Artist David Gurman's installations use live data feeds from conflict zones to trigger lights, tolling bells, shadows and more, connecting us to the rhythms and intensity of far-away violence in real time. How did you start thinking about conflict in art? I was interested in resonance and wave patterns and energetic exchanges as early as 1...

Our attention gets hijacked by everything from the stress in our lives to the ding of our phones. Neuroscientist Amishi Jha shows how we can cultivate the ability to focus on what really matters. “I think, therefore I am distracted.” If Descartes were writing today, this is what his famous aphorism might have become. We’re living in an age o...

Kiran Bedi's campaign to bring mindfulness to prisons was expressed in one amazing photo: 1,000 prisoners meditating in one room. Sheikha Al Mayassa (live via satellite from TEDxDoha) on cultural development in the Middle East: It must be done organically, from within the region. Naomi Klein: "Our underlying assu...

Gratefulness isn't always something that comes easily. Below, some reading and watching to get you into a thankful headspace. Watch: "Want to be happy? Be thankful." This TED Talk from David Steindl-Rast is the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer. In it, the Benedictine monk and interfaith scholar talks about what, exactly, it means to be gratefu...

One in four people have some form of mental illness, and Ruby Wax wants to talk about it. Watch her TEDTalk, posted today and inspired by her show Losing It, to start the conversation. One project she didn't get to mention onstage at TEDGlobal: This winter, Wax started up the Black Dog Tribe, an online network for people with mental illness ...

As the year comes to a close, the TED community is busy as ever. Below, a few highlights. Plant-robot hybrids are here. At the MIT Media Lab, researchers Pattie Maes and Harpreet Sareen have developed a new kind of “cybernetic lifeform”: a cyborg plant called Elowan that marries organic and digital technologies. Elowan’s robotic half track...

It’s a complaint we’ve all heard about the internet: all the cat videos and incessant celebrity gossip sites are making us, as a culture, stupider. However, digital community expert Howard Rheingold, doesn’t think that’s the case. In fact, he believes that both designing and using digital media can actually improve our intelligence. As Rheing...

When Shaka Senghor (Watch: Shaka Senghor: Why your worst deeds don’t define you) was nineteen, he shot and killed a man — and was sentenced to spend the second nineteen years of his life in jail. At first, Senghor sat in his cold cell and rationalized his worst deeds. “In the hood where I come from,” he says, “it’s better to be the shooter than ...

  Sometimes technology isn’t the answer to every problem. Even at the TED conference. At TED2016, TED partnered with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to run a blue-sky workshop session on creating a new healthy school from scratch, imagining new solutions to problems that plague educators, students, schools, and the communities that ...

Today, we're excited to bring the world of TED Talks further into your home with the new TED Talks skill for Amazon Alexa! Available on devices with Amazon Alexa including the Echo and Echo Dot, TED fans can now listen to the latest ideas from the world's greatest thinkers by voice command. For existing Alexa users, enable the skill by s...

Wise words and solid advice from BJ Miller, who thinks deeply about the end of life as head of the Zen Hospice Project. Death is an uncomfortable topic. Although we’re well-acquainted with platitudes that remind us to seize the moment and live each day like it’s our last, few of us devote real time to envisioning the end of our lives -- or the ...

As this calendar year draws to a close, many of us are making resolutions about personal growth and change. It's a great time, too, for making changes in our working lives. Most of us spend a good portion of our days doing some kind of work -- learning or teaching, making or planning, following or leading -- and it's worth thinking deeply on how...

While asking this question won't change your life, it can help pause your inner critic and create space for possibility, says therapist Susan Henkels. 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. Susan Henke...

In the noise of a city, peace and quiet can be hard to find. Australian composer and sound artist Jason Sweeney has a solution -- Stereopublic, a free smartphone app that lets users geo-locate and share their favorite tranquil city spaces. This week, in advance of TEDGlobal 2013, Stereopublic has launched a custom Edinburgh version of the ...

Anyone who has appreciated a meditative mental drift while knitting or mowing a lawn knows that there is something calming about engaging in a familiar, low-impact activity that requires minimal thought and bestows a clear sense of progress. That goes at least some of the way toward explaining the immense appeal of adult coloring books, which no...

When you’re anxious, one of the best things you can do is slow down and focus on your breath. But what can you do when you’re so anxious or worried that this doesn’t work or simply feels impossible to do? Below, I'll share a simple but effective trick that brings in more of your senses and helps cut through the anxiety so you can access more ...

Many people have tried to sell me on the idea of meditating. Sometimes I try it, and have an incredible, refreshing experience. But usually, as I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, while I know that I’m supposed to be letting all thoughts go, more and more fly through my mind. Soon I have a laundry-list of “to-dos” in my head … and then my...

TED2013, “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered,” begins in just 20 days and we at the TED Blog are gearing up to bring you live reporting on each of the 70 speakers who’ll be ascending the stage, not to mention assorted news from the scene in Long Beach, California. One thing we hope to see more of at this amazing event: props. There’s some...

On September 12, TED welcomed its latest class of the TED Residency program, an in-house incubator for breakthrough ideas. Residents spend four months in the TED office with fellow brilliant minds who are creatively taking on projects that are making significant changes in their communities, across many different fields   The new Resident...

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 ...

Many people are caregivers for their sick parents, partners, friends or others, with an unfortunate consequence: They end up suffering. TED speakers share steps that caregivers can take to help maintain their own well-being. Today, people in every country are living longer than ever. Globally, there are an estimated 962 million individuals aged...

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...

As we look ahead to a world with less work, or even no work, we can take control -- by using our hours with greater meaning and purpose, says business thinker Tim Leberecht. Many of us divide our days into 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure and 8 hours of sleep. But what will happen when a large number of jobs -- some studies say as much as 50...

By Kylie Dunn What do you get when you cross a 39-year-old perfectionist with 54 TED Talks and far more honesty than any person probably needs to experience? You get my Year of TED. I’ve been inspired by TED Talks for years, and felt the urge to do something noteworthy and challenging to ring in my fortieth year on the planet. Inspira...

Find repose by exciting the mind. Some of the world's leading thinkers offer the books that inspired them and their work. Skim the list for your favorite speakers, or get nerdy on a topic you've always wanted to know more about. Below find 52 books, recommended by TED speakers. Creativity Creative Confidence, by Tom Kelley and David Kelley Cr...

The winter holidays are a time of giving, but too often that means nonstop spending, shopping and stress. Read how one family boldly reimagined their annual gift swap. Giving presents is a fun way to show people we care about them. But as many of us know, giving presents during the December holiday season can cost a lot of money and cause a lot...

At day two of TED@PMI, six speakers shared ideas about creating change, shifting perspectives and connecting across diverse communities. (Check out the day one recap as well.) The event: TED@PMI, a two-day virtual event showcasing project leaders who turn ideas into action and impact. Hosted by PMI President and Chief Executive Officer Su...

In 1972, Matthieu Ricard had a promising career in biochemistry, trying to figure out the secrets of E. coli bacteria. A chance encounter with Buddhism led to an about turn, and Ricard has spent the past 40+ years living in the Himalayas, studying mindfulness and happiness. In this free-wheeling discussion at TED Global in October 2014, Ricard t...

Anxiety could be the price that we have to pay for freedom, suggests psychologist Steven Pinker. When it comes to happiness, many people are underachievers. Americans are laggards among their first-world peers, and their happiness has stagnated in the era sometimes called the American Century. The Baby Boomers, despite growing up in peace and p...

On March 6, TED welcomed its latest class to the TED Residency program. As an in-house incubator for breakthrough ideas, Residents spend four months in the TED office with other exceptional people from all over the map. Each has a project that promises to make a significant contribution to the world, across several different fields. The new R...