In today’s bold TED Talk, model Cameron Russell -- who has walked runways for Victoria’s Secret and Chanel -- mulls over what it means to be beautiful. To her, being beautiful is a matter of chance; she happened to be one of the people in the world born with a set of physical traits -- height, femininity, white skin, shiny hair -- that our cultu...

Communication in 2013 looks so different from what it ever has before. Will technology be the ruin of all that is good and true in language? We don't think so. The speakers in this session explore how the future will bring even greater shifts in how we communicate -- and it may well be for the better. Here, the speakers who appeared in this s...

It’s Halloween — and the only thing scarier than Ebola this week is Ebola paranoia. Should you panic in bowling alleys? How justified is your fear of hospitals? Are mandatory quarantines even legal in the U.S., anyway? 3 ideas behind the news. Source: "Thomas Eric Duncan and Craig Spencer: Race, nationality and rhetoric of Ebola patients," Slat...

Growing old in traditional societies Jared Diamond is the author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, which was a provocative answer to the question of why Europe dominated the world for much of recent history. More recently, he has written The World Before Yesterday, an investigation of traditional societies, and what the modern world might le...

Arianna Huffington's small idea to help you unlock your big ideas: Sleep more. "I learned the hard way the value of sleep," said Arianna Huffington at TEDWomen in 2010. "Two and a half years ago, I fainted from exhaustion, and I hit my head on my desk." (Watch: Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep.) Since then, the media mogul has...

Eric Dishman is used to thinking about how technology can transform the world of health care. As an Intel Fellow and general manager of the company’s Health Strategy & Solutions Group, his job is all about finding innovative new approaches to healthcare. And he’s no stranger to talking about them. At TEDMED 2009, in the talk featured to...

These works are part of a larger global art initiative that spans 10 cities on 3 continents, all launching on 10.10.2020 as part of Countdown. Go here on 10.10 to see all of the works revealed.  Our climate is in a state of crisis. But at a time when attention is being pulled in every direction by phone alerts, social media posts, emails ...

With just three weeks to go before the 2012 presidential election in the US, eyes around the world are on the contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. As shown in last night's debate, the election may well come down to a few key issues. So what matters most to Americans? The TED Blog read this Gallup poll on the issues that citizens wan...

As usual, the TED community has lots of news to share this week. Below, some highlights. A subway line with museum-worthy art. After 45 years of construction and $4.5 billion spent, the first section of New York City’s Second Avenue subway line opened on January 1 with four stations. Maybe the best feature of the new line? The amazing art...

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. Listening may not be the most exciting part of conversation, but it's essential if you want to have a meaningful exchange with another person. Think about a tim...

How can humans survive if the world gets drier? Here's one scientist's answer ... so-called "resurrection" crops. Ever since humanity began to farm our own food, we’ve faced an unpredictable frenemy: rain. It comes and goes without much warning, and a field of lush leafy greens one year can crackle, dry up and blow away the next. Food security ...

How is it that science classes have become about memorization and filling in the right circle on a Scantron sheet, rather than about doing hands-on experiments and activities that reveal the wonder of the world around us? It’s a problem that Tyler DeWitt tackled in yesterday’s talk, “Hey science teachers -- make it fun.” And it’s a warning bell ...

Maker, innovator, and cottage industrialist Dominic Muren wants making to be open, global and modular. He's just launched his latest project, Alchematter -- an online open source platform that breaks down and spells out instructions on how to make, well, anything. He gives us the ins and outs of the site, covering everything from reverse crowd...

Being announced right now in Washington, DC: A brand-new X Challenge to combat oil spills. The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge is a $1.4 million prize to promote development of new technologies and techniques to capture spilled oil. As Peter Diamandis said at the announcement: "We are not rewarding someone for existing technology. We w...

Photo: Tokey + Associates, Calgary, AB, Canada During TED2012, we asked TED Live members to submit their own creative ways to spell out TED, then had members vote on their favorite. The winner? Susan Macaulay's TED Full Spectrum in the snow. Susan is from Magog, Canada, and is a longtime TED enthusiast and member. She also made us a funny...

Greg Gage, onstage at TED Fellows Talks. Photo: Ryan Lash On the afternoon before TED2012 mainstage sessions begin, the Center Theater was packed to the rafters for two sessions of TED Fellows talks. Here's what happened ... Christine Marie, shadow artist With a clap of thunder and a flash of light, the TED2012 Fellows talks open with...