Hyenas communicate via an information-dense physical medium (hyena butter) - and now MinuteEarth does too (book).

One of the internet's favorite pastimes is arguing, but very few of those arguments ever actually go anywhere. It can be frustrating to watch, but scientists have some ideas on why things play out the way they do.

Scientists have successfully created synthetic DNA with twice as many base pairs as normal, with potential implications in medicine, data storage, and even understanding how life could evolve elsewhere in the universe.

Jessi and Squeaks want a way to let their friends know when it's time to play at the Fort, so they work together and use engineering to build a prototype solution!



NGSS: ETS1.A : Defining and Delimiting Engineerin
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You can't help it; sometimes, you just get a bad feeling about someone that's hard to shake. So, what's happening in your brain when you make that critical (and often lasting) first judgment? Peter Mende-Siedlecki shares the social...

Most people instinctively avoid conflict, but as Margaret Heffernan shows us, good disagreement is central to progress. She illustrates (sometimes counterintuitively) how the best partners aren’t echo chambers -- and how great research...

Think back to a really vivid memory. Got it? Now try to remember what you had for lunch three weeks ago. That second memory probably isn't as strong-but why not? Why do we remember some things, and not others? And why do memories...

Can plants talk to each other? It certainly doesn't seem that way: They don't have complex sensory or nervous systems, like animals do, and they look pretty passive. But odd as it sounds, plants can communicate with each other "...

From a new method of drug design to an antiviral agent for herpes, Gertrude Elion's works totally transformed the world of drug development.

To figure out if an idea is as good as we think it is, we have to talk to our customers. We’ve said it over and over again. We have to ask them what they like, dislike, want, or need, and we want honest feedback about our product or...

Reuse of syringes, all too common in under-funded clinics, kills 1.3 million each year. Marc Koska clues us in to this devastating global problem with facts, photos and hidden-camera footage. He shares his solution: a low-cost syringe...

After he ended up on a watch list by accident, Hasan Elahi was advised by his local FBI agents to let them know when he was traveling. He did that and more ... much more.

Paul Andersen shows you how to compare DNA sequences to understand evolutionary relationships. He starts with a brief introduction to cladograms and evolutionary relationships. He shows you how to classify DNA relationships using a...

Today, one of the biggest paradoxes in the universe threatens to unravel modern science: the black hole information paradox. Every object in the universe is composed of particles with unique quantum properties and even if an object is...

Self-driving cars were just the start. What's the future of big data-driven technology and design? In a thrilling science talk, Kenneth Cukier looks at what's next for machine learning -- and human knowledge.

Every day, we meet people and process our interactions--making inferences and developing beliefs about the world around us. In this lesson, Trevor Maber introduces us to the idea of a 'ladder of inference' and a process for rethinking...

At some point, you've probably learned about the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. However, the classic list doesn't account for all the sensations we experience and use to navigate the world around us!

From TVs to tablets, screens are ubiquitous in our modern society. What effect does that have on childhood development?

Chris Kluwe wants to look into the future of sports and think about how technology will help not just players and coaches, but fans. Here the former NFL punter envisions a future in which augmented reality will help people experience...

Tech that can decode your brain activity and reveal what you're thinking and feeling is on the horizon, says legal scholar and ethicist Nita Farahany. What will it mean for our already violated sense of privacy? In a cautionary talk,...

Today, we're going to discuss how numbers, like statistics, and visual representations like charts and infographics can be used to help us better understand the world or profoundly deceive. Data is a really powerful form of evidence...

The disastrous earthquake in Haiti taught humanitarian groups an unexpected lesson: the power of mobile devices to coordinate, inform and guide relief efforts. At TEDxRC2, Paul Conneally shows extraordinary examples of social media and...

By dissecting a cockroach ... yes, live on stage ... TED Fellow and neuroscientist Greg Gage shows how brains receive and deliver electric impulses -- and how legs can respond. (Launching a series on Awesome Nature) "The Cockroach...

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...