. At the School in the Cloud learning lab in the village of Korakati, India, students sit on colorful stools in front of computer screens, talking over Skype to educators in England and Germany. So it might be surprising to discover that this high-tech education center was built in a place that can only be […]
What’s the best way to find something lost on the ground, like a historical site from a civilization lost to time? For archaeologist Sarah Parcak, the answer’s obvious — from way up above, using satellites, of course. As a space archaeologist, she’s mapped the lost city of Tanis (of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark […]
Raj Panjabi was your typical science- and soccer-loving 4th grader in Monrovia, Liberia. But when a brutal civil war erupted in the country, normal life was upended. On the TED2017 stage, Panjabi recalls his mother knocking on his door, telling him to pack his things. They had to flee. One image from that day has stayed […]
It sounds simple enough: If you’re sick, you make an appointment with a doctor, and if it’s an emergency, you head to the nearest hospital. But for more than a billion people around the world, it’s a real challenge — because they live too far from a medical facility. Where Raj Panjabi’s nonprofit, Last Mile […]
A corruption investigator walks into a law firm and says he wants to buy a brownstone, a jet and a yacht. This isn’t the start of a joke. It’s the premise of the latest investigation by Global Witness, the anti-corruption organization co-founded by 2014 TED Prize winner Charmian Gooch. In an investigation revealed on 60 Minutes as well […]
“This is Tanis from Indiana Jones, from Raiders of the Lost Ark?” asks Stephen Colbert, holding up a pair of photos, one that shows a barren patch of desert, and another that shows an intricate system of buildings and streets buried underneath it. “This is the city of Tanis that they find with the medallion […]
She’s best described as the modern-day Indiana Jones. Using infrared imagery from satellites, she identifies ancient sites lost in time. In Egypt, she helped locate 17 potential pyramids, plus 1,000 potential forgotten tombs and 3,100 possible lost settlements. That’s in addition to her discoveries throughout the Roman Empire. Sarah Parcak uses 21st century technology to make the […]
Dave Isay was shocked to learn he was in the running for the 2015 TED Prize. And yet, his TED Prize wish — to grow StoryCorps’ digital archive of the collective wisdom of humanity — was granted, fueled by $1 million and the vigor of TED’s global community. Could your idea win the TED Prize? In a […]
“Tonight, I’m going to make the case that inviting a loved one, a friend or a stranger to record a meaningful interview might just turn out to be one of the most important moments in that person’s life — and in yours,” says Dave Isay of StoryCorps, stepping to the TED stage to accept the 2015 TED Prize in Session […]
TED Prize winners turn ideas into world-changing projects, with $1 million in seed money and the TED community’s support. Beyond having a solid track record of making high-impact change in their communities and beyond, all prize winners must be capable of one thing: dreaming big. Does this sound like you or someone you know? This […]
More than a million people took to the streets of Paris yesterday to show solidarity against extremism and terrorism. And their eyes were on the eyes of Stéphane Charbonnier, the editor of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, who was killed in his office last week in a terrorist attack, along with 12 others. These eyes […]
“I’m a storyteller.” It’s a sentence that can be found in a wide variety of TED Talks — because, really, it is the heart of what we do. This is why, for the 10th anniversary of the TED Prize in 2015, we are thrilled to award the million-dollar prize to Dave Isay, the founder of […]
“Thousands have lived without love; none without water,” said Sylvia Earle as she stood on the TED stage five years ago, accepting the 2009 TED Prize. Wearing a blue blazer and an aura of resolve, Earle quoted this verse from poet W.H. Auden as she laid out a bold wish for the world: that we […]
Earlier this month, the Queen announced legislation to clamp down on corporate secrecy in her speech at the opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom. This may be news to the rest of the world, but it was a hard-won victory for the campaigners at Global Witness, an international non-governmental organization known for hard-hitting field investigations […]
On June 17, 2014, US president Obama pledged support to create 700,000 square miles of new Pacific Ocean “hope spots” — no-fish, no-drill zones to help the ocean recover. As Sylvia Earle asked in her 2009 TED Prize wish:
I wish that you would use all means at your disposal — films, expeditions, the web, new submarines — and campaign to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas — hope spots large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet. How much? Some say 10 percent, some say 30 percent. You decide: how much of your heart do you want to protect?
Sylvia Earle is always on a mission. She launched the ocean conservation campaign Mission Blue in 2010 after winning the TED Prize, establishing protected marine “hope spots” around the world. And last weekend, Earle dove 63 feet beneath the ocean’s surface to visit Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of legendary underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau, on his Mission 31. Earle, […]