John Hunter puts all the problems of the world on a 4’x5′ plywood board — and lets his 4th-graders solve them. At TED2011, he explains how his World Peace Game engages schoolkids, and why the complex lessons it teaches — spontaneous, and always surprising — go further than classroom lectures can. (Recorded at TED2011, March […]
In February at TEDActive 2011, the TEDActive Projects were launched. Five teams came together to explore, collaborate and act on five vital issues: education, mobility, sustainability, social networks and travel, sharing ideas about how to create attitude shifts that might produce positive change. Now we’re taking those crowd-sourced solutions up a notch, and asking our […]
Most of us will do anything to avoid being wrong. But what if we’re wrong about that? “Wrongologist” Kathryn Schulz makes a compelling case for not just admitting but embracing our fallibility.(Recorded at TED2011, March 2011, in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 17:57) [ted id=1126] Watch Kathryn Schulz’s talk on TED.com where you can download it, […]
By leading the Americans in his audience at TEDxPSU step by step through the thought process, sociologist Sam Richards sets an extraordinary challenge: can they understand — not approve of, but understand — the motivations of an Iraqi insurgent? And by extension, can anyone truly understand and empathize with another? (Recorded at TEDxPSU, October 2010 […]
NEW: Video auditions are closed; thank you for entering! This year we’re holding the first-ever audition for TED Talks. It will take place in New York in front of a live audience made up of TED staff and members of the TED community. The audition will be recorded, and the best talks could either be […]
Pioneering surgeon Susan Lim performed the first liver transplant in Asia. But a moral concern with transplants (where do donor livers really come from …) led her to look further, and to ask: Could we be transplanting cells, not whole organs? At the INK Conference, she talks through her new research, discovering healing cells in […]
Using wikis and digital fabrication tools, TED Fellow Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing the blueprints for 50 farm machines, allowing anyone to build their own tractor or harvester from scratch. And that’s only the first step in a project to write an instruction set for an entire self-sustaining village (starting cost: $10,000). (Recorded at TED2011, March […]
When film critic Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw to cancer, he lost the ability to eat and speak. But he did not lose his voice. In a moving talk from TED2011, Ebert and his wife, Chaz, with friends Dean Ornish and John Hunter, come together to tell his remarkable story. (Recorded at TED2011, March […]
Fifty years ago, April 12, 1961, was one of the most extraordinary moments in human history: a spacecraft carried a passenger, Yuri Gagarin, into space, and back again safely. It’s probably impossible to overstate the magnitude of that achievement, or the repercussions it would have. To give some context, here are three TEDTalks on the […]
We’re happy to announce that TED has been nominated for five Webby Awards this year, four for TED.com and one for TEDTalks. (And we’re thrilled to be in such excellent company too.) Between today and April 28, you can vote for TED in the People’s Voice voting campaign. Sign in here using your Facebook profile, […]
Local politics — schools, zoning, council elections — hit us where we live. So why don’t more of us actually get involved? Is it apathy? Dave Meslin says no. He identifies 7 barriers that keep us from taking part in our communities, even when we truly care. (Recorded at TEDxToronto, October 2010, in Toronto, Ontario. […]
Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting 18 minutes. This is “Big History”: an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline. (Recorded at TED2011, March 2011, in Long Beach, […]
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock answered questions from the TED community this morning — about his work, about what inspires him and about the future of documentary film. It’s a lively and thoughtful conversation. Thanks to everyone who joined in! Read TED’s crowdsourced Q&A with Morgan Spurlock >>
At noon Eastern / 9am Pacific on Saturday, jump into our question-and-answer session with filmmaker Morgan Spurlock — maker of The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. You’re invited to use TED Conversations to ask questions for Morgan to answer. (We just had fun doing one of these Q&As with Hans Rosling.) It’s a chance to ask […]
Groundbreaking media experiment Basetrack sought to rejig how America’s wars are reported. TED Fellow Teru Kuwayama harnessed the communication tools of our time to present embedded reportage in a whole new way. Following the deployment of 1/8 – 1st Battalion, Eighth Marines – to southern Afghanistan, Basetrack’s embedded media team collaborated with soldiers to tell […]
Activist Caroline Casey tells the story of her extraordinary life, starting with a revelation (no spoilers). In a talk that challenges perceptions, Casey asks us all to move beyond the limits we may think we have. (Recorded at TEDWomen, December 2010, in Washington, DC. Duration: 15:34) [ted id=1116] Watch Caroline Casey’s talk on TED.com where […]