Art cannot be created or destroyed -- only remixed. In a convincing talk from TEDGlobal 2012, director Kirby Ferguson explores the challenges of originality and freshness in a world where creativity takes root in what has come before. Without previous inventions we would not have the iPhone, the Model T Ford, Star Wars, Warhol’s soup cans, o...

It’s a piece of cake. You can't put lipstick on a pig. Why add fuel to the fire? Idioms are those phrases that mean more than the sum of their words. As our TED Translator volunteers translate TED Talks into 116 languages (and counting), they’re often challenged to translate English idioms into their language. Which made us wonder: what are ...

When 12-year-old Peyton Robertson sees a problem, he is going to fix it. So when the young scientist noticed a perennial problem in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida –flooding during the region’s nasty hurricane season – he set to work building a better sandbag. Peyton’s sandbag contains an expandable polymer that’s lightweight and eas...

TEDWomen 2019 explored topics ranging from immigration to climate change, from menopause to sexism and beyond. To interweave dazzling talks and introduce sessions, curators CC Hutten and Jonathan Wells handpicked a series of short videos that complemented the themes and narratives that ran throughout the conference. Their selections highlighted ...

TED-Ed Clubs give students the opportunity to research, write and present a TED-style talk about an idea they just can’t get out of their head. Over the course of a flexible 13-meeting program, students narrow in on an idea and learn how to communicate it in the most effective way possible. For some students, inspiration for their talk will come...

Epidemiologist Larry Brilliant remembers the day in 1974 when, while working for the United Nations in India, a mother handed him her young son, who had died only moments earlier from smallpox. Brilliant also remembers the day, about a year later, when he traveled by speedboat to an island in Bangladesh and met a 3-year-old girl who had surv...

By tracking social media, it turns out, we can get much better at recognizing pandemics early. Solving epidemics has been the goal of physician Larry Brilliant's career -- and the basis for his 2006 TED Prize wish, which he updated this year in a talk at TED2013, above. His wish called for an "International System for Total Early Disease Det...

TED curator Chris Anderson's guide to creating talks that are unforgettable.  A great TED Talk is proof that a carefully crafted short presentation can unlock empathy, stir excitement, spread knowledge and promote a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience’s worldview. Done right, a talk is more powe...

Brilliant video from TEDxBuenosAires: How can we connect the ideas of TED with the citizens of Buenos Aires? We called on the city's most remarkable speakers: Taxi drivers. Watch what happens.

This spring, TED headed on the road, visiting 14 cities across six continents on the hunt for untapped talent. The idea behind the sweeping search: to let you, the TED community, weigh in and vote on which speakers you’d like to see ascend the stage at TED2013. After holding one-night salons in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Doha, Johannesburg, Londo...

The final full day of TEDGlobal 2013 comprised three jampacked sessions. "State of the Nations" included insights from China, the Middle East, and thoughts for fixing the dysfunctional global system of governance. "Forces of Change," curated by TED Senior Fellows Erik Hersman and Adrian Hong, introduced us to fresh thinking about Africa, and pro...

In Session 4 of TEDWomen 2019, we tackled some big taboos — divorce, menopause, political dissent — and met the extraordinary people on the front lines of breaking them. The event: TEDWomen 2019, Session 4: Taboo Breakers, hosted by Corey Hajim and Shoham Arad When and where: Thursday, December 5, 2019, 2:30pm PT, at La Quinta Resort &...

The stage is set for TEDWomen 2019: Bold + Brilliant! In the opening session, we heard from an extraordinary lineup of truth tellers. Six speakers and two performers shined a light on issues ranging from immigration to leadership and inclusion -- and how we can shatter the glass ceiling once and for all -- sharing new ways to look at old pro...

This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through all the posts here. I caught up with a friend of mine a while ago. She's smart, she's brilliant, and she's talented. After we did the usual warm-up chitchat, she looked at me and sa...

The crowd has been a heated topic in recent years. We add our voice to the discussion with this themed session of TED2012. In this session: Cameron Carpenter, who brings drama, improv -- and glitter -- back to the majestic organ, "the king of instruments." Reid Hoffman is co-founder and executive chair of LinkedIn, and a partner wit...

Via the YouTube Blog: Last year, TED kicked off a challenge to the advertising industry called Ads Worth Spreading, our global search for innovation, ingenuity and intelligence in advertising. This year, we are delighted to announce that we’re now accepting entries to the current challenge through our Ads Worth Spreading channel on YouTube. ...

Pat Mitchell has nothing left to prove and much less to lose. Now more than ever, she cares less about what others say, speaks her mind freely — and she’s angry, too. She’s become a dangerous woman, through and through. Not dangerous, as in feared, but fearless; a force to be reckoned with. On the TEDWomen stage, she invites all women,...

Session 5 of TEDWomen 2019 is all about seeking meaning: in our political lives, creative lives, healthcare systems, criminal justice and beyond. The event: TEDWomen 2019, Session 5: Meaning Seekers, hosted by Helen Walters and Anna Verghese When and where: Thursday, December 5, 2019, 5pm PT, at La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta...

Photos: James Duncan Davidson Colin Robertson is a futurist and is not someone most people have heard of. And as he began his presentation, the crowd was treated to a TED speaker's worst nightmare: The slides crashed and the Mac multi-colored pizza-wheel of death appeared. Then an error message appeared on screen. Then another, and anothe...

. What kind of talk would a 9-year-old give? At TEDxKids@Sunderland, the first TED event held for those yet to celebrate their 10th birthday, we got to find out. With the help of their teachers, students at Thorney Close Primary School created their own TED talk, centered on a question they had often asked themselves.  In this amazing video -...

The TED community is grieving the loss of Zoe Anderson, the 24-year-old daughter of TED Curator Chris Anderson. She died tragically of carbon monoxide poisoning on December 28, 2010. Chris has posted this beautiful tribute to Zoe's life (including wonderful photos) and her many, many friends have created this Facebook Memorial for her. A ...

Update: Archives of the webcast are available in Spanish, Arabic and English free online until Tuesday, Nov. 17, at tedyouth.com » Get ready for the fifth annual TEDYouth, happening Saturday, Nov. 14. Hundreds of middle and high school students from all around New York City -- and you too! -- can watch a day of brilliant ideas, inspiratio...

In Africa, ebola has already killed hundreds and sickened more than a thousand people so far this year -- and the pandemic continues to spread into new countries. When did the current outbreak begin? Why can't it be stopped? How much should you freak out? 3 ideas behind the week's headlines. Source: “I am Richard Preston, author of “The Hot Zon...

The world’s cities are on pace to balloon from 3.6 billion inhabitants today to more than 6 billion by midcentury. As a result, we face both a dire emergency and a tremendous opportunity. At their best, our modern cities are hubs of human connection, fountains of creativity and exemplars of green living. Yet at the same time, they suffer the sym...

Have you seen an Ad Worth Spreading? Our nomination teams want to know. As part of the Ads Worth Spreading initiative for 2012, TED picked six teams of two -- a TED speaker or Fellow teamed with one of the brightest thinkers in advertising -- to find and nominate ads that showed intelligence and ingenuity. Each team was charged with finding ...

Amos Winter has married a wheelchair with a mountain bike and a lever. Why would he do this, you ask? To serve the 40 million people worldwide who need a wheelchair but don’t have access to one -- nor to the conveniences like elevators, ramps, sidewalk cutouts and bus lifts that make wheelchair use a possibility. As Winter explains in today’s...

Julian Treasure watches out for the ears. In the four TED Talks he's given so far, he's offered up "5 ways to listen better" and "Sound health in 8 steps." At TED2013, we asked him: What speakers have given you the best auditory experience so far? It was nice to hear Jinsop Lee today talking about the five senses. It's liberating to start ...

My last fight came after, of all things, the movie Pacific Rim.  As my moviegoing companion and I walked out of the theater, he said of Guillermo del Toro’s latest, “That was awesome.” I, on the other hand, thought it was just okay, managing to slightly elevate its robots-versus-aliens premise. At first, we slightly disagreed. But within ...

Musician Gotye posted this video over the weekend, titled “Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra.” It’s a remix of his song “Somebody That I Used To Know” crafted by bringing together the many individuals who’ve posted themselves playing the song. [YouTube] Perhaps Gotye took a note from Erik Whitacre, who gave the amazing TEDTalk “A virtual choir...

Enjoy these fascinating reads from across the internet: What can the healthcare system learn from chain restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory, Pizza Hut and Red Lobster? Atul Gawande explores. [New Yorker] Watch Atul’s brilliant talk from TED2012, “How do we heal medicine?” . In 2009, American students ranked 23rd in the world in sc...