Best known f­or his exploration photography, George Steinmetz has a restless curiosity for the unknown: remote deserts, obscure cultures and the ­mysteries of science and technology.

Indie newcomer Sophie Hunger's haunting vocals -- at once fragile and soulful -- carried her wistful, blues-dappled acoustic folk from intimate cafe appearances to extraordinary word-of-mouth success and cross-Europe tours.

By building psychosocial care into the primary health care system in Afghanistan, Inge Missmahl offers hope to a society traumatized by decades of conflict and insecurity.

Nora Atkinson is a craft curator, a humanist and a romantic -- as she says, "I can’t believe I get to do what I do for a living."

The legendary Eva Zeisel worked as a ceramics designer -- whose curvy, sensual pieces bring delight and elegance to tabletops around the world.

At Yahoo! Labs in Barcelona, Daniele Quercia and his colleagues imagine new ways to use online maps to improve our lives.

Travis Rieder wants to help find a solution to America’s opioid crisis -- and if that sounds a bit too lofty, he’d settle for making clear, incremental progress in a responsible, evidence-based way.

Sanford Biggers creates art that upends traditional narratives about topics ranging from hip hop to Buddhism to American history.

Diébédo Francis Kéré and his architectural firm design buildings that are good for the environment -- and those who use them.

Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, of Handspring Puppet Company, bring the emotional complexity of animals to the stage with their life-size puppets. Their latest triumph: "War Horse."

TED Fellow Walé Oyéjidé combats bias with creative storytelling.

As director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Gerard Ryle is one of the key figures behind the Panama Papers.

Award-winning journalist and author, Will Potter focuses on the animal rights and environmental movements, and civil liberties in the post-9/11 era.

Most people look at cardboard tubes and see something fit for the recycling bin. But architect Shigeru Ban turns them into beautiful buildings.

Interaction designer

Professor Sajay Samuel's proposal to reduce the burden of student loans is part of his larger preoccupation with thinking beyond the conventional categories of economics and ecology.

Alejandro Durán collects the international trash washing up on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, transforming it into aesthetic yet disquieting artworks that wake us up to the threat of plastic pollution.

Monika Bulaj’s stunning, painting-like photographs blur religious and cultural divisions, exploding stereotypes. She is a TED Fellow.

Art; Literature; Travel; Cinema; Music; Social Activism; Languages; Culture.

Tomás Saraceno invites us to consider the impossible, like spiders that play music or cities in the sky.

Dr. Amel Karboul builds bridges between the private, public sector and civil society to solve today’s global challenges in education.

Programming and tech innovations.

unique travel experiences, ideas for improving the world through better/ sustainable marketing, how people really make decisions (lifechanging and superficial ones), music, tennis, 2010 world cup

Faith Osier is studying how humans acquire immunity to malaria and developing new malaria vaccines.

Alyssa Monks transfers the intimacy and vulnerability of human experience onto a painted surface.

Christiana Figueres is an internationally recognized leader on climate action and steered the global diplomatic effort that culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement.