TED Talks
TED: The ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Ukraine | Oleksandra Matviichuk
How do we defend people's freedom and dignity against authoritarianism, when the "law of war" doesn't seem to apply anymore? In the face of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, human rights lawyer and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why did the US try to kill all the bison? | Andrew C. Isenberg
By the mid-1700s, many Plains nations survived on North America’s largest land mammals: bison. They ate its meat, made the hides into winter coats and blankets, and used the bones and horns for tools. But in the following decades,...
TED Talks
TED: Is the US headed towards another civil war? | Barbara F. Walter
Based on her work for a CIA task force aimed at predicting civil wars, political scientist Barbara F. Walter examines the rise in extremism and threats to democracies around the globe -- and paints an unsettling picture of the increasing...
SciShow
A Brief History of Robotics
Why don’t we have robots taking care of our every need by now? A little history of the field of robotics might help you understand how hard it is to get machines to perform tasks, and how far we’ve come in just a few decades.
SciShow
The Terrifying Promise of Robot Bugs
Imitating nature to build a better (or possibly more terrifying) future. We've been trying to build flapping-wing robots for hundreds of years, and now, ornithopters are finally being developed, and may be used mostly for military...
SciShow
How Would We Stop a Nuclear Missile?
Most of us are hoping that any nuclear threats are just empty threats, and getting at the facts about ICBMs can be difficult. But what would actually happen if someone launched a nuclear weapon?
SciShow
Will You be Iron Man?
We have the technology! We can rebuild...ourselves! Human interface technologies like Google Glass, robotic prosthetics, and bionic eyes have the potential to help people recover lost abilities, but also to grant us new abilities. Will...
PBS
U.S. Troops Suicide
Suicides by active duty U.S. troops last year exceeded the number of servicemen and women killed in combat in Afghanistan. Ray Suarez talks to psychiatrist and retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis, who says more than half of the...
PBS
Gerald Ford (Jan. 14, 1991)
An interview with former President Gerald Ford on the prospect of the United States going to war in the Persian Gulf, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
Curated Video
US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff meets Chinese FM
1. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing shaking hands with Gen. Richard Myers, US chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
2. Cutaway camera
3. Zhaoxing and Myers sitting
4. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Li Zhaoxing, Chinese Foreign Minister:
"We...
Curated Video
WRAP Adds Kerry response to Bush radio address
1. Graphic of US President George W. Bush overlaid with narration
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) George W. Bush, US President:
"This week, our nation was sickened by the murder of an American civilian, Nicholas Berg. The savage execution of...
Curated Video
WRAP Bush news conference to boost support for Iraq strategy
1. Close-up pan as Bush walks into White House briefing room
2. Cutaway reporters
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) George W. Bush, U.S. President:
"As we mark the 3rd anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the success we are seeing in Tal Afar...
Curated Video
President Barack Obama is replacing Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan after he made critical comments in a magazine article. Obama named Gen. David Petraeus to assume McChrystal's role.
HEADLINE: Obama ousts McChrystal, Petraeus to take over
CAPTION: President Barack Obama is replacing Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan after he made critical comments in a magazine article. Obama named Gen....
Curated Video
Bush says he will veto Iraq withdrawal bill, Pelosi reaction
1. Wide interior of US Senate floor
2. US President George W. Bush walks to podium at National Cattlemen's Beef Association
3. SOUNDBITE (English) George W. Bush, US President:
"What is clear is that the consequences of imposing such a...
TED Talks
George Dyson: The birth of the computer
Historian George Dyson tells stories from the birth of the modern computer -- from its 17th-century origins to the hilarious notebooks of some early computer engineers.
TED Talks
TED: 3 ways to lower the barriers to higher education | Adrian K. Haugabrook
Less than seven percent of people worldwide have a bachelor's degree -- and for many, this is simply because the cost of university is too high, says higher education executive Adrian K. Haugabrook. In this barrier-breaking talk, he...
Crash Course
The Rise of Russia and Prussia: Crash Course European History
In eastern Europe, in the 17th century a couple of "great powers" were coming into their own. The vast empire of Russia was modernizing under Peter the Great, and the relatively tiny state of Prussia was evolving as well. Russia (and...
Curated Video
Samurai, Daimyo, Matthew Perry, and Nationalism: Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about Nationalism. Nationalism was everywhere in the 19th century, as people all over the world carved new nation-states out of old empires. Nationalist leaders changed the way people thought of themselves...
SciShow
Will You be Iron Man?
We have the technology! We can rebuild...ourselves! Human interface technologies like Google Glass, robotic prosthetics, and bionic eyes have the potential to help people recover lost abilities, but also to grant us new abilities. Will...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The dark history of Mount Rushmore | Ned Blackhawk and Jeffrey D. Means
Between 1927 and 1941, workers blasted 450,000 tons of rock from a mountainside using chisels, jackhammers, and dynamite. Gradually, they carved out Mount Rushmore. Today, the monument draws nearly 3 million people to South Dakota's...
SciShow
The Terrifying Promise of Robot Bugs
Imitating nature to build a better (or possibly more terrifying) future. We've been trying to build flapping-wing robots for hundreds of years, and now, ornithopters are finally being developed, and may be used mostly for military...
TED Talks
TED: Governments don't understand cyber warfare. We need hackers | Rodrigo Bijou
The Internet has transformed the front lines of war, and it's leaving governments behind. As security analyst Rodrigo Bijou shows, modern conflict is being waged online between non-state groups, activists and private corporations, and...
TED Talks
TED: The chilling aftershock of a brush with death | Jean-Paul Mari
In April 2003, just as American troops began rolling into Baghdad, a shell smashed into the building author and war correspondent Jean-Paul Mari was reporting from. There he had a face-to-face encounter with death, beginning his...
SciShow
How We Used the Moon to Send Radio Messages
In the early days of the Cold War, it was difficult to send and receive messages across the globe. Before the US launched its first satellite in January 1958, the military tried a creative solution: bouncing radio waves off the Moon.