Spiral galaxies are a stunning sight. As Don Lincoln explains in one of this week’s TED-Ed lessons, these galaxies were thought to rotate in highly predictable dances, with stars close to the center moving slowly and stars further away rotating quickly because they are pulled by the mass of the stars between them and the […]
In the TED-Ed lesson “Magical metals, how shape memory alloys work,” animator Andy London had a creative idea for how to bring a science lesson from Ainissa Ramirez to life — by putting faces and matchstick limbs on bologna to create walking, talking atoms. This materials science lesson teaches that, in certain metals, atoms are […]
Just two Tuesdays from today, Americans will head to the polls and vote for their President. But why is Tuesday the anointed day? In this hilarious TED-Ed talk, Jacob Soboroff shares that Tuesday was made the official voting day in 1845 because, back then, voters traveled to the county seat by horse and buggy. They […]
In today’s thrilling TED-Ed lesson, Bill Nye the Science Guy admits that he has S.O.D., otherwise known as Sundial Obsessive Disorder. But there is a good reason for it — a sundial helped Nye’s father escape from a prison camp in China during World War II, launching a lifelong obsession that Nye eventually picked up […]
An overwhelming majority of our experience is guided by forces that are invisible to the naked eye. While we can easily see other people, we cannot see their thoughts, nor their genetic structure. And while we can easily rest our eyes on matter, we cannot see gravity, atoms, energy, gases, electricity, or radio waves. Ditto […]
How many detectable alien civilizations are out there in our galaxy? In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake developed an equation to estimate the number. Now data journalist David McCandless, who gave the talk “The beauty of data visualization” at TEDGlobal 2010, has created an information graphic for the BBC calculating the Drake Equation — with a […]
Far too many of us still have flashbacks to piano lessons, when an uber-serious teacher would rap our knuckles after every wrong note. If only we had taken bass lessons from Victor Wooten of the band Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In the video above — the first ever live-action TED-Ed lesson — five-time Grammy […]
We love this time of year, when the graduation addresses start hitting YouTube. This year’s included some wonders — and TED-Ed is busy turning them into flipped lessons! Check out these three: Neil Gaiman at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Speaking at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, writer Neil Gaiman tells the graduating […]
Announcing a new way to use video to create customized lessons: the “Flip This Lesson” feature from TED-Ed, now in beta at ed.ted.com. With this feature, educators can use, tweak, or completely redo any video lesson featured on TED-Ed, or create lessons from scratch based on a TEDTalk or any video from YouTube. How? Just […]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SWvDHvWXok&hd=1&w=560&h=315%5D This video comes from our new TED-Ed channel on YouTube. Now available as a full-length version (12 minutes): TED Curator Chris Anderson shares his obsession with questions that no one (yet) knows the answers to. An introduction leads into two big questions that Anderson (and all of us) pondered as a kid and […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr4gWi9Jf6k] Educator Stacey Roshan from techieMusings shares this great, simple project: I work with a group of 9-12th grade students (very mixed skill level) and decided to do a unit focusing on social media. After the launch of TED-Ed, I got to thinking that maybe I could tie it all together … So I had […]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqly8ERIkHM&w=560&h=315%5D Throughout today, we’ll be sharing incredible video from our new TED-Ed channel. In the deepest, darkest parts of the oceans are ecosystems with more diversity than a tropical rainforest. Taking us on a voyage into the ocean — from the deepest trenches to the remains of Titanic — marine biologist David Gallo explores […]
The TEDTalks we’re sharing on Monday and Tuesday are part of our new short-video initiative for teachers and students: TED-Ed. Find more great video on the TED-Ed channel on YouTube: youtube.com/TEDEd And you are a big part of helping TED-Ed grow! If these talks inspire you to share your own lesson, we want to hear […]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9vnuaPGxrg&hd=1&w=560&h=315%5D Throughout today and tomorrow, we’ll be sharing incredible video from our new TED-Ed channel. In a new TED-Ed series designed to catalyze curiosity, TED Curator Chris Anderson shares his obsession with questions that no one (yet) knows the answers to. This introduction leads into two questions as follow-up films: Why can’t we see […]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr4gWi9Jf6k&hd=1&w=560&h=315%5D Throughout today and tomorrow, we’ll be sharing incredible video from our new TED-Ed channel. By dissecting a cockroach … yes, live on stage … TED Fellow and neuroscientist Greg Gage shows how brains receive and deliver electric impulses — and how legs can respond to stimulation via sound. Length: 6:16. This video is […]
TED’s Curator, Chris Anderson, writes this personal note on his blog: Today marks a big new chapter in the TED story, as we unveil the first part of our TED-Ed initiative. Viewed one way, it’s just the release on YouTube of a dozen short videos created for high school students and lifelong learners. But we’re […]