For four billion years, what lived and died on Earth depended on two principles: natural selection and random mutation. Then humans came along and changed everything — hybridizing plants, breeding animals, altering the environment and even purposefully evolving ourselves. Juan Enriquez provides five guidelines for a future where this ability to ...

A mountain separating two lakes. A room papered floor to ceiling with bridal satins. The lid of an immense snuffbox. These seemingly unrelated images take us on a tour of a sperm whale's head in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." Though the book features pirates, typhoons, high-speed chases, and giant squid, it's anything but a conventional seafarin...

Dear current and future daughters ...

In his quest to understand the largest dinosaurs to have walked the Earth, Kenneth Lacovara blends exploration with the latest imaging and modeling techniques from engineering to medicine.

Innovators in transportation show that getting from point A to point B doesn't have to be boring.

After witnessing the atrocities of his fellow man in World War II, William Golding was losing his faith in humanity. Later, during the Cold War, as superpowers began threatening one another with nuclear annihilation, he was forced to interrogate the very roots of human nature and violence. These musings would inspire his first novel: "Lord of th...

Documentary filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert have worked to conserve wildlife for more than 25 years. As National Geographic Explorers in Residence, the couple influences public policy and perceptions.

TED Talks for when you want to get up and act -- now.

Alex Honnold is a professional rock climber whose audacious free-solo ascents of America's biggest cliffs have made him one of the world's most recognized climbers.

With just one breath, Guillaume Néry can dive to -125m below the water's surface.

A collection of our most inspired talks and performances highlighting the passion, importance and brilliance of theater.

At a time when everything seems mapped, measured, and understood, this river challenges what we think we know. It has forced me to question the line between known and unknown, ancient and modern, scientific and spiritual. It is a reminder that there are still great wonders to be discovered. We find them not just in the black void of the unknown ...

Inspiring talks from women who have pushed the boundaries in their field and are paving the way for the next generation of girls to earn their place in traditionally male-dominated professions.

Surely not the only science career based on a museum tour epiphany, Paul Sereno's is almost certainly the most triumphant. He's dug up dinosaurs on five continents -- and discovered the world's largest crocodile, the (extinct) 40-foot Sarchosuchus.

Edward Snowden hasn’t forgotten about the remote presence robot that allowed him to speak on the TED2014 stage and roam the halls of the conference, chatting with attendees. While in exile in Russia, Snowden has apparently used this system, affectionately dubbed the “Snowdenbot,” on a semi-regular basis. Andy Greenberg writes in Wired abo...

Bhakti Sharma is a record-breaking Indian open water swimmer.

In the 1930s, broadcast radio introduced an entirely new form of storytelling; today, micro-blogging platforms like Twitter are changing the scene again. Andrew Fitzgerald takes a look at the (aptly) short but fascinating history of new forms of creative experimentation in fiction and storytelling.

TED Fellow Carrie Nugent is an asteroid hunter -- part of a group of scientists working to discover and catalog our oldest and most numerous cosmic neighbors. Why keep an eye out for asteroids? In this short, fact-filled talk, Nugent explains how their awesome impacts have shaped our planet, and how finding them at the right time could mean noth...

How will we live elsewhere in the galaxy? On Earth, natural resources for creating structures are abundant, but sending these materials up with us to the Moon or Mars is clunky and cost-prohibitive. Enter architect Xavier De Kestelier, who has a radical plan to use robots and space dust to 3D print our interplanetary homes. Learn more about the ...

Whenever Fabien Cousteau opened the door of his home during June, he met the neighbors: sharks and grouper. That's because Cousteau was living underwater for 31 days, in a deep sea lab off the coast of Florida. At TEDGlobal 2014 this morning, Cousteau spoke about Mission 31, during which he and his team conducted experiments that will res...

Maps don't just tell you which street to turn left on. Maps convey information that shapes our lives, deepen our understanding of problems and our ability to create solutions, and whisk our imaginations to new lands. See what we mean, below.

As a guest host and features producer at WNYC's "Radiolab," Molly Webster has investigated everything from international surrogacy to metamorphosis.

Kristen Nguyen believes in the power of education to transform individuals and promote equity, inclusion and healing in communities.

Elaine Morgan, armed with an arsenal of television writing credits and feminist credentials, spent her life on a mission to prove humans evolved in water.

Andrew Stanton has made you laugh and cry. The writer behind the three "Toy Story" movies and the writer/director of "WALL-E," he releases his new film, "John Carter," in March.

Photographer, adventurer and storyteller Aaron Huey captures all of his subjects -- from war victims to rock climbers to Sufi dervishes -- with elegance and fearless sensitivity.

. On Sunday night, 60 Minutes will take a look at what they call “TED’s excellent adventure.” In a segment to air on April 19 at 7pm ET/PT, the powerhouse television newsmagazine will talk to TED speakers to find out exactly what happens when their big ideas are shared with the world for free. In the first preview of the segment, which a...

Astronomer Clifford Stoll helped to capture a notorious KGB hacker back in the infancy of the Internet. His agile mind continues to lead him down new paths -- from education and techno-skepticism to the making of zero-volume bottles.

The LXD (the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) are building an interactive web series that represents the next evolution of dance.

Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols made "Out & Around" to show the momentous changes in the status of LGBTQ equality -- all around the world.