, overwhelming, or just downright...
TED Talks
TED: How stem cells orchestrate healing — and how to speed it up | Kevin Stone
From synthetic embryos to lab-grown skin, we live in a brave new world of stem cell advances. So why can it still take years to recover from injury? Orthopedic surgeon Kevin Stone is working to accelerate the body's healing response so...
TED Talks
TED: Unions for climate action! | Payton M. Wilkins
In the long term, shutting down a coal mine means cleaner air and a healthier environment — but in the short term, it can devastate a community or family that relied on the mine's paychecks to make ends meet. Environmental justice...
TED Talks
TED: We actually have a shot at stopping the climate crisis | Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
How is the US going to reach net zero by 2050? That's the question Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, director of the Office of Science for the US Department of Energy, is urgently trying to answer. She shares the thinking behind what her team is...