Stories for "TED Weekends"
David Blaine is the master of the endurance stunt. In 1999, he was buried alive in a clear box underneath three tons of water. Over the course of seven days, about 75,000 people stopped by to watch him in his self-made tomb. In 2008, Blaine attempted to set the Guinness World Record for holding his […]
Underwater, there’s a world full of the bioluminescent and colorfully firework-like creatures. This is what David Gallo showed us in his classic talk from TED2007, “Underwater astonsihments.” The most interesting part: We have only explored about 3% of the world’s oceans, Gallo explains and, in this talk, he shares some views of that fascinating fraction […]
At TEDActive 2011, JD Schramm shares the story of his friend, John, who, after surviving a suicide attempt, found that there were few resources available for someone in his position to be able to communicate the hardship he experienced and the depression he continued to battle. And there are others in this position, too – […]
Above and slightly behind your right ear, exists a part of your brain many scientists believe is specifically dedicated to thinking about other people’s thoughts – to predicting them, reading them, and empathizing with them. It’s called the temporoparietal junction, and this is the area cognitive neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe focuses on in her research. At TEDGlobal […]
Cameron Russell wants to have a discussion about the way that we, as a society, perceive beauty. Media representations of women, she says, are replete with racist and sexist representations, encouraging women to live up to a standard that is both oppressive and unattainable. Russell’s profession offers an insider’s perspective on the topic – after […]
As the daughter and granddaughter of educators, teaching is in Rita Pierson’s blood. In this talk — a teaser of next Tuesday’s TED Talks Education on PBS — Pierson is going to make you wish you had been lucky enough to be her student. Pierson believes deeply in forming strong bonds with her students: through […]
Completely paralyzed except for his eyes, graffiti artist Tony “TEMPT” Quan could no longer create his art, let alone communicate with his family. When entrepreneur Mick Ebeling met Quan, he was determined to help the artist accomplish both of these things. Thus, the EyeWriter was born — a pair of glasses with hardware that allows […]
In 2004, Frank Warren began a massive undertaking: he distributed 3,000 blank postcards and invited strangers to share their secrets with him. This project grew into PostSecret.com – which now holds more than half a million secrets. Warren found that this initiative reveals our common fears, hopes, loves and desires – which are otherwise invisible. […]
Turns out the fortune cookie that came with your chop suey isn’t actually Chinese … and neither is the chop suey. So where did they come from? In this TED Talk, journalist Jennifer 8. Lee shares the origins of some of America’s favorite “Chinese” food, and takes us on a culinary tour of Chinese restaurants […]
At TEDMED 2012, Ben Goldacre shared a startling reality: that doctors are not able to read all the studies conducted on a pharmaceutical before prescribing it to their patients. This is because of a bias in medical research toward positive results – while one study confirming a drug’s effectiveness may be published, the results of […]
At TED2012, Jon Ronson wove a mind-bending tale that asks: How can we truly tell who is a psychopath? What’s the line between crazy and sane? And is it something we can truly delineate, or are we trying to discern black and white in a color-soaked world? Today’s TEDWeekends on the Huffington Post picks up […]
Joshua Foer thought he might have set out on a fool’s errand when he started training to compete in the U.S. Memory Championship. Only, he ended up winning it in 2006. In his talk from TED2012, Foer shares the simple trick of memory that helped him become a champion — creating a memory palace that […]
At TED2010, Stacey Kramer told the moving story of the most treasured gift she ever received: a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. Despite the pain, she wouldn’t have traded her experience for anything – because, in the end, it changed her life for the better. Kramer’s poignant talk is featured on today’s […]
Philip Zimbardo knows evil inside and out. He led the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971 and was an expert witness at Abu Ghraib, privy to graphic unseen images. At TED2008, Zimbardo explains how easy it is for the good to turn evil, and on the flip side, for inspiration to lead people to heroism. […]
At TED2013, Sugata Mitra accepted the TED Prize for 2013 with a striking talk. His wish: for children to learn about any variety of subjects through self-organized learning. While this bold project will take form with a “School in the Cloud” in India, Mitra encourages members of our community to help with a global paradigm change […]
Holding his breath underwater for 17 minutes didn’t scare David Blaine—but stepping on the TEDMED stage did
