TED Talks
Hans Rosling: The magic washing machine
What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. With newly designed graphics from Gapminder, Rosling shows us the magic that pops up when economic growth and electricity...
TED Talks
Parul Sehgal: An ode to envy
What is jealousy? What drives it, and why do we secretly love it? No study has ever been able to capture its "loneliness, longevity, grim thrill" -- that is, says Parul Sehgal, except for fiction. In an eloquent meditation she scours...
TED Talks
Frederic Kaplan: How to build an information time machine
Imagine if you could surf Facebook ... from the Middle Ages. Well, it may not be as far off as it sounds. In a fun and interesting talk, Frederic Kaplan shows off the Venice Time Machine, a project to digitize 80 kilometers of books to...
TED Talks
TED: What happens when you lose everything | David Hoffman
Nine days before TED2008, filmmaker David Hoffman lost almost everything he owned in a fire that destroyed his home, office and 30 years of passionate collecting. He looks back at a life that's been wiped clean in an instant -- and looks...
TED Talks
Nathan Myhrvold: Cooking as never seen before
Cookbook author (and geek) Nathan Myhrvold talks about his magisterial work, "Modernist Cuisine" -- and shares the secret of its cool photographic illustrations, which show cross-sections of food in the very act of being cooked.
TED Talks
Michael Sandel: Why we shouldn't trust markets with our civic life
In the past three decades, says Michael Sandel, the US has drifted from a market economy to a market society; it's fair to say that an American's experience of shared civic life depends on how much money they have. (Three key examples:...
TED Talks
Neil Pasricha: The 3 A's of awesome
Neil Pasricha's blog 1000 Awesome Things savors life's simple pleasures, from free refills to clean sheets. In this heartfelt talk, he reveals the 3 secrets (all starting with A) to leading a life that's truly awesome.
Crash Course
The Parable of the Sower: Crash Course Literature 406
This week, John is teaching you about the near-future dystopia in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. Parable of the Sower tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina, and her life growing up in a post-climate change, semi-lawless America....
TED Talks
Daniel Bögre Udell: How to save a language from extinction
As many as 3,000 languages could disappear within the next 80 years, all but silencing entire cultures. In this quick talk, language activist Daniel Bögre Udell shows how people around the world are finding new ways to revive ancestral...
TED Talks
Tyler Cowen: Be suspicious of simple stories
Like all of us, economist Tyler Cowen loves a good story. But in this intriguing talk, he asks us to step away from thinking of our lives -- and our messy, complicated irrational world -- in terms of a simple narrative.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "Moby Dick"? | Sascha Morrell
A mountain separating two lakes. A room papered floor to ceiling with bridal satins. The lid of an immense snuffbox. These seemingly unrelated images take us on a tour of a sperm whale's head in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." Though the...
TED Talks
JP Rangaswami: Information is food
How do we consume data? At TED@SXSWi, technologist JP Rangaswami muses on our relationship to information, and offers a surprising and sharp insight: we treat it like food.
Crash Course
World War II Civilians and Soldiers: Crash Course European History
Our look at World War II continues with a closer examination of just how the war impacted soldiers in the field, and the people at home. For many of the combatants, the homefront and the warfront were one and the same. The war disrupted...
MinuteEarth
Hyena Butter: Everything You Did And Didn't Want To Know
Hyenas communicate via an information-dense physical medium (hyena butter) - and now MinuteEarth does too (book).
TED Talks
TED: How I'm discovering the secrets of ancient texts | Gregory Heyworth
Gregory Heyworth is a textual scientist; he and his lab work on new ways to read ancient manuscripts and maps using spectral imaging technology. In this fascinating talk, watch as Heyworth shines a light on lost history, deciphering...
TED Talks
Laura Snyder: The Philosophical Breakfast Club
In 1812, four men at Cambridge University met for breakfast. What began as an impassioned meal grew into a new scientific revolution, in which these men -- who called themselves “natural philosophers” until they later coined “scientist”...
TED Talks
Christien Meindertsma: How pig parts make the world turn
Christien Meindertsma, author of "Pig 05049" looks at the astonishing afterlife of the ordinary pig, parts of which make their way into at least 185 non-pork products, from bullets to artificial hearts.
SciShow
Let me consult the codex. | Tangents Clip #shorts #SciShow #SciShowTangents
Let me consult the codex. | Tangents Clip #shorts #SciShow #SciShowTangents
Be Smart
Thomas Jefferson and The Giant Moose
America's first great science battle wasn't the space race or the atom bomb, it was fought between Thomas Jefferson, a French nobleman, and in the middle a giant moose. Some people call Jefferson our only scientist-President, and T.J....
TED Talks
TED: My year reading a book from every country in the world | Ann Morgan
Ann Morgan considered herself well read -- until she discovered the "massive blindspot" on her bookshelf. Amid a multitude of english and American authors, there were very few books from beyond the english-speaking world. So she set an...
TED Talks
Chip Kidd: The art of first impressions -- in design and life
Book designer Chip Kidd knows all too well how often we judge things by first appearances. In this hilarious, fast-paced talk, he explains the two techniques designers use to communicate instantly -- clarity and mystery -- and when, why...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read Kurt Vonnegut? - Mia Nacamulli
Kurt Vonnegut found the tidy, satisfying arcs of many stories at odds with reality, and he set out to explore the ambiguity between good and bad fortune in his own novels. He tried to make sense of human behavior by studying the shapes...
SciShow
Why Do Old Books Smell So Good?
Musty, with hints of vanilla, coffee, and maybe fresh cut grass-- why do old books smell the best?