TED Talks
Robert Full: The sticky wonder of gecko feet
Biologist Robert Full shares slo-mo video of some captivating critters. Take a closer look at the spiny legs that allow cockroaches to scuttle across mesh and the nanobristle-packed feet that let geckos to run straight up walls.
TED Talks
Catherine Mohr: Surgery's past, present and robotic future
Surgeon and inventor Catherine Mohr tours the history of surgery (and its pre-painkiller, pre-antiseptic past), then demos some of the newest tools for surgery through tiny incisions, performed using nimble robot hands. Fascinating --...
TED Talks
Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone?
As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? Sherry Turkle studies how our devices and online personas are redefining human connection and communication -- and asks us to think deeply about the new kinds of...
TED Talks
TED: Can we build AI without losing control over it? | Sam Harris
Scared of superintelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris -- and not just in some theoretical way. We're going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven't yet grappled with the problems...
TED Talks
Charles Elachi: The story behind the Mars Rovers
At Serious Play 2008, Charles Elachi shares stories from NASA's legendary Jet Propulsion Lab -- including tales and video from the Mars Rover project.
TED Talks
Rainer Strack: The workforce crisis of 2030 -- and how to start solving it now
It sounds counterintuitive, but by 2030, many of the world's largest economies will have more jobs than adult citizens to do those jobs. In this data-filled -- and quite charming -- talk, human resources expert Rainer Strack suggests...
TED Talks
TED: Can a robot pass a university entrance exam? | Noriko Arai
Meet Todai Robot, an AI project that performed in the top 20 percent of students on the entrance exam for the university of Tokyo -- without actually understanding a thing. While it's not matriculating anytime soon, Todai Robot's success...
TED Talks
TED: How we'll earn money in a future without jobs | Martin Ford
Machines that can think, learn and adapt are coming -- and that could mean that we humans will end up with significant unemployment. What should we do about it? In a straightforward talk about a controversial idea, futurist Martin Ford...
TED Talks
Robert Full: Learning from the gecko's tail
Biologist Robert Full studies the amazing gecko, with its supersticky feet and tenacious climbing skill. But high-speed footage reveals that the gecko's tail harbors perhaps the most surprising talents of all.
TED Talks
TED: What's it like to be a robot? | Leila Takayama
We already live among robots: tools and machines like dishwashers and thermostats so integrated into our lives that we'd never think to call them that. What will a future with even more robots look like? Social scientist Leila Takayama...
TED Talks
Massimo Banzi: How Arduino is open-sourcing imagination
Massimo Banzi helped invent the Arduino, a tiny, easy-to-use open-source microcontroller that's inspired thousands of people around the world to make the coolest things they can imagine -- from toys to satellite gear. Because, as he...
TED Talks
TED: Why jobs of the future won't feel like work | David Lee
We've all heard that robots are going to take our jobs -- but what can we do about it? Innovation expert David Lee says that we should start designing jobs that unlock our hidden talents and passions -- the things we spend our weekends...
TED Talks
TED: A mini robot -- powered by your phone | Keller Rinaudo
Your smartphone may feel like a friend -- but a true friend would give you a smile once in a while. At TED2013, Keller Rinaudo demos Romo, the smartphone-powered mini robot who can motor along with you on a walk, slide you a cup of...
SciShow
Why Scientists are Giving Robots Human Muscles
Human-robot hybrids are advancing quickly, but the applications aren't just for complete synthetic humans. There's a lot we can learn about ourselves in the process.
TED Talks
Roy Bahat and Bryn Freedman: What is the meaning of work?
Roy Bahat was worried. His company invests in new technology like AI to make businesses more efficient -- but, he wondered, what was AI doing to the people whose jobs might change, go away or become less fulfilling? The question sent him...
SciShow
The Coming Robot Swarms
We might soon be following the logic of animal swarms to help us solve problems like traffic and constructing buildings in dangerous places, like Mars!
SciShow
Building Robot Astronauts
NASA has put out the challenge: can YOU build software for a space robot? Along with that warm fuzzy feeling that you've helped humanity reach for the stars, a cash prize will be awarded to the winners.
SciShow
Does Mars Need The Cloud?
Earlier this year, scientists pitched a mission to bring 'the cloud' to Mars. While this proposal may seem expensive and risky, it's a legitimate idea that could fundamentally change how we plan space missions!
TED Talks
Andrew McAfee: Are droids taking our jobs?
Robots and algorithms are getting good at jobs like building cars, writing articles, translating -- jobs that once required a human. So what will we humans do for work? Andrew McAfee walks through recent labor data to say: We ain't seen...
SciShow
What We Can Learn From 10,000 Pack-Hunting Spiders
Most spiders are solitary creatures, but a few species group up instead, creating giant colonies where they live and hunt together.
TED Talks
Andrew McAfee: What will future jobs look like?
Economist Andrew McAfee suggests that, yes, probably, droids will take our jobs -- or at least the kinds of jobs we know now. In this far-seeing talk, he thinks through what future jobs might look like, and how to educate coming...
SciShow
Space Robots That Hop
Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like to have an army of hopping robots? NASA might bring that dream to life as we explore our solar system.
TED Talks
TED: Why we have an emotional connection to robots | Kate Darling
We're far from developing robots that feel emotions, but we already have feelings towards them, says robot ethicist Kate Darling, and an instinct like that can have consequences. Learn more about how we're biologically hardwired to...
TED Talks
TED: SpaceX's supersized Starship rocket -- and the future of galactic exploration | Jennifer Heldmann
SpaceX's Starship launch vehicle has the potential to explore the solar system in a bold, new -- and supersized -- way. Planetary scientist Jennifer Heldmann talks about how reusable, large-scale spacecraft like Starship could help...