Admit it, lasers are pretty cool. Discover the awesome, ingenious ways these beams of light are being used to fight against malaria and HIV, scan ancient monuments ... and even edit memory.

When we asked Bill Gates to curate a list of his favorite talks, his first response was, “There are too many to pick, really.” Here, he's whittled it down to 13 essentials.

The first TED was held in 1984. What kind of predictions did people make 30 years ago? (And did they turn out to be right?) Watch the world change over three decades in this nearly year-by-year playlist.

An exploration of what we can do to save the world with the massive amounts of data collected every day.

An exploration of what makes life worth living in the face of death — and how to move forward with grief and loss.

There is much to learn in death as there is in life. An intimate look at the wisdom that is forged from deep loss.

It's easy to get caught up in the daily dramas of life. These talks can help you step back, slow down and appreciate the bigger picture.

Great, practical advice on ways to responsibly invest (time, money, and even your company's data) for the good of our global society.

Mind-blowing tech is right around the corner -- and the data to power it is here and now. Get an awe-inspiring look at the future that awaits with visionaries already predicting, embracing and innovating on the potential of tomorrow.

These action-oriented, forward-thinking talks offer a vision of the world where everyone has access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food — especially those who need it most.

In a world filled with sound bites and paparazzi-snapped photos, there are still storytellers determined to create media with meaning. From feature films to citizen journalism, their work is worth spreading.

Pearl Arredondo worked her way up from humble East L.A. beginnings, and as a high school teacher she now inspires other kids to do the same. Here are the talks that she thinks capture that spirit of drive and determination.

Death is a topic that is relevant to us all, and yet it simply isn’t pleasant to talk about. These speakers offer subtle reframes to help us face this fact of life more thoughtfully and with greater compassion.

Everyone faces rejection, sometimes on repeat. These speakers experienced a barrage of ‘no’s, but were able to push past the disappointment and keep on going. May their resilience inspire you.

A smorgasbord of inspired TED Talks to help you get through your funk, and answer some deeper questions along the way.

These are some of the TED Talks that had you looking at the world differently by the time the credits rolled (in no specific order).

What a year! Here are the talks you enjoyed the most from 2015.

It's the age of Big Data. But what, exactly, do we do with all this information? These talks explore practical, ethical -- and spectacularly visual -- ways to understand near-infinite data.