It turns out that dogs are born with a lot of their ability to interact with people, and songbirds have to mute their minds to stay in sync during their quick back and forth duets.

Tango, waltz, foxtrot ... these classic ballroom dances quietly perpetuate an outdated idea: that the man always leads and the woman always follows. That's an idea worth changing, say Trevor Copp and Jeff Fox, as they demonstrate their...

Hank shares the nuts-and-bolts of the world’s first robot swarm, and explains what the creepy, cute and extinct animal known as Hallucigenia can teach us about evolution.

You're sitting on the couch, when you hear a knock on the door. The police have arrived to arrest your spouse— for murder. This accusation comes as a total shock, but their fingerprints were found on the murder weapon. Your spouse...

Princess Savitri was benevolent, brilliant, and bright. Her grace was known throughout the land, and many princes and merchants flocked to her family's palace to seek her hand in marriage. But upon witnessing her blinding splendor in...

In the insect world, there are few creatures as gentle and innocent as a butterfly. And yet, some butterflies have… an unexpected side to them.

It's leap year time... so what are years, anyway? And what do they have to do with the supermassive black hole in the core of the milky way?

Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it -- and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections.

About 10% of people who go through a traumatic experience end up developing PTSD. But one of the most common medications might actually be able to prevent it before PTSD develops.

Discover more types of non-Mendelian inheritance such as incomplete dominance and codominance with the Amoeba Sisters!

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...

Climate doom-ism, or a pessimistic outlook on the future of the planet, rivals climate denialism in holding up the fight against climate change, says activist Zahra Biabani. Illuminating how hope combats inaction, she takes us inside the...

What's the Best Way to Teach Science?

You've just been injured, and you're on the way home from an hour of physical therapy. The last thing you want to do on your own is confusing exercises that take too long to show results. TED Fellow Cosmin Mihaiu demos a fun, cheap...

Subliminal advertising would be every advertiser’s perfect fantasy and every consumer’s worst nightmare… if it really worked.

Thanks to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project and the Space Telescope Science Institute for supporting this video.



This video is about the line between Brown dwarfs and gas giant planets (aka...

During our Film History and Production series, we talked about how Film is an "Illusion of Reality." That filmmakers use shots, cuts, and narrative structure to trick us into believing what we're seeing. But, what happens when that...

Picture this: you're working a shift in a hotel lobby when someone approaches the front desk. They found a lost wallet around the corner, but they're in a rush and don't have time to follow up. Looking at the wallet you see it contains a...

In the year leading up to this talk, the web tool Twitter exploded in size (up 10x during 2008 alone). Co-founder Evan Williams reveals that many of the ideas driving that growth came from unexpected uses invented by the users themselves.

With help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains how movements really get started. (Hint: it takes two.)

They're slippery. They're slithery. And while they totally look like underwater snakes, eels are, in fact, unique fish that can breathe through their skin and even survive out of water. James Prosek tracks the life journey of Eli the...

Gamma-ray bursts are not only incredible to study, but their discovery has an epic story all its own. Today Phil takes you through some Cold War history and then dives into what we know. Bursts come in two rough varieties: Long and...

Globalization is on its deathbed, says economist Mike O'Sullivan. The question now is: What's next? Tracing the historical successes and failures of globalization, O'Sullivan forecasts a new world order where countries come together over...

Brown dwarfs are celestial oddballs, and recently one citizen scientist discovered one that is truly ancient, and weird.