Call it "fuel without fossils": Jonathan Trent is working on a plan to grow new biofuel by farming micro-algae in floating offshore pods that eat wastewater from cities. Hear his team's bold vision for Project OMEGA (Offshore Membrane...

There's an organism that changed the world. It caused the first mass extinction in Earth's history and also paved the way for complex life. How? Anusuya Willis explains how cyanobacteria, simple organisms that don't even have nuclei or...

As a young scientist, Catherine Mohr was on her dream scuba trip -- when she put her hand right down on a spiny sea urchin. While a school of sharks circled above. What happened next? More than you can possibly imagine. Settle in for...

Five years ago, Roz Savage quit her high-powered London job to become an ocean rower. She's crossed the Atlantic solo, and just started the third leg of a Pacific solo row, the first for a woman. Why does she do it? Hear her reasons,...

Victor Vescovo is leading the first-ever manned expedition to the deepest point of each of the world's five oceans. In conversation with TED science curator David Biello, Vescovo discusses the technology that's powering the explorations...

2022 is looking like a great year for space exploration! Let's dig into three of the missions that we're really excited to watch unfold!

Today's oceans are full of fish with fins that couldn't evolve into limbs like ours. So, who are our ancestors and where did they go?

The Sun is getting brighter and the planets in our solar system that are habitable are changing.

When Sue Austin got a power wheelchair, she felt a tremendous sense of freedom -- yet others looked at her as though she had lost something. In her art, she conveys the spirit of wonder she feels wheeling through the world. Includes...

Penguins are odd birds. For one, they cannot fly (but they are amazing swimmers), and, contrary to popular belief, the majority of penguin populations live in warmer regions. But these beloved birds are in danger, with populations...

Hank talks about a few - maybe crazy, maybe reasonable - geoengineering schemes that some scientists have come up with in order to "fix" climate change, including designer clouds, ocean fertilization, and stratospheric shading with...

Artist Dianna Cohen shares some tough truths about plastic pollution in the ocean and in our lives -- and some thoughts on how to free ourselves from the plastic gyre.

Hank tells us four incredible things about Jupiter's sixth moon, Europa.

In the 13th century, Genghis Khan embarked on a mission to take over Eurasia, swiftly conquering countries and drawing them into his empire. But, legend has it that there was one obstacle that even he couldn't overcome: a towering wall...

When he was young, artist Shih Chieh Huang loved taking toys apart and perusing the aisles of night markets in Taiwan for unexpected objects. Today, this TED Fellow creates madcap sculptures that seem to have a life of their own—with...

Even as the Deepwater Horizon tragedy unfolded, Carl Safina took the stage at TEDxOilSpill to share what the facts were known at the time. In a blood-boiling cross-examination, he suggests that the consequences will stretch far beyond...

SciShow Space has a disaster movie pitch for Hollywood: what would happen if the earth stopped spinning?

Why Does Earth Have Deserts? For the same reason it has Rainforests: Hadley Cells!!!

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that our climate is changing, Earth is getting warmer, sea levels are rising, and it's primarily because of humans putting lots of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Whether you already trust in the...

In this collection of classic MinuteEarth videos, we answer the question "why are you the way that you are?"

Want to learn more about the topic in this week's video? Here are some key words/phrases to get your googling started: - extreme weather - Conditions and events that occur with low frequency, but which often have significant impact on...

Earth's ocean water is continuous. How can we divide it into sections that are more useful?

Mike Gil spies on fish: using novel multi-camera systems and computer vision technology, the TED Fellow and his colleagues explore how coral reef fish behave, socialize and affect their ecosystems. Learn more about how fish of different...

In five billion years, the Sun's going to evolve into a red giant. That's bad news for Earth, but exciting for some of the worlds a little farther out.