TED Talks
Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Dare to educate Afghan girls
Imagine a country where girls must sneak out to go to school, with deadly consequences if they get caught learning. This was Afghanistan under the Taliban, and traces of that danger remain today. 22-year-old Shabana Basij-Rasikh runs a...
TED Talks
TED: Stories from a home for terminally ill children | Kathy Hull
To honor and celebrate young lives cut short, Kathy Hull founded the first freestanding pediatric palliative care facility in the United States, the George Mark Children's House. Its mission: to give terminally ill children and their...
TED Talks
Catherine Mohr: The tradeoffs of building green
In a short, funny, data-packed talk at TED U, Catherine Mohr walks through all the geeky decisions she made when building a green new house -- looking at real energy numbers, not hype. What choices matter most? Not the ones you think.
TED Talks
TED: The dangers of willful blindness | Margaret Heffernan
Gayla Benefield was just doing her job -- until she uncovered an awful secret about her hometown that meant its mortality rate was 80 times higher than anywhere else in the US. But when she tried to tell people about it, she learned an...
SciShow
4 Buildings Too Awesome to Be Real (For Now)
Humans take up a lot of space, but engineers are already coming up with some amazing solutions for the future.
TED Talks
TED: How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer) | Grace Kim
Loneliness doesn't always stem from being alone. For architect Grace Kim, loneliness is a function of how socially connected we feel to the people around us -- and it's often the result of the homes we live in. She shares an age-old...
TED Talks
TED: My Fine Reward | Tito Deler
Blues musician Tito Deler combines the sounds of his New York upbringing with the style of pre-war Mississippi Delta blues. He takes the stage, singing and strumming a stirring rendition of his song, "My Fine Reward."
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.
TED Talks
TED: What security means to me | Eve Ensler
Playwright Eve Ensler explores our modern craving for security -- and why it makes us less secure. Listen for inspiring, heartbreaking stories of women making change.
Crash Course
Gerrymandering: Crash Course Government and Politics
Today Craig is going to talk about a topic that makes voters and politicians alike ANGRY! We're going to talk about Gerrymandering - that is the process in which voting districts are redrawn in a way to favor one party during elections....
Crash Course
Nonexistent Objects & Imaginary Worlds: Crash Course Philosophy
Today we transition between units on language and aesthetics with a discussion of nonexistent and imaginary objects. Is it possible to make true assertions about things that aren’t real? We’ll explore Meinong’s Jungle and the concept of...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What is dust made of? - Michael Marder
Less than a tenth the size of an ant, a dust mite's whole world is contained in the dusty film under a bed or in a forgotten corner. This realm is right under our noses, but from our perspective, the tiny specks of brilliant color blend...
SciShow
The Weird Truth About Arabic Numerals
Hank unravels the fascinating yarn of how the world came to use so-called Arabic numerals -- from the scholarship of ancient Hindu mathematicians, to Muslim scientist Al-Khwarizmi, to the merchants of medieval Italy.
TED Talks
Willard Wigan: Hold your breath for micro-sculpture
Willard Wigan tells the story of how a difficult and lonely childhood drove him to discover his unique ability -- to create art so tiny that it can't be seen with the naked eye. His slideshow of figures, as seen through a microscope, can...
TED Talks
TED: A new way to fund health care for the most vulnerable | Andrew Bastawrous
In 2011, eye surgeon and TED Fellow Andrew Bastawrous developed a smartphone app that brings quality eye care to remote communities, helping people avoid losing their sight to curable or preventable conditions. Along the way, he noticed...
TED Talks
Shih Chieh Huang: Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea
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...
TED Talks
TED: An engineer's vision for tiny forests, everywhere | Shubhendu Sharma
A forest planted by humans, then left to nature's own devices, typically takes at least 100 years to mature. But what if we could make the process happen ten times faster? In this short talk, eco-entrepreneur (and TED Fellow) Shubhendu...
TED Talks
TED: How to use data to make a hit TV show | Sebastian Wernicke
Does collecting more data lead to better decision-making? Competitive, data-savvy companies like Amazon, Google and Netflix have learned that data analysis alone doesn't always produce optimum results. In this talk, data scientist...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Taino myth of the cursed creator | Bill Keegan
Before the world of humans began, there was the world of the gods. Four brothers wandered this celestial realm. One day, the brothers snuck into a spirit's house and spotted a giant gourd hanging in the corner. But as they tried to look...
TED Talks
Mark Forsyth: What's a snollygoster? A short lesson in political speak
Most politicians choose their words carefully, to shape the reality they hope to create. But does it work? Etymologist Mark Forsyth shares a few entertaining word-origin stories from British and American history (for instance, did you...
SciShow
SciShow Talk Show: The Science of Corvids & Dick Cheney Masks
Welcome back to SciShow Talk Show where Hank talks to interesting people about interesting things! In this episode Hank discusses corvids with John Marzluff of the University of Washington.
SciShow
3 Things You May Not Want to Know About Dust Mites
Fair warning: After learning about dust mites, you may never want to sleep in your bed again.
TED Talks
TED: A scientific approach to the paranormal | Carrie Poppy
What's haunting Carrie Poppy? Is it ghosts or something worse? In this talk, the investigative journalist narrates her encounter with a spooky feeling you'll want to warn your friends about and explains why we need science to deal with...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The twins who tricked the Maya gods of death | Ilan Stavans
One day, twin brothers Junajpu and Ixb'alanke discovered their father's hidden ballgame equipment and began to play. Hearing their vigorous game, the lords of the underworld sent a messenger to challenge the boys to a match. Despite the...