Have you ever stood among the trees — those tall, stoic, magnificent plants — listening to their leaves rustle in the wind and imagined quietly to yourself that they’re communicating in some way? Perhaps in whispers, or hushed voices? It turns out that your imagination isn’t at wild as you might believe; Trees do, in […]
Jen Brea was a grad student at Harvard when she got suddenly, horribly sick. Her four-year battle to get diagnosed uncovered a hidden bias around myalgic encephalomyeltis, or chronic fatigue syndrome.
A design competition to reimagine death. 100 percent of the human population will die, and yet, why don’t we design for this inevitable outcome? OpenIDEO, design and innovation firm IDEO’s online innovation platform, has launched a new public design challenge to “reimagine the end of life experience.” BJ Miller is an advisor on the project […]
Drones are the sexy, mysterious tech craze that are often a butt of a joke, a vague solution or an ominous threat. But no matter how flashy, good technology should still solve concrete problems. Amid the hype of getting packages and pizzas delivered in half the time, what if drones could revolutionize transportation networks, connecting […]
Just a few of the intriguing headlines involving members of the TED community this week: Around the globe without a drop of fuel. What has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs only about as much as an SUV? The answer is Bertrand Piccard’s Solar Impulse 2, an airplane fueled entirely by solar energy […]
At the annual TED conference, the audience is as packed with big ideas as our speaker program. TED University is a chance for audience members to give short talks about both big ideas and personal experiences. Recaps of the talks at TED University, in chronological order. Travel points are currency. Brian Kelly is known for his site The Points […]
It wouldn’t be a conference about dreams without an ode to John Lennon. In this session, we take a cue from his iconic lyric and imagine a world without borders. Get ready for talks on mega-cities and online museums, as well as on the global movement to end poverty, Islamophobia and climate change. Recaps of the talks in […]
The barbershop is a safe haven for black men, a place where they don’t have to worry about how they’re perceived by the outside world, says physician and men’s health advocate Joseph Ravenell. “It’s a place where we don’t feel threatened — or threatening,” he says. Ravenell recalls his first experiences at the barbershop as being filled with discussion. […]
On the opening day of TED2016, we heard outrageous ideas from the TED Fellows and one stellar session of talks. Below, highlights for you following at home. The encyclopedia of … a single person. What does one human’s DNA look like — in printed form? When Riccardo Sabatini invites Craig Venter to appear onstage, […]
Some people think outside the box. TED Fellows think outside the lines and corners, but also outside the medical establishment and media landscape — even outside the solar system. Below, read short recaps of the talks in the first session of TED Fellows talks at TED2016, from a group of trailblazers just getting lift-off … Beautiful […]
The weekend before a TED conference, each speaker rehearses their talk in the TED theater. It’s a chance for the speakers to get to know the space, for our curators to give last-minute suggestions on talk content, and for our speaker coaches to give advice to help each speaker feel their absolute best the day […]
A corruption investigator walks into a law firm and says he wants to buy a brownstone, a jet and a yacht. This isn’t the start of a joke. It’s the premise of the latest investigation by Global Witness, the anti-corruption organization co-founded by 2014 TED Prize winner Charmian Gooch. In an investigation revealed on 60 Minutes as well […]
She’s best described as the modern-day Indiana Jones. Using infrared imagery from satellites, she identifies ancient sites lost in time. In Egypt, she helped locate 17 potential pyramids, plus 1,000 potential forgotten tombs and 3,100 possible lost settlements. That’s in addition to her discoveries throughout the Roman Empire. Sarah Parcak uses 21st century technology to make the […]
An idea alone, even when paired with passion, is not enough to change the world. What makes change really lift off and take hold is collaboration — working together to bridge skills and know-how to transform reality. At TED@StateStreet, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, twelve speakers and two performance groups shared how, together, our collective genius […]
In 1831, Michael Faraday stood in a lecture hall and demoed an idea that changed everything: electromagnetic induction. This work paved the way for widespread use of electricity. On September 29, 2015, in the same lecture hall, attendees gathered for TEDGlobal>London to hear more ideas with the potential to shift reality. Sixteen TED speakers shared […]
How exactly do you ship fragile dinosaur bones? Or move a 12.5-ton locomotive through the air? And what are all the little things that have to happen to get relief supplies delivered when and where they’re needed? Employees at UPS think about these kinds of challenges all the time. It’s why the theme, “Think. Solve, Do.,” […]