TED Talks
TED: How your childhood toys tell your life story | Chris Byrne
What was your favorite toy when you were a kid? Your answer might reveal more about you than you expect, says toy historian Chris Byrne. From Matchbox cars and Barbie to Rubik's Cube and Squishmallows, he explores how playthings reflect...
TED Talks
TED: Help discover ancient ruins -- before it's too late | Sarah Parcak
Sarah Parcak uses satellites orbiting hundreds of miles above earth to uncover hidden ancient treasures buried beneath our feet. There's a lot to discover; in the egyptian Delta alone, Parcak estimates we've excavated less than a...
TED Talks
TED: Adventures of an asteroid hunter | Carrie Nugent
TeD Fellow Carrie Nugent is an asteroid hunter -- part of a group of scientists working to discover and catalog our oldest and most numerous cosmic neighbors. Why keep an eye out for asteroids? In this short, fact-filled talk, Nugent...
TED Talks
TED: Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of earth | Zaria Forman
Zaria Forman's large-scale compositions of melting glaciers, icebergs floating in glassy water and waves cresting with foam explore moments of transition, turbulence and tranquility. Join her as she discusses the meditative process of...
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...
TED Talks
TED: The boiling river of the Amazon | Andres Ruzo
When Andres Ruzo was a young boy in Peru, his grandfather told him a story with an odd detail: There is a river, deep in the Amazon, which boils as if a fire burns below it. Twelve years later, after training as a geoscientist, he set...
TED Talks
TED: Photos of Africa, taken from a flying lawn chair | George Steinmetz
George Steinmetz's spectacular photos show Africa from the air, taken from the world's slowest, lightest aircraft. Join Steinmetz to discover the surprising historical, ecological and sociopolitical patterns that emerge when you go low...
TED Talks
Sophal Ear: Escaping the Khmer Rouge
TED Fellow Sophal Ear shares the compelling story of his family's escape from Cambodia under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. He recounts his mother's cunning and determination to save her children.
TED Talks
Kitra Cahana: A glimpse of life on the road
As a young girl, photojournalist and TED Fellow Kitra Cahana dreamed about running away from home to live freely on the road. Now as an adult and self-proclaimed vagabond, she follows modern nomads into their homes -- boxcars, bus stops,...
TED Talks
TED: Glow-in-the-dark sharks and other stunning sea creatures | David Gruber
Just a few meters below the waves, marine biologist and explorer-photographer David Gruber discovered something amazing -- a surprising new range of sea creatures that glow in many colors in the ocean's dim blue light. Join his journey...
TED Talks
Munir Virani: Why I love vultures
As natural garbage collectors, vultures are vital to our ecosystem -- so why all the bad press? Why are so many in danger of extinction? Raptor biologist Munir Virani says we need to pay more attention to these unique and misunderstood...
TED Talks
TED: A Saudi, an Indian and an Iranian walk into a Qatari bar ... | Maz Jobrani
Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani takes to the TEDxSummit stage in Doha, Qatar to take on serious issues in the Middle East -- like how many kisses to give when saying “Hi,” and what not to say on an American airplane.
TED Talks
Erin Sullivan: Does photographing a moment steal the experience from you?
When we witness something amazing, many of us instinctively pull out our phones and snap pictures. Is this obsession with photographing everything impacting our experiences? In a meditative talk, Erin Sullivan reflects on how being more...
TED Talks
TED: Hunting for dinosaurs showed me our place in the universe | Kenneth Lacovara
What happens when you discover a dinosaur? Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara details his unearthing of Dreadnoughtus -- a 77-million-year-old sauropod that was as tall as a two-story house and as heavy as a jumbo jet -- and considers how...
TED Talks
TED: Hunting for Peru's lost civilizations -- with satellites | Sarah Parcak
Around the world, hundreds of thousands of lost ancient sites lie buried and hidden from view. Satellite archaeologist Sarah Parcak is determined to find them before looters do. With the 2016 TED Prize, Parcak is building an online...
TED Talks
TED: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa | Nnedi Okorafor
My science fiction has different ancestors -- African ones, says writer Nnedi Okorafor. In between excerpts from her "Binti" series and her novel "Lagoon," Okorafor discusses the inspiration and roots of her work -- and how she opens...
TED Talks
Bill Stone: Inside the world's deepest caves
Bill Stone, a maverick cave explorer who has plumbed Earth's deepest abysses, discusses his efforts to mine lunar ice for space fuel and to build an autonomous robot for studying Jupiter's moon Europa.
TED Talks
TED: How I built a jet suit | Richard Browning
We've all dreamed of flying -- but for Richard Browning, flight is an obsession. He's built an Iron Man-like suit that leans on an elegant collaboration of mind, body and technology, bringing science fiction dreams a little closer to...
TED Talks
Alan Eustace: I leapt from the stratosphere. Here's how I did it
On October 24, 2014, Alan Eustace donned a custom-built, 235-pound spacesuit, attached himself to a weather balloon, and rose above 135,000 feet, from which point he dove to Earth, breaking both the sound barrier and previous records for...
TED Talks
TED: A sci-fi vision of love from a 318-year-old hologram | Monica Byrne
Science fiction writer Monica Byrne imagines rich worlds populated with characters who defy our racial, social and gender stereotypes. In this performance, Byrne appears as a hologram named Pilar, transmitting a story of love and loss...
TED Talks
Yves Rossy: Fly with the Jetman
Strapped to a jet-powered wing, Yves Rossy is the Jetman -- flying free, his body as the rudder, above the Swiss Alps and the Grand Canyon. After a powerful short film shows how it works, Rossy takes the TEDGlobal stage to share the...
TED Talks
TED: To raise brave girls, encourage adventure | Caroline Paul
Gutsy girls skateboard, climb trees, clamber around, fall down, scrape their knees, get right back up -- and grow up to be brave women. Learn how to spark a little productive risk-taking and raise confident girls with stories and advice...
TED Talks
TED: Why I'm rowing across the Pacific | Roz Savage
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,...
TED Talks
TED: What time is it on Mars? | Nagin Cox
Nagin Cox is a first-generation Martian. As a spacecraft engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cox works on the team that manages the united States' rovers on Mars. But working a 9-to-5 on another planet -- whose day is 40...