TED Talks
Neil Turok: My wish: Find the next Einstein in Africa
Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, physicist Neil Turok speaks out for talented young Africans starved of opportunity: by unlocking and nurturing the continent's creative potential, we can create a change in Africa's future.
PBS
The Weird, Watery Tale of Spinosaurus
In 1912, a fossil collector discovered some strange bone fragments in the eerie, beautiful Cretaceous Bahariya rock formation of Egypt. Eventually, that handful of fossil fragments would reveal to scientists one of the strangest...
TED Talks
TED: If a story moves you, act on it | Sisonke Msimang
Stories are necessary, but they're not as magical as they seem, says writer Sisonke Msimang. In this funny and thoughtful talk, Msimang questions our emphasis on storytelling and spotlights the decline of facts. During a critical time...
TED Talks
Julius Maada Bio: A vision for the future of Sierra Leone
When Julius Maada Bio first seized political power in Sierra Leone in 1996, he did so to improve the lives of its citizens. But he soon realized that for democracy to flourish, its foundation needs to be built on the will of the people....
SciShow
The World's Next Ocean
A volcanic eruption and series of earthquakes in 2005 were important not because they did a great deal of damage to humans, but because they’re geologic evidence of where Earth’s next ocean will most likely pop up.
SciShow
Bananas Are Losing the War on Fungus
The Gros Michel banana lost the battle with fungus in the 1950s, but was replaced by the Cavendish. This time we might not have a new banana to come to the rescue. Could this be the end of bananas?
TED Talks
Jacqueline Novogratz: A third way to think about aid
The debate over foreign aid often pits those who mistrust "charity" against those who mistrust reliance on the markets. Jacqueline Novogratz proposes a middle way she calls patient capital, with promising examples of entrepreneurial...
TED Talks
TED: Could this laser zap malaria? | Nathan Myhrvold
Nathan Myhrvold and team's latest inventions -- as brilliant as they are bold -- remind us that the world needs wild creativity to tackle big problems like malaria. And just as that idea sinks in, he rolls out a live demo of a new,...
TED Talks
TED: How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | Steve Boyes
Navigating territorial hippos and active minefields, TED Fellow Steve Boyes and a team of scientists have been traveling through the Okavango Delta, Africa's largest remaining wetland wilderness, to explore and protect this near-pristine...
SciShow
The 3 Coolest Things Built By Bugs
Long before there were strip malls, skyscrapers, and combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bells, nature had its own architects: all kinds of creatures create all kinds of structures for living, raising offspring, or maybe just the occasional...
TED Talks
Jacqueline Novogratz: Invest in Africa's own solutions
Jacqueline Novogratz applauds the world's heightened interest in Africa and poverty, but argues persuasively for a new approach.
TED Talks
Bill Clinton: My wish: Rebuilding Rwanda
Accepting the 2007 TED Prize, Bill Clinton asks for help in bringing health care to Rwanda -- and the rest of the world.
SciShow
Hyenas Once Lived in the Frigid Arctic
Prehistoric teeth prove that hyenas once roamed the Arctic and the relationship between ancient crocodiles and climate is more complicated than we thought.
TED Talks
TED: How we're using drones to deliver blood and save lives | Keller Rinaudo
Keller Rinaudo wants everyone on earth to have access to basic health care, no matter how hard it is to reach them. With his start-up Zipline, he has created the world's first drone delivery system to operate at national scale,...
SciShow
The Past, Present, and Future of Human Evolution | Compilation
Humanity has changed a lot since the days of our ancestral species, and we have continued evolution to look forward to as well.
TED Talks
Andrew Mwenda: Aid for Africa? No thanks.
In this provocative talk, journalist Andrew Mwenda asks us to reframe the "African question" -- to look beyond the media's stories of poverty, civil war and helplessness and see the opportunities for creating wealth and happiness...
TED Talks
Juliana Rotich: Meet BRCK, Internet access built for Africa
Tech communities are booming all over Africa, says Nairobi-based Juliana Rotich, cofounder of the open-source software Ushahidi. But it remains challenging to get and stay connected in a region with frequent blackouts and spotty Internet...
TED Talks
TED: How we can stop Africa's scientific brain drain | Kevin Njabo
How can Africans find solutions to Africa's problems? Conservation biologist Kevin Njabo tells his personal story of how he nearly became part of the group of African scientists who seek an education abroad and never return -- and why...
SciShow
Coming Soon: 12 Billion People on Earth
SciShow News explains the science behind the latest virus outbreak in the U.S., and examines surprising new predictions about the future of the world’s human population.
TED Talks
TED: How we can help hungry kids, one text at a time | Su Kahumbu
Su Kahumbu raises badass cows -- healthy, well-fed animals whose protein is key to solving a growing crisis in Africa: childhood nutritional stunting. With iCow, a simple SMS service she developed to support small-scale livestock...
TED Talks
TED: A few ways to fix a government | Charity Wayua
Charity Wayua put her skills as a cancer researcher to use on an unlikely patient: the government of her native Kenya. She shares how she helped her government drastically improve its process for opening up new businesses, a crucial part...
TED Talks
TED: You don't need an app for that | Toby Shapshak
Are the simplest phones the smartest? While the rest of the world is updating statuses and playing games on smartphones, Africa is developing useful SMS-based solutions to everyday needs, says journalist Toby Shapshak. In this...
TED Talks
TED: Dragonflies that fly across oceans | Charles Anderson
While living and working as a marine biologist in Maldives, Charles Anderson noticed sudden explosions of dragonflies at certain times of year. He explains how he carefully tracked the path of a plain, little dragonfly called the globe...
TED Talks
TED: Africa's great carbon valley -- and how to end energy poverty | James Irungu Mwangi
Our lives depend on curbing climate change, but so many priorities seem to be in competition. What's the most urgent thing humanity can do right now? Social entrepreneur James Irungu Mwangi tells us why Africa could be the ideal home for...