Have you ever noticed that some animal babies, like baby deer, can walk around basically right after they're born, but other animal babies, like kittens, can't even open their eyes? There’s a reason for that, and it comes down to two...

Natural selection can lead to some pretty amazing adaptations, but sometimes the resulting traits aren’t the most efficient solutions to the problems at hand. With the bar set to “good enough,” here are some features that arose from...

If you've ever gone outside really early on a cold day in fall, you might have seen a thin layer of sparkly ice crystals covering everything! That ice is called frost, and it can only form if the weather is exactly...

Craft curator Nora Atkinson takes us on a trip to Nevada's Black Rock Desert to see the beautifully designed and participatory art of Burning Man, revealing how she discovered there what's often missing from museums: curiosity and...

* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. In an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental...

Did you ever notice how many jokes start with _Did you ever notice?" And what's the deal with "What's the deal?" There's a lot of funny to be found simply by noticing the ordinary, everyday things you don't ordinarily notice every day....

What is a vector? Is it an arrow in space? A list of numbers?

Philanthropy disruptor Sara Lomelin thinks communities can build power through collective giving and the model of "giving circles": groups of people with shared values who come together to make change, strengthen their social fabric and...

You know that little pink thing nestled in the corner of your eye? It's actually the remnant of a third eyelid. In humans, it's vestigial, meaning it no longer serves its original purpose. There are several other vestigial structures in...

Winter is upon us, and for many that includes snow! And although snowflakes are ice crystals that become flakes under the right conditions, they also have mysteries that can be less simple to explain!

With many women of color considering exiting the workforce due to unfair conditions, it's time to reshape systems in order to put an end to this massive loss of talent. Exposing the harmful repercussions of racist, toxic organizational...

How did ancient civilizations move massive stones to build Stonehenge, the Pyramids and the Easter Island statues? In this quick, delightful talk, TED Fellow Brandon Clifford reveals some architectural secrets of the past and shows how...

Artist Titus Kaphar makes paintings and sculptures that wrestle with the struggles of the past while speaking to the diversity and advances of the present. In an unforgettable live workshop, Kaphar takes a brush full of white paint to a...

Everyone's heard of Martin Luther King Jr. But do you know the woman Dr. King called "the architect of the civil rights movement," Septima Clark? The teacher of some of the generation's most legendary activists -- like Rosa Parks, Diane...

There are people who can quickly memorize lists of thousands of numbers, the order of all the cards in a deck (or ten!), and much more. Science writer Joshua Foer describes the technique -- called the memory palace -- and shows off its...

The next step toward a holodeck might be the ability to actually touch a simulation, and we’re getting closer—using sound.

Eric Giler wants to untangle our wired lives with cable-free electric power. Here, he covers what this sci-fi tech offers, and demos MIT's breakthrough version, WiTricity -- a near-to-market invention that may soon recharge your cell...

Engineer RA Mashelkar shares three stories of ultra-low-cost design from India that use bottom-up rethinking, and some clever engineering, to bring expensive products (cars, prosthetics) into the realm of the possible for everyone.

There's all sorts of life in the Redwood forest, but not just in the ground, different animals live in all layers of the Redwoods!



Disciplinary C

ore Ideas:

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems -...

There are a whole lot of people out there who have bought into the notion that, in order to be physically fit, you should aim for taking 10,000 steps a day. But where did this idea come from, and how did we all agree on this magical,...

Teachers emotionally support our kids -- but who's supporting our teachers? In this eye-opening talk, educator Sydney Jensen explores how teachers are at risk of "secondary trauma" -- the idea that they absorb the emotional weight of...

Do you ever talk to your dog? Do they ever talk back? Humans and dogs have a truly amazing relationship, developed along an evolutionary journey that goes back nearly 10,000 years. Do they really understand what we say, think, and feel?...

Every year, tiny shrimp do something strange on the banks of a river in Thailand: they get out of the water and walk on the land! Why do they take this risky path?

In this short talk from TED U, Joachim de Posada shares a landmark experiment on delayed gratification -- and how it can predict future success. With priceless video of kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.