We’re thrilled to announce: TED is one of the 2013 winners of the National Design Awards, given by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt. The National Design Awards celebrate design “as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world” — which is how we feel about it too. Great design, like great writing and great speaking, is a vital tool for helping ideas spread.

TED wins for Corporate & Institutional Achievement — a category that honors the way great design weaves into everything TED does, from stage sets to mobile apps, from program guides to our world-spanning open initiatives like TEDx and the Open Translation Project.

And we’re in wonderful company. Other winners include Paula Scher (watch her TED Talk), fashion designer Behnaz Sarafpour, and the urbanist and critic Michael Sorkin. Browse the full list »

Among the designers, photographers and volunteers who contributed to our in-house team’s work — and are a key part of this award:

Photographers: James Duncan Davidson, Ryan Lash, Robert Leslie, Michael Brands, Marla Aufmuth and kris krüg.

Mobile designers: Brian Wilson and Rusty Mitchell.

Video designers: Psyop, Oliver Jeffers and Mac Premo.

Print, online and event designers: WORKSHOP, Hybrid Design, Albertson Design, Paper Plane Studio, Laura Morris, Robert Horansky, Plunkett + Kuhr, Paul Soulellis, Always With Honor, Phi-Hong Ha — and of course the founder of TED, Richard Saul Wurman …

Want to talk about education? Inspired by TED Talks Education, our one-hour TV special that aired on PBS night, and this morning’s batch of TED Talks, here’s a roundup of some great TED Conversations you can join:

High school freshman Colin Petre asks: Is college really as important as our society today has made it out to be? Share your perspective with Colin »

Mary M asks: In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week: Who was your favorite teacher? »

David Newton proposes this idea: Rate educators based on their empathy alone. What do you think of that? »

Ann Ecker asks: What is your Six Word Story as a result of watching this TED? Share your six words »

(Here are a few:
I laughed, cried, smiled, nodded. INSPIRING!
I wish I had a Rita.
We learn when we are happy!)

If you want to talk about the TV special last night, join an open thread about TED Talks Education »

Or start your own TED Conversation, with an idea, a debate or a question »

We’ve spent the past year researching the lineup for TEDGlobal 2013 — and bookmarking some amazing websites and pages along the way. Here are 11 you really didn’t know you needed. But you do.

1. BioNumbers
An addictive database of useful biological numbers. Just go and start looking around, and try to stop — you can start off with the most popular numbers, or perhaps the most amazing. Sample:

• Average duration of a single eye blink, Human Homo sapiens: 0.1-0.4 sec
• Characteristic heart rate, Pond mussel: 4-6 beats per minute
• Number of skin cells, Human Homo sapiens: 1.1e+11 cells [1.1e+11 is scientific notation for 1.1*10^11, or one hundred and ten billion]

Found thanks to speaker: Uri Alon

2. ‘I regretted the minute I pressed share’: A Qualitative Study of Regrets on Facebook” (PDF)
Ever regret posting something dumb on Facebook? In one of the most entertaining academic papers ever written, a team of researchers at Alessandro Acquisti’s lab share clinical interviews about social-media shame. From authors: Yang Wang, Saranga Komanduri, Pedro G. Leon, Gregory Norcie, Alessandro Acquisti, and Lorrie Faith Cranor.

Found thanks to speaker: Alessandro Acquisti

3. Blind Juggler
Not quite what it sounds like, this is a collection of videos of robots that can juggle a small plastic ball — without any cameras or sensors to tell them where the ball is. The robots run from simple to baroque. Who knew pure physics was so hypnotizing to watch …

Found thanks to speaker: Raffaelo D’Andrea

4. “Short-Wavelength Light Sensitivity of Circadian, Pupillary, and Visual Awareness in Humans Lacking an Outer Retina”
Get ready to have your mind slightly blown: You have a body part you didn’t know about. Inside your eye, where you have rods and cones to process vision, there’s a third kind of receptor that tells light from dark, and helps adjust your sleep cycle. And in two legally blind patients with nonfunctioning rods and cones, Dr. Russell Foster and his team show in this paper, that third kind of receptor still works.

Found thanks to speaker: Russell Foster

5. Carnyx Scotland
What is a carnyx? A 2,000-year-old Scottish musical instrument, made of bronze, as tall as a man, with a bell shaped like the head of a boar. It was played between, let’s say, 300 BC and AD 200. Do you want to know more? Why, yes you do.

Found thanks to speaker: John Kenny

6. The Cloud Appreciation Society
Cloud videos, cloud news, and the cloud of the month. Cloudspotters of the world, unite and look up.

Found thanks to speaker: Gavin Pretor-Pinney

7. “The Art of Pickpocketing”
This is just a single video but you’ll have to watch it twice — see “gentleman thief” Apollo Robbins steal the watch right off a New Yorker writer’s wrist.

Found thanks to speaker: Apollo Robbins

8. Wild Sex
Curious about how birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it? Two seasons of frank, hilarious video lessons about animal sex, hosted by Dr. Carin Bondar. (Electric eels, I might add, do it, though it shocks ‘em. I know.)

Found thanks to speaker: Carin Bondar

9. Wild Sanctuary
This is one of those browser tabs you can keep open all day long — a constant soundtrack of field-recorded wild animal noises. You’ll hear birdsong, whales, and mysterious jungle beeping of some kind.

Found thanks to speaker: Bernie Krause

10. 88 Bar
Catch up on Chinese memes and culture in this fascinating group blog, curated with the help of An Xiao Mina.

Found thanks to speaker: An Xiao Mina

11. Global Gigs
Dreaming of a job far far away from wherever you are right now? This site (somewhat tricky to navigate but worth it) offers detailed first-person reports on the kinds of jobs you can get as a traveling expat.

Found thanks to speaker: Holly Morris

In today’s TED Talk, guerilla gardner Ron Finley tells the story of how he was issued a citation, and then a warrant for his arrestRon Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA, all for planting delicious vegetables in the 150 x 10 foot patch of earth in front of his house in South Central, Los Angeles. It’s a rousing talk — one that will make you want to stand up and cheer … and maybe even plant some kale. As Finley says, “Let’s all become gangsta gardeners. We have to flip the script on what a gangsta is. If you ain’t a gardener, you ain’t gangsta. Let that be your weapon of choice!”

Yesterday, the day before Finley’s talk made it to the TED.com homepage, TEDActive’s own Nick Weinberg and Sean Gannet stopped by Finley’s gardens in South Central. Above, a view of the strip of no-man’s-land between the sidewalk and the street that Ron planted with leafy green vegetables and flowers. And below, look for more photos: a garden in a swimming pool and a closeup of Ron’s famous red Swiss chard.

Inspired? Check out these great TED Talks about growing your own food:

Britta Riley: A garden in my apartmentBritta Riley: A garden in my apartment Britta Riley wanted to grow her own food (in her tiny apartment). So she and her friends developed a system for growing plants in discarded plastic bottles — researching, testing and tweaking the system using social media, trying many variations at once and quickly arriving at the optimal system. Call it distributed DIY. And the results? Delicious.

Stephen Ritz: A teacher growing green in the South BronxStephen Ritz: A teacher growing green in the South Bronx A whirlwind of energy and ideas, Stephen Ritz is a teacher in New York’s tough South Bronx, where he and his kids grow lush gardens for food, greenery — and jobs. Just try to keep up with this New York treasure as he spins through the many, many ways there are to grow hope in a neighborhood many have written off, or in your own.

Pam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapesPam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapes What should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TEDSalon the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into communal vegetable gardens, and to change the narrative of food in their community.

Jamie Oliver's TED Prize wish: Teach every child about foodJamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, West Virginia, TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

And another great TEDx talk on the subject: Roger Doiron’s My subversive (garden) plot. A vegetable garden can do more than save you money — it can save the world. In this talk, Roger Doiron shows how gardens can re-localize our food and feed our growing population.

Here, more images of Finley’s amazing gardens.

In an abandoned swimming pool behind his house, Ron Finley is growing artichokes, brocolli, kale and more, plus succulents and cacti (check out the mini garden behind the blue tiles). The blue barrels are collecting rainwater, and the black bins are for compost. Photo: Nick Weinberg

A closeup of Ron’s famous Swiss chard. Easy to grow and delicious to eat. Photo: Nick Weinberg

Edith Widder: How we found the giant squidFascinated by oceanic cephalopods (like octopus and squid), deGruy and his team were the first to film two rarely seen creatures — the nautilus and the vampire squid — in their home oceans. So it’s only fitting that when he met Edith Widder aboard the Mission Blue Voyage in 2010, their talk quickly turned to squids. As Widder details in her new TED Talk, deGruy was the reason she found herself on a Japanese expedition to waters south of Tokyo, where she helped film the giant squid for the first time. She has dedicated this talk to him.

Below, watch Mike deGruy’s TED Talk from Mission Blue, as well as two more TEDx talks from this wonderful storyteller.

Mike deGruy: Hooked by an octopus
In this talk from Mission Blue, deGruy tells the moving story of his love for filming the oceans.

Mike deGruy: Lost in the Crowd: A Simple Biology Problem
In 2010, Mike spoke about his passion for the planet in a great talk from TEDxAmericanRiviera that stemmed from his work in the Gulf after the oil blowout.

Mike deGruy: The Evolution of a Spark
In this six-minute film from TEDxAmericanRiviera, meet 10 passionate young people from Santa Barbara who show us how they live big and go after their dreams. They inspire their peers, and even our adult generation, to take pause, wonder, remain curious and playful, and feel that contagious spark that comes from unbridled youth

Watch all of TED2013 Session 3 for free at 5pm PST today: http://tedlive.ted.com/webcasts/2013

See the 2013 TED Prize revealed!

The speakers who appeared this session. Click their name to read a recap of their talk:

Photographer Sebastião Salgado captures the dignity of the dispossessed through large-scale, years-long projects.

Longtime TED favorite Edith Widder, an expert on marine luminosity and underwater cameras, will talk about the hunt for the giant squid.

Camille Seaman photographs big ice and big clouds, giving them personality.

Stuart Firestein teaches students and “citizen scientists” that ignorance is far more important to discovery than knowledge.

Saskia Sassen is the world’s go-to theorist on our complex and vibrant cities.

Beardyman, “ruler of beats and destroyer of dance floors,” is developing a real-time music-production system that places live looping at the center of a new musical paradigm.

Taking a cue from his own artistic journey, Phil Hansen challenges us to spark our creativity by thinking inside the box.

Here are the speakers in this session. Click on their name to read a full recap of their talk:

A former two-term governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm makes the case for empowering states to create jobs through a Clean Energy Jobs Race to the Top.

Robert J. Gordon is among the most influential macroeconomists in the world. And the big picture he sees is not altogether rosy.

Erik Brynjolfsson examines the effects of information technologies on business strategy, productivity and employment.

What happens when Robert J. Gordon and Erk Brynjolfsson debate? Read here.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Pedrito Martinez spent his youth steeped in rumba and the music of the Santería religion. His music had become an intoxicating blend of Cuban tradition and African-American styles.

Rodney Brooks builds robots based on biological principles of movement and reasoning. The goal: a robot who can figure things out. Get ready to meet Baxter.

The founder and CEO of Romotive, Keller Rinaudo creates robots that use smart phones and are designed for interaction.

Nilofer Merchant thinks deeply about the frameworks, strategies and cultural values of great businesses new and old, large and small.

Bono, the lead singer of U2, uses his celebrity to fight for social justice worldwide: to end hunger, poverty and disease, especially in Africa. His nonprofit ONE raises awareness via media, policy and calls to action.

TED Fellow Michael Karnjanaprakorn, founder of Skillshare. Photo: Ryan Lash

Today, TEDActive is teaming up with Skillshare, a platform that helps people learn anything from anyone, to create a free session of mini-lessons today — and you can watch live!

TEDYou: Skillshare Edition Talks
Monday, February 25, 1:30-3pm Pacific time (4:30-6pm Eastern)
Watch a lineup of great 6-minute tutorial talks that can inspire you to learn by doing. The talks are given by TEDActive attendees and inspired by Skillshare, an online platform founded by TED Fellow Michael Karnjanaprakorn. The mission of Skillshare: to help you learn anything from anyone. In this session, you’ll get a mini-tutorial in topics like navigating the healthcare system, reducing food waste, and thinking in new ways.

Bookmark this link now: tedactive.com or on a href=”https://www.facebook.com/pages/TEDActive/137096249545?sk=app_142371818162″>Facebook.

As a young musician in Pakistan, TED Fellow Usman Riaz learned to play in the percussive guitar style by watching YouTube videos of Kaki King and her influences, including the founder of the technique, Preston Reed. Now, Riaz is among the artists and musicians calling for Pakistan to lift its seven-month-old ban on YouTube. Usman Riaz and Preston Reed: A young guitarist meets his heroTalking yesterday to the Express Tribune, Riaz said:

“Everything that I have learnt and achieved is a direct result of having a close connection to the online realm,” says Riaz. “YouTube [could] be the reason I became a TED Fellow. I would have never had a chance to speak on the TED stage or perform with Preston Reed — the man whose videos I used to watch on YouTube when I first picked up the guitar — if I didn’t have access to YouTube.”

Usman and friends have created a Facebook page called YouTube Aloud to gather information and fight the ban.

In September 2012, YouTube was banned in Pakistan during the furor over the film Innocence of Muslims, which many believed to be insulting to the prophet Mohammed. In early January, Pakistan’s government suggested it would lift the ban after installing filters, but the opening lasted about three hours before being shut again.

Riaz’s message: YouTube is too valuable for learning to be closed over one video. As he puts it in the Express Tribune: “Does it make sense to burn down an entire library just because you don’t agree with the contents of one of its books?”