Even the most advanced prosthetic isn't useful if it's hard to wear. This observation guides TED Fellow David Sengeh's work at the Biomechatronics group in the MIT Media Lab.

Amanda Little is a professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University.

The Beirut Marathon is the largest running event in the Middle East. May El-Khalil founded it as an instrument of peace.

Tracy Edwards MBE battled against the odds (and the sea) to become the first woman to win the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy.

Maurizio Seracini uses advanced tools common in engineering and medical labs to unravel centuries-old mysteries of art.

Psychiatrist and addiction expert Judson Brewer researches mindfulness techniques that effectively help quell cravings of all kinds.

Nnedi Okorafor weaves African cultures into the evocative settings and memorable characters of her science fiction work for kids and adults.

Beth Ford is president and CEO of Land O'Lakes, a production and agribusiness company and a nearly 100-year-old farmer-owned cooperative.

The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys is made up of 11-year-old banjo sensation Jonny Mizzone and his brothers Robbie, 14, on fiddle, and Tommy, 15, on guitar.

Louise Leakey hunts for hominid fossils in East Africa, in the family tradition.

Duarte Geraldino is working on a multi-year project that chronicles the lives of citizens who lose people to deportation.

David Keith studies our climate, and the many ideas we've come up with to fix it. A wildly original thinker, he challenges us to look at climate solutions that may seem daring, sometimes even shocking.

By day, Judy MacDonald Johnston develops children's reading programs. By night, she helps others maintain their quality of life as they near death.

Elizabeth Lindsey is a fellow of the National Geographic Society. Her mission: to keep ancestral voices alive by recording indigenous wisdom and traditions.

Jorge Drexler is a musician and the first Uruguayan to win an Oscar. His music plays with genre and influence, combining subtle harmonies and regional styles with electronic effects.

Vincent Cochetel is the Director of the Bureau for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Charles P. Smith is a branch manager with Wells Fargo. He is also a veteran’s advocate with more than fifteen years of military experience, including four years as a Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy.

Singer-songwriter Stew spins improvisatory songs drawn from his seemingly endless stable of stories and ideas. His musical Passing Strange won a Tony for Best Book in 2008.

Gian Giudice is a theoretical physicist who has contributed greatly to our present understanding of particle physics and cosmology.

As a member of the California Highway Patrol with assignments including patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge, Sergeant Kevin Briggs and his staff are the last barriers between would-be suicides and the plunge to near-certain death.

Tweeting (and covering Bowie) from the International Space Station last year, Colonel Chris Hadfield reminded the world how much we love space.

Jose Antonio Vargas, author of "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen," is the founder of Define American, a nonprofit organization that uses stories to shift the narrative on immigrants.

Stuart Firestein teaches students and “citizen scientists” that ignorance is far more important to discovery than knowledge.

Mike O'Sullivan postulates that the 30-year era of globalization is now over and that we are entering a new, uncertain -- but increasingly values-driven -- world order.

Tony Luciani picked up a camera in 2014 to document his aging mom's struggle with dementia, beginning a four-year-long voyage of discovery.

A. James "Jim" Hudspeth conducts research on hair cells, the sensory receptors of the inner ear.

With a jet-powered wing attached to his body, Yves Rossy expands the possibilities of human flight.

Ad exec Jose Miguel Sokoloff has led a multi-year marketing campaign that's helped Colombian guerrillas realize that they are wanted back home.

During his 20-year tenure as president of UMBC, Freeman Hrabowski has helped students of all backgrounds pursue degrees in arts, humanities and the sciences.

In a lab near Vancouver, Michel Laberge and his team at General Fusion are building a prototype fusion reactor that mimics the processes of the sun to produce cheap, clean and abundant energy.