The Internet may help authoritarian regimes more than it hurts them, argues Evgeny Morozov in his new book, The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. Born to a mining family in Belarus, Evgeny himself was once a firm believer in the power of new media to liberate oppressed people. His experience and research, however, have convinced...

By Shyam Sankar and Gabe Rosen The Internet is the new Wild West, a frontier big enough for every pioneer and outlaw to roam free. Today, The New York Times revealed that hackers in China had spent the last four months infiltrating its computer systems and pilfering employee passwords. As in the old West, it’s not a question of if you’ll ...

Hacking is a term that prompts intense emotions, as we’ve seen in recent years with the likes of Kevin Mitnick, Evgeniy Bogachev and Sabu. But one thing’s clear: hackers can draw attention to important issues like nobody’s business. And by exposing weaknesses in our current online systems, they often help the web both evolve and improve. Such fo...

In 2009, political scientist P.W. Singer gave a TED Talk in which he predicted that the growing use of robots in war would change the realities of combat. Four years, and thousands of US drone strikes later, he talks to journalist Matthew Power; an edited version of their conversation follows. Matthew Power: In a recent article you discussed ...

For the past four years, TED has held an annual evening salon in New York City to find talents, voices and ideas that the world needs to hear. At TED@NYC, an energetic audience gathers over dinner and drinks and watches a passionate lineup of speakers deliver short, rapid-fire talks and performances. The twist? For this event, we put out an op...

Announcing the speaker lineup for TEDGlobal 2011 -- happening July 11-15, 2011, in Edinburgh, and via webcast around the world. The 12 sessions of TEDGlobal expand on the overall conference theme, "The Stuff of Life," with session titles such as "Bodies," "Bad Guys," "Coded Patterns" ... TEDGlobal is hosted by Bruno Giussani, TED's Europ...

Tempest tells Mashable that he plans to customize Baxter with actual hands. And as he goes, he’ll be sharing the programming for the robot with both MIT and GitHub. As Tempest tells the site, “It’s time for magicians and technologists to collaborate.”

In today’s talk, Lyne talks cybercrime, revealing some of the new methods that hackers and malicious code writers are using to grab our data. And he shows how we accidentally share that data -- without even realizing it. For example, did you know that most smartphones embed GPS data in the photos we take? He asks, “As we play with these shiny ...

In a time that feels unsettled and uncertain, technology and those who create it will play a crucial role in what’s coming next. How do we define that future, as opposed to letting it define us? At a special TED Salon held as part of the Dell Technologies World conference and hosted by TED's Simone Ross, four speakers shared ideas for buildi...

Some employees can work 9am to 5pm, five days a week. Others are available on evenings and weekends. But in today’s talk, filmed at the TEDSalon in London, entrepreneur Wingham Rowan describes another type of worker -- one who has a highly unpredictable schedule. “Think of someone who has a recurring but unpredictable medical condition, s...

Instead of looking at a foreign language as an art to be mastered and perfected, think of it as a tool you can use to get a result, says communication skills trainer Marianna Pascal. 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 paradox of finding peace in a war zone, and a way to make aid more effective -- by decentralizing it and thus speeding it up. Each week, TEDx chooses four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Below, this week’s talks, wh...

A TED Talk is generally an auditory experience. But Fever Picture, a collective of graphic mavens who translate the ideas expressed at conferences into graphic form, have changed that. Earlier this week, they thrilled us with their comic versions of the first half of TED2013. Here, their renderings of the second half of the conference. ...

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, is credited with saying this first -- and in a fast-paced talk from TEDGlobal 2012 University, marketer Tim Leberecht takes Bezos’ observation as a jumping-off point. “Hyperconnectivity allows companies to be in that room now,...

Just in time for the second season of TED Talks India, Bollywood actor, producer and series host Shah Rukh Khan selects 8 talks that have inspired him and tells us why. Nearly two years ago, TED launched its first-ever TV series in India: TED Talks India: Nayi Soch (New Thinking). Filmed in Hindi, hosted by actor and producer Shah Rukh Khan, an...

At TED2009, military analyst P.W. Singer spoke about how drones are changing warfare. It was fascinating -- and sobering. This month, Singer directs our attention to a different way technology can intersect with malice in his new book, Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know, co-authored by Allan Friedman. Below, an excerpt tha...

In this morning’s first session of short, sharp talks from the TED Fellows, an impressive lineup of world-changers share their ideas for seeing the world in new ways -- like an AI that might help us see cancer symptoms, or a fresh view on how refugees really live, or a long-term study that's detecting a social network for fish. The mornin...

For many, the words “professional development” conjure up memories of sitting in a human resources office, watching a series of awkward training videos and then taking a mandatory quiz. The TED Distribution Team realized: it doesn’t need to be this way. Earlier this year, they started to think about how companies could use TED Talks to get p...

Inspired by JD Schramm’s powerful TEDTalk on surviving a suicide attempt, this list of resources has been updated to help you widen your understanding of mental health, depression, suicide and suicide prevention. Whether you’re an attempt survivor, a concerned family member or friend, or struggling with suicidal thoughts yourself, this list offe...

"It takes courage to uncover the truth," says Chris Anderson, opening the first session of TED2015, Opening Gambit. "The speakers this week -- their courage and brilliance are going to rewire your brain. This dare thing is not just for them -- it's for all of us." These six speakers set the tone for Truth & Dare: The mega-challenge of...

Monica Lewinsky is one of very few people over the age of 40 who has no interest in being 22 again. “At the age of 22, I fell in love with my boss,” she says bluntly as she begins her talk on the TED2015 stage, her hands clasped in front of her. “At the age of 24, I learned the devastating consequences. “ Lewinsky asks for a show of ha...

There are moments when the world begins to shift beneath our feet. Sometimes slowly, sometimes dramatically. Now more than ever we are living and working in an era of exponential technological advancement. How we address rapid change, what collaborative relationships we create, how we find our humanity -- all this will determine the future w...

Technology thriller author, most recently of the book Kill Decision, Daniel Suarez has been thinking about drones for some time. But as he says, as he stands onstage at TEDGlobal 2013, he's not here to talk fiction. "I'm here to talk about very real autonomous combat drones," he says, adding that he doesn't mean remotely piloted drones such ...

Photo: James Duncan Davidson Admiral James Stavridis is the Supreme Commander of NATO. He is a proponent of what he calls open-source security. He is looking at 21st century security in a very different way than we've looked at security before. From walls to bridges Looking back to the security paradigm of the recent past, he shows ...

In an incredible session, speakers and performers laid out the biggest problems facing the world -- from political and economic catastrophe to rising violence and deepfakes -- and some new thinking on solutions. The event: TEDSummit 2019, Session 3: The Big Rethink, hosted by Corey Hajim and Cyndi Stivers When and where: Tuesday, July ...

People and businesses routinely use five techniques to get us to do what they want, says presenter and broadcaster Alexis Conran. Here's  how to recognize them. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community; browse through all the posts here. M...

Meet the new class of TEDGlobal 2017 Fellows! Representing 18 countries -- including, for the first time in our program, Somalia, Uruguay, Liberia and Zimbabwe -- this class clears a high bar of talent, creativity and eccentricity. Among those selected, you'll find a Somali computer scientist catalyzing the tech scene in Somalia and Somalila...

There’s a lot of news to share from the TEDizens of the world in the past month. Just a few highlights: Monica Lewinsky inspires Caitlyn Jenner. As Caitlyn Jenner introduces herself to the world, and navigates the media frenzy surrounding her new life, she has Monica Lewinsky’s TED Talk in the back of her mind. In Vanity Fair’s much-discussed p...

This year has been marked by upheaval on a global scale -- and many of us are wondering: What will happen next? Satellite archaeologist and TED Prize winner Sarah Parcak shares three examples from the ancient past that offer lessons for today. 2016 has been a bruising year. We’ve had the highly contentious election in the US, the divisive Brexi...

When taxpayer money goes to companies with murky ownership, it may put lives in danger and support shady actors. The watchdog group Global Witness shows what can happen when a government ends up working with anonymous companies. In February 2017, President Trump proposed a $54 billion increase to the annual defense budget. His proposal raised e...