About one-tenth of the world’s population is left-handed — and archaeological evidence suggests that it’s been this way for the last 500,000 years. But why do a small percentage of people carry this trait, and what does it mean about them that they do? These were the questions that inspired educator Danny Abrams and animator Lisa LaBracio […]
1905 was a big year for Albert Einstein. He was 26 years old and working in the Swiss Patent Office when, in the span of seven months, he published four papers that would eventually be hugely influential. In these papers, he proposed that light could be a particle, proved that atoms existed, laid out his […]
When Justin Dowd worked as a food runner at a restaurant, he would sometimes doodle on the chalkboard in the kitchen. He had no idea that this skill — coupled with his ability to explain physics — would one day win him a trip to space. The science writer and animator who created the TED-Ed lesson “Could comets […]
Ten percent of plant matter gets eaten while it is alive. The other 90% falls to the ground and becomes detritus, which supports microbes, insects and, yes, us, as we feed on animals that grazed on it and plants that grow in it. When it came time to animate a TED-Ed lesson about this so-called “brown […]
On September 24, TEDxCERN was hosted by physicist Brian Cox (watch his TED Talk: “CERN’s supercollider“), and the world was welcomed to watch for free. Below, an appetite-whetter that originally ran on the TEDx Innovations Blog. Cosmic rays. Active galactic nuclei. Nucleosynthesis. For physicist Veronica Bindi, this is everyday vocabulary. A ten-year collaborator with AMS-02 — an experiment analyzing […]
The TED-Ed Lesson “The case of the missing fractals” isn’t just an introduction to the intricate and beautiful world of fractal geometry; it’s also a fully-realized film noir short complete with plot, drama and a smattering of ridiculous puns. This cinematic creation is the product of a TED-Ed dream team, with writing by veteran TED-Ed Educators George Zaidan and […]
If you haven’t seen the TED-Ed Lesson “A rare, spectacular total eclipse of the sun,” you should really check it out. Not only will you learn a good deal about the science behind these extraordinary events, you’ll also get to soak in some beautiful and detailed artistry from animator Bevan Lynch. We caught up with Lynch for a […]