"Using a powerful particle gun, we would shoot small pieces of matter through the force field and into the antimatter to make small, controlled bursts of energy --which we could then harness and put into batteries." This quote reads like a line of dialogue from a science fiction movie. But the (exponentially more exciting) truth is that i...

When Janet Echelman’s paints went missing, she didn’t let it stop her from making art for her upcoming show deadline. In this classic talk from TED2011, “Taking imagination seriously,” Echelman tells the story of her determination to use the materials surrounding her as inspiration. Despite numerous rejections from art school, she found that...

Last time we saw Stewart Brand on the TED stage was in 2010, in his debate with Mark Z. Jacobson over whether the world needs nuclear energy. Brand, perhaps surprisingly, gave a passionate pro argument. But today he's here for a very different -- and potentially very controversial -- purpose. Extinction is not just death, but death for ev...

We all know sustainability is essential to our future, in vague terms. But what does that mean for the choices we make every day? In other words: paper or plastic? For one thing, design consultant Leyla Acaroglu wants you to think beyond choosing a material for your grocery tote. Instead, she encourages us to think about the entire life of a...

This green roof and farm offer a Swiss army knife of solutions -- flood control, solar energy, fresh produce, green space for city dwellers, jobs, learning opportunities, and more -- to some of our most pressing urban problems. Landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom tells us how it works. Could cities actually be designed to improve the envir...

We depend on each other, and we can accomplish very little if we can't work together. What better way is there to spend our time than with each other? Hosted by journalists (and married couple) Courtney E. Martin and John Cary, Session 2 of TEDWomen 2016 featured five pairs of speakers and one performer exploring the time we share together. T...

Behold, your recap of TED-related news: Remembering Billy Graham. For more than 60 years, pastor Billy Graham inspired countless people around the world with his sermons. On Wednesday, February 21, he passed away at his home in North Carolina after struggling with numerous illnesses over the past few years. He was 99 years old. Raised on ...

Brothers Rich + Tone Talauega are choreographers whose energy is so powerful one performance makes the whole room seem to vibrate. This morning at TED, with the help of music producer Keith Harris, they unleash an eclectic menagerie of dance forms that meld martial arts, hip-hop and classical dance. The intensity is palpable across the theat...

Welcome to the TEDActive 2012 Projects! Whether or not you're attending TEDActive in Palm Springs next week, you're invited to join a few brainstorms and get ideas flowing around six big topics. Jump into the online discussions, find other amazing people and spark collaborative conversation on Facebook. There are six projects listed below...

Particle physics. To some, the words may produce anxiety. And while, yes, it is complicated -- it is far from incomprehensible. On May 3, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, better known as CERN, held its first TEDx event, an illuminating look at how particle physics intersects with other disciplines. As part of TEDxCERN, physicists...

Going to an outdoor event during the steamy months of summer generally involves packing a miniature fan and slathering yourself in sunscreen, as most venues do little to shade attendees in the cheap seats. This is something Wolfgang Kessling, of the German climate engineering firm Transsolar, would like to change. In a talk at the TEDxSummit in ...

Janet Echelman reshapes urban airspace with monumental, fluidly moving sculpture that responds to environmental forces. Daniel Tammet is a high-functioning autistic savant, has synesthesia, and has an astonishing brain. "Personal perceptions are at the heart of how we acquire knowledge." Fiorenzo Omenetto has found game-changin...

Photos: James Duncan Davidson Vy Higginsen introduces the Gospel for Teens section of the Mama Foundation for the Arts, an organization she founded in 1998. The program is a way to teach teenagers the art of gospel music. "We want them to know who they are and where they come from musically," she explains, as the choir begins to hum b...

Standing on the TED stage looking stunning in a blue dress, neuroscientist and author Sandra Aamodt  reveals that three and a half years ago on New Year's Eve, she made a decision: She gave worrying about her weight. Instead, she learned to eat mindfully -- and lost 10 pounds. For Aamodt, who had been dieting unsuccessfully for 30 years, thi...

The old take-make-use-lose model of industrial design has depleted resources and dumped waste into the environment. By taking nature as our model and mentor, we can transform manufacturing -- and the earth, says economist Kate Raworth. Traveling through Europe a few years ago, I met Prakash, a student from India who was studying for an advanced...

Björk commissioned some truly unusual instruments for her Biophilia tour, which is headed to Paris next in 2013. The Icelandic songstress, who revealed her favorite TED Talks earlier this month, shares the stage with a sharpsicord, a gameleste and a musical Tesla coil. But perhaps the most dramatic instrument is a gravity harp, which stands ...

Good design has the power to improve lives. Yesterday, Public Interest Design -- a group dedicated to design for social good -- released the Global Public Interest Design 100, a list of 100 "designers" (including some people you really might not expect) who are designing for the good of all. We love this sweeping list of 100 architects, designer...

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 that landed in California on April 24 aft...

TED playlists are collections of talks around a topic, built specially for you in a thoughtful sequence to illuminate ideas in context. This weekend, two new playlists are available: Animals that amaze and The end of oil? Animals that amaze At TED there's a certain species of speaker who is absolutely devoted to all kinds of weird beasts...

In today's TED Talk, guerilla gardner Ron Finley tells the story of how he was issued a citation, and then a warrant for his arrest, all for planting delicious vegetables in the 150 x 10 foot patch of earth in front of his house in South Central, Los Angeles. It's a rousing talk -- one that will make you want to stand up and cheer ... and ma...

TED2018 hit its stride on day 3, with talks from explorers of space and oceans, builders of cities and bridges, engineers of the future and many more. Here are some of the themes we heard echoing through the opening day, as well as some highlights from around the conference venue in Vancouver. Are we alone in the cosmos? The universe is 13...

TED Conversations is a unique space where any member of this community can get feedback on an idea, pose an interesting question, or start a fascinating debate with fellow TEDizens from around the globe. This week, dozens of new conversations were started on a variety of topics — from the history of the Industrial Revolution to advice on writing...

New Delhi's streets are epic -- trucks, cars, cows and, especially, bicycle rickshaws, three-wheeled carriers that can zip through traffic, pedaled by a very, very hard-working driver. Growing up in New Delhi, Avani Singh passed them every day on her way to school. And her route also passed the city's slums. In this city of 17 million, the New D...

Have you ever wanted to watch Hans Rosling premiere a brand-new talk live onstage? In just 4 hours, at 7:30 AST / 4:30pm GST / 12:30pm EDT, tune in to tedxsummit.ted.com or watch on AlJazeera.com to watch a free two-hour livestream from TEDxSummit Opening Night, a full session of TED with speakers, performers and TED magic. Hans ...

Volcanoes have a certain hypnotic appeal -- but would you want one in your backyard? Photographer Cris Toala Olivares introduces us to the humans who co-exist with these unstable and sometimes deadly forces of nature. In 2014, photographer Cris Toala Olivares traveled to Mount Tungurahua in central Ecuador to answer a question that intrigued hi...

If you're here from MetaFilter, hi! We're planning to post this talk in November. --eds Andreas Raptopoulos wants to serve the 1 billion people on Earth with no access to all-season roads -- the one-seventh of the world's population that is too often cut off from critical medicines, supplies and goods. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 85% of ...

. Dutch artist and engineer Theo Jansen introduced us to a new form of life at TED2007—nimble kinetic sculptures that he crafts out of electric tubes and fans which gather wind energy. Jansen shared his idea: that his sculptures that could live as a herd on the beach and survive on their own. Salazar, a director’s collective in Vancouver,...

Massive protests didn’t stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from being built, but we should try to measure their success in other ways -- by the lessons learned and by all the people and communities empowered, says tribal attorney Tara Houska. “You could feel the energy in the air. You could feel the resistance happening,” said activist, attorney a...

At TEDxTehran, one volunteer is a gold medal swimmer. Another is a personal chef. Of the volunteers for this event, which will take place on February 14, 75% are bilingual. Meanwhile, 30% speak three languages. Organizer Sara Mohammadi decided to create a visualization, below, of the TEDxTehran volunteers because the process of interviewing t...

Why in the world did I do that? How can I do better? Chances are you've asked yourself these questions at least once today. To understand how your mind works and how you can improve your decision-making, explore these six psychology and behavioral economics books, each one recommended by a TED Talks speaker. Why did I do that? "Edward L....