Jon Ronson is the author of The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, an exploration of what defines a psychopath. At TED2012, he told a part of that story on stage -- how he met a man named Tony who was held for years in a psychiatric prison because he faked mental illness too well, and about how Ronson himself became tra...

Welcome the class of TED2017 Fellows! Representing 12 countries, one tribal nation and an incredible range of disciplines, this year's Fellows are all leaders in their fields who constantly find new ways to collaborate and bring about positive change. Among those selected are an Ecuadorian neurobiologist working to uncover the neural circuit...

What do a disease-fighting epidemiologist (retired) and an up-and-coming social psychologist have in common? They're both fascinated by the unseen social problems hidden behind the word "inequality."  Beyond the lack of access to money and power -- what does inequality do to us as human beings? Epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson (TED Talk: ...

Whether you're staying put or going away, summer can be a great time to relax and try new things. So we asked TED speakers to recommend podcasts, books, TV shows, movies and more that have nourished their minds, spirits and bodies (yes, you'll find a link to a recipe for olive-cheese loaf below) in recent times. You can use the links here to ju...

Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey argues that aging is merely a disease -- and a curable one at that. Humans age in seven basic ways, he says, all of which can be averted.

TED2018 hit its stride on day 3, with talks from explorers of space and oceans, builders of cities and bridges, engineers of the future and many more. Here are some of the themes we heard echoing through the opening day, as well as some highlights from around the conference venue in Vancouver. Are we alone in the cosmos? The universe is 13...

In 1989, children younger than 16 could be sentenced to die in the United States. Lawyer Bryan Stevenson (TED Talk: We need to talk about an injustice) represented some of these juveniles in Alabama, the state with the most children sentenced to death per capita. Read his chilling account of meeting Charlie, a 14-year-old tried as an adult for c...

In today’s talk, economist Charles Robertson turns up the heat on an idea that’s been simmering for several years: that Africa is seeing rapid economic growth. Looking at statistics and at the precedents set by China and India, Robertson brings this idea to a full boil, saying that economists haven’t been nearly optimistic enough in their pr...

The world’s population is getting older. Across the globe, people are living longer thanks to advances in healthcare, nutrition and technology. This population shift brings with it incredible possibilities -- but also a new set of challenges. So ... How do we care for our elderly? Writer and scholar Jared Diamond (TED Talk: How societies can ...

Most of us enter the professional world believing that the focus and hard work which got us through our education will help us rise there, too. But we don't yet realize that there are significant obstacles lying in our path. Author Michelle P. King explains how the need to conform can stand between women and success. Between the ages of 24 a...

TED2017 begins on Monday in Vancouver, Canada, and will explore the theme “The Future You.” If the future you is anything like the future us, you are likely curled up in a big cushy chair right now, devouring the contents of a book that flips your thinking. Below, some reading suggestions from the speaker program. Read, enjoy and stay tuned ...

Teens don't get enough sleep, and it's not because of Snapchat, social lives or hormones -- it's because of public policy, says Wendy Troxel. Drawing from her experience as a sleep researcher, clinician and mother of a teenager, Troxel discusses how early school start times deprive adolescents of sleep during the time of their lives when they ne...

About this event: 1. Miryam Z. Wahrman, Ph.D. BIO: MIRYAM Z. WAHRMAN is Professor of Biology at William Paterson University of New Jersey, where she directs a research laboratory in microbiology, studying bacteria on environmental surfaces. An expert in Bioethics, Professor Wahrman has developed and teaches graduate courses in Bioethics and Research Methods, an...

MacArthur winner Sendhil Mullainathan uses the lens of behavioral economics to study a tricky set of social problems -- those we know how to solve, but don't. We know how to reduce child deaths due to diarrhea, how to prevent diabetes-related blindness and how to implement solar-cell technology ... yet somehow, we don't or can't. Why?

Two thirds of the population believes a myth that has been propagated for over a century: that we use only 10% of our brains. Hardly! Our neuron-dense brains have evolved to use the least amount of energy while carrying the most information possible -- a feat that requires the entire brain. Richard E. Cytowic debunks this neurological myth (and ...

Yes, it has free love, vegan food, Wi-Fi and a low carbon footprint. But it also has unchallenged assumptions, ramshackle housing and a questionable belief system, finds social media analyst Jamie Bartlett. As the sun rises over the Portuguese countryside, I find myself standing in a circle on top of a hill with a group of strangers, grasping h...

The world’s population is getting older. Across the globe, people are living longer thanks to improvements in healthcare, nutrition and technology. This population shift brings with it incredible possibilities, but also a new set of challenges. How do we care for our elderly? In today’s talk, Jared Diamond examines the vast differences in...

Medical animator David Bolinsky presents 3 minutes of stunning animation that show the bustling life inside a cell.

In attempting the first solo crossing of Antarctica, Ben Saunders battled white-out landscapes, shifting snows and mind-altering monotony -- all while pulling hundreds of pounds of supplies. Here’s what he discovered on his incredible journey. In 2004, 27-year-old polar explorer Ben Saunders (TED Talk: To the South Pole and back, the hardest 10...

Humanity is defined by its immense body of knowledge. Most times it inches forward, shedding light onto the mysteries of the universe and easing life's endeavors in small increments. But in some special moments, knowledge and understanding leap forward, when one concentrated mind or one crucial discovery redirects the course of things and ch...

The current coronavirus pandemic is a truly global one; in fact, Antarctica is the only continent with no cases (although that could change). Most nations have responded with similar measures -- stay-at-home advisories, shutdown of non-essential businesses, social distancing -- but the scope of these changes has varied and so has the human impac...

Moshe Szyf is a pioneer in the field of epigenetics, the study of how living things reprogram their genome in response to social factors like stress and lack of food. His research suggests that biochemical signals passed from mothers to offspring tell the child what kind of world they're going to live in, changing the expression of genes. "DNA i...

The world is more interconnected than ever before -- and the need to bridge political and ideological divides has never been more urgent. Now is the time to examine the rules of genuine human engagement, to find common ground for respectful, passionate discourse and to celebrate civility. That's the idea behind TED Salon: Up for Debate, a...

Five years ago, a tsunami and nuclear disaster led to the mass evacuation of the Fukushima region of Japan. Photojournalist Michael Forster Rothbart covered the aftermath; last September he returned for a month to see how the situation has progressed. Here, he shares some of his portraits and reflections about the trip. [gallery link="none" c...

A pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults -- and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.

When game designer Jane McGonigal found herself bedridden and suicidal following a severe concussion, she had a fascinating idea for how to get better. She dove into the scientific research and created the healing game, SuperBetter. In this moving talk, McGonigal explains how a game can boost resilience -- and promises to add 7.5 minutes to your...

Becoming an Old Person in Training allows us to choose purpose and intent over dread and denial and connects us empathically with our future selves, says author and activist Ashton Applewhite. What’s the best answer to “How old are you?” Tell your questioner the truth -- and then ask why it matters. Ask what shifted in their mind once they had ...

Philanthropist and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates offers insights into the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing why testing and self-isolation are essential, which medical advancements show promise and what it will take for the world to endure this crisis. (This virtual conversation is part of the TED Connects series, hosted by head of TED Chris Anders...

Anyone in the room here today, at the glossy Times Center in Times Square, has been affected by the imagination and tenacity of Janette Sadik-Khan. It was her vision that created the much-loved pedestrian zones on Broadway and the cool new CitiBikes. In 2008, when Sadik-Khan took the job as New York's traffic commissioner, she saw how hard i...

From artists to scientists, mothers, mathematicians and business visionaries, people in every corner of the world are dreaming up solutions to our most pressing problems. Whether tackling war and peace or the principles of machine learning, ingenuity starts with one thing: a spark. And regardless of where the spark takes hold, inspiration...