The world is experiencing the consequences of climate change and the urgency couldn't be more clear. In Session 3 of TEDWomen 2019, we dug deep into some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time -- exploring solutions and the many ways people across the globe are fighting for change. The event: TEDWomen 2019, Session 3: Plane...

"Thousands have lived without love; none without water," said Sylvia Earle as she stood on the TED stage five years ago, accepting the 2009 TED Prize. Wearing a blue blazer and an aura of resolve, Earle quoted this verse from poet W.H. Auden as she laid out a bold wish for the world: that we all wise up to the gravity of human impact on our ...

One hint: it often ends with the letters “est.” And it can lead to competition and disappointment, says psychologist and workplace researcher Shawn Achor. Some people treat praise like a limited commodity. They believe that the key to advancement and success must be to absorb and rack up as much recognition and admiration as possible. This is t...

It's a fact: Dangle a cat video in front of almost anyone, and they’ll drop everything to watch it. It’s something that conservationist and entrepreneur Ashwin Naidu is counting on. He is hoping that fishing cats -- little-known, endangered, wetland-dwelling felines like the one shown above -- grab our attention and galvanize us caring about ...

The establishment of dozens of “healing forests” is part of South Korea’s surprising prescription to improve its citizens’ health and wellbeing. Journalist Florence Williams takes a walk in the woods to learn more about this intriguing approach to public health. Park Hyun-Soo didn’t look like a man on chemotherapy. Forty-one and with a full hea...

We all have a story to tell. And in my work as curator of the TEDWomen conference, I've had the pleasure of providing a platform to some of the best stories and storytellers out there. Beyond their TED Talk, of course, many TEDWomen speakers are also accomplished authors -- and if you liked them on the TED stage, odds are you will enjoy spending...

This week, religious scholar and 2008 TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong released 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life, a practical guide to the understanding and practice of compassion. On Christmas eve, the TED Blog had a chat with Karen about the ways people around the world are embracing the Charter for Compassion -- the result of her TED Priz...

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...

If you’d like to see the ways your mind is leading you astray, it’s not enough to look at what you’re thinking. You need to examine how you’re thinking, too. Psychologist Joan Rosenberg names five faulty thinking patterns and tells how you can start to change them. If you looked at the contents of your mind, would most of your thoughts be posit...

  With TED2016 quickly approaching, what better way to get ready than with a good book (or two, or three)? Before the conference starts on February 15, explore these reads by some of our speakers. Life in the future: Exegesis by Astro Teller. A science-fiction tale of a self-aware, artificially intelligent machine and its creator grappl...

On September 11, TED welcomed its latest class to the TED Residency program, an in-house incubator for breakthrough ideas. Residents spend four months in TED’s New York headquarters with other exceptional people from all over the map—including the Netherlands, the UK, Tennessee and Georgia. The new Residents include: A filmmaker crea...

Around 39 million people in the world are affected by blindness -- 80% of which could be avoided if people had timely access to diagnosis and proper treatment. The problem is that in many developing countries, most eye care providers are in cities, while the majority of patients live in hard-to-reach rural areas. To bridge this gap, London-b...

Imagine 20-foot-tall shadows -- animated by live performers -- that pop out right next to you. TED Fellow Christine Marie creates an immersive, experimental theater of shadows that layers textured, colored light into wordless storytelling. But while her productions involve 3D stereoscopic effects and feel amazingly cinematic, it's all done witho...

In October 2019, Jane Fonda launched “Fire Drill Fridays,” weekly protests centered on climate change and calling for an end to new fossil fuels, a just transition to a renewable economy, and demands that Congress pass the Green New Deal. The protests began in Washington DC, and in February 2020, Fonda joined forces with Greenpeace and other all...

Photo: James Duncan Davidson Andrew Stanton is the writer behind the three hugely successful Pixar Toy Story movies as well as the writer and director of WALL-E, the opening sequence of which will go down in, well, my personal history as being one of the most beautiful animation pieces of all time. His new live action movie, John Carter, ...

The Dalai Lama is both a futurist and a visionary, says author Daniel Goleman. There was a child born to illiterate villagers in an isolated village. He had to flee his homeland and has been a man without a country for more than half a century. He has never owned a home or a car or had a salary, let alone investments of any kind. He never ha...

Welcome to "Dear Guy," TED's advice column from NYC psychologist Guy Winch. Twice a month, he'll answer your questions about life -- about your relationships, your job (or jobs), your family (or families), your passions, fears and more. Please send your questions to dearguy@ted.com; to read his previous columns, go here. Dear Guy: I'm incre...

Lon Hodge and his labradoodle, Gander, are at a McDonald’s near the Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois, a quick stop for a bite as they travel across the United States. “He never leaves my side,” Hodge explains to a curious woman, patting Gander on the flank. “He’s special.” Hodge and Gander are on the road interviewing the families of...

What does it mean to be “good” at stress? Does it mean you don’t get stressed out? That you stay calm under pressure and bounce back from adversity? Actually, no. The truth of stress as I’ve researched it shows two important things. Firstly, that trying to avoid it is fundamentally counterproductive. Secondly, that thinking that we can emerge...

This post is part of TED’s “Build Back Better” series, featuring thought leaders and change agents evaluating our systems and practices to create a more sustainable, efficient and just world. To see more ideas from the series, go here. What will the world -- and specifically, the world of work -- look like over the next decade? While m...

The comment I'd like to highlight this week was left on Jen Brea's TED Talk by Serena Morriss, who is currently suffering with ME. Although many community members have shared their personal experiences with the condition, Serena also asks those of us who are physically well to do more than listen. For anyone moved by the Jennifer's struggle, and...

When we're overwhelmed by emotions, we’re usually not our best selves. We may blow up, say hurtful things or burst into tears. But what if we had a tool we could use to turn down the temperature at those times? Psychologist Marc Brackett has a helpful strategy. As founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, psychologist Mar...

Yes, we all do these things, but they can suck the life from your conversations, says sound consultant Julian Treasure. Read this and strengthen your gift of gab. Over the years, I’ve identified a set of common emotional drivers that suck the power out of communication. I call them the four leeches. Most people -- me included! -- have most, or ...

Minou Norouzi is breaking the rules when it comes to documentary filmmaking. Read on to learn how this Austrian-Iranian found the courage to step outside the lines. Interactive Fellows Friday Feature: Join the conversation by answering Fellows’ weekly questions via Facebook. This week, Minou asks: How can uncertainty be perceived as...

When TED2012 Senior Fellow Nina Tandon (watch her TED Talk) isn’t researching how electrical stimulation encourages tissue growth at Columbia University, she’s teaching bioelectricity across town at Cooper Union. Now, with TEDinClass, she’s been connecting students to the TED community using TED’s Live Conversation platform – starting an excha...

Countdown is a global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. Watch the talks, interviews and performances from the Countdown Global Launch at ted.com/countdown. Today, 10.10.2020, is the climate's day of destiny: the Countdown Global Launch, a call to action on climate change and the first-ever free TED conference. L...

Around 39 million people in the world are affected by blindness -- 80% of which could be avoided if people had timely access to diagnosis and proper treatment. The problem is that in many developing countries, most eye care providers are in cities, while the majority of patients live in hard-to-reach rural areas. To bridge this gap, London-bas...

What might our clothes look like in 50 years? When textile designer Suzanne Lee was researching her book, Fashioning the Future, she found the most interesting answers to that question when she looked beyond the traditional borders of fashion design. Beyond cut, color and cloth, our style in 50 years will be driven by new materials from the ...

Some wonderful comments to choose from this week ... so I chose two: I like Amy's comment for a few reasons. It is in response to a comment that implied that depression could be a good thing, which can stir up many emotions for those people that depression has been anything but good too. When something hits so close to home, we tend to ...

Phil Hansen has tattooed bananas, drawn a portrait on stacked Starbucks cups and created a Jimi Hendrix portrait out of matches, which he then burned. In other words, he isn’t the kind of artist who feels bound to paint on canvas. So how did Hansen happen upon such fascinating methods? By embracing a major limitation -- a hand tremor that mad...