Space oddity, indeed: 18 talks from astronauts, including Chris HadfieldChris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who’s become a YouTube sensation aboard the International Space Station, has showed us why tears won’t fall in space and the dangers of clipping one’s fingernails in zero gravity. But he has truly outdone himself with his latest video. Scheduled to leave the space station tonight at 7pm – and […]
Continent by continent, TEDGlobal talksTEDGlobal has been held in Oxford, England; Arusha, Tanzania; Mysore, India; and Edinburgh, Scotland — with speakers from a wide range of other countries. In other words, it’s a global affair. As we prepare for TEDGlobal 2013: “Think Again,” kicking off on June 10, we thought we’d take a closer look. Here, go around the […]
10 talks on creatures from the deepImagine a squid so big that, when sprawled out, it is the size of a two-story house. Edith Widder has now seen this enormous ocean creature, once the stuff of nautical legend, six times. In today’s talk, Widder shares how we now have filmed proof of the giant squid’s existence, thanks to a mission conducted […]
A look at TED, from 1984 through the presentThe first TED was held in 1984, the year George Orwell imagined in his classic novel. The second was held in 1990. In 2006, TED Talks were offered online for the first time, free to anyone across the world who wanted to watch. In 2009, TED moved to its current home in Long Beach, California. […]
You’re a beautiful crowd! 7 moments of audience participation from TEDThere are certain perils to watching a TED Talk live from the audience – occasionally you’ll be asked a stumper of a philosophical question or made the brunt of a speaker’s joke. Then again, you might be given seven and a half extra minutes to live, so it’s really a toss-up. In these talks, pulled […]
The best animals at TEDHorses, parrots and mosquitos: oh my! TED2013 will commence in just nine days, and the TED Blog is gearing up for our live, minute-by-minute, coverage. One thing we can’t wait to see: which speaker will bring an animal onstage with them? (Our money is on ornithologist Kees Moeliker.) Sometimes, speakers arrive with a live animal, […]
When education is not a given: 10 inspiring talksFrom age 6 through age 11, Shabana Basij-Rasikh risked her life to go to school. The Taliban had banned girls in Afghanistan from studying at universities and other educational institutions and, thus, Basij-Rasikh dressed as a boy, posing as an escort for her older sister. Together, the two would place their books in grocery bags […]
Bracing for Nemo? Talks to watch while snowed inIn the Northeastern United States, there is only one thing the mind today: snow. Weather.com, responsible for naming the coming blizzard, warns that winter storm Nemo will be “crippling.” The New York Times reports that it may bring the heaviest snowfall in a century to many areas. Meanwhile, Buzzfeed is showing images of the storm from […]
Does your hometown make you disease-prone? 6 talks on how location impacts healthIf you look at mortality data across the United Kingdom, a striking correlation materializes: the higher the latitude, the greater the relative risk of death. This is true even when controlling for risk factors like smoking cigarettes and eating bad food. So, what’s going on? The answer may lie in sunlight—there’s more in the south […]
6 TED Talks on beautyIn today’s bold TED Talk, model Cameron Russell — who has walked runways for Victoria’s Secret and Chanel — mulls over what it means to be beautiful. To her, being beautiful is a matter of chance; she happened to be one of the people in the world born with a set of physical traits — […]
7 TEDxTalks from women making change to get you ready for TEDxWomenCounting down the final hours of the workweek is a Friday afternoon tradition. And today, you have extra incentive to watch the clock — TEDxWomen kicks off at 6pm in Washington, DC. While one session of the event — “Poverty and Plenty,” hosted by Pat Mitchell of The Paley Center for Media — is taking […]
The 7 best moustaches on TED.comMultitasking is highly overrated, says Paolo Cardini. In today’s talk, given at TEDGlobal 2012, he shares that he fed up with doing multiple things at once and would much prefer to “monotask.” He has created a series of 3D-printed “monotasking” smartphone covers to this end, which ensure that you can only do one thing at […]
7 talks on animals that have bad reputationsIn today’s talk, Munir Virani extols the virtues of vultures. Despite our harsh judgments of these funny-looking birds, Virani explains that they are natural garbage collectors and that they kill harmful bacteria that might otherwise threaten us, as well as our livestock. As of now, 11 of the world’s 16 vulture species are facing extinction. […]
The power of women: TEDxWomen organizers share their thoughts on talks pastTEDxWomen is just days away—on November 30 and December 1, the conference will take place in Washington, D.C. While it’s sold out, there are still many opportunities to watch. Over the weekend, webcasts will be streamed during more than 140 TEDxWomen events across the globe — from Abuja, Nigeria, to Warsaw, Poland. Head to the […]
8 talks with big ideas for our roadwaysIt’s an experience that can inspire road rage in even the calmest person: an urban traffic jam where cars crawl along at a pace of inches per hour. As Jonas Eliasson, a professor of transportation at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), explains in today’s talk, traffic congestion occurs in almost every major city across […]
