Yes, a marathon is about running 26.2 miles. But as May El-Khalil describes in today’s talk, a marathon can also be about so much more -- a chance for people to come together and celebrate the human spirit. El-Khalil is the founder of the Beirut Marathon and, in this talk, she describes how a personal tragedy led her to organize the first...

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...

Why did Albert Einstein have such a unique scientific mind? Because he came from a disadvantaged background, says TED Prize winner Neil Turok. “When new cultures enter science, especially disadvantaged cultures, transformation can happen,” he said today in his opening remarks at the Next Einstein Forum Global Gathering 2016. “I believe th...

By Kate Torgovnick, Helen Walters and Emily McManus Session 3 of TEDWomen begins with an empty stage. And then: the noise of drumming breaks through the quiet as four women, draped in shiny blue cloth with gold bands around their foreheads, march onstage carrying with them large, wooden drums. They place them on the red carpet and begin a...

While searching for ways to study stellar radiation without relying on sight, Wanda Diaz Merced has developed a way to represent complex data about our universe as sound.

By Courtney E. Martin & John Cary Pregnancy is supposed to be about life. And yet, every day, 800 women across the globe die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In Malawi, which has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world, a shocking 1 in 36 pregnant women die rather than become proud mothers. ...

  $1.26 million in change is tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain each year. Legend has it that throwing a penny into the fountain guarantees the visitor a return trip to Rome. The city council donates the funds to Caritas, a major Catholic charity. [via Chicago Tribune] 1 ice cream shop serves all of Rwanda. Its name: Sweet Dreams. Swe...

Jacqueline Novogratz works to enable human flourishing. Her organization, Acumen, invests in people, companies and ideas that see capital and networks as means, not ends, to solving the toughest issues of poverty.

The final session of TEDWomen 2019 is here! We can't believe it; we won't believe. But, if we must close out these three incredible days, it's good we did it by hearing from a diverse range of "wayfinders" -- incredible women who are using their wisdom and insight to light the way forward, tackle global problems and find the right balance of...

Today's TEDTalk, Beeban Kidron on the shared wonder of film, invokes some iconic film scenes swimming around in our shared narrative. Looking for the list? Here it is for you to immerse yourself -- "Unless you do, you may not know that you, too, have a heart." - Miracle in Milan, Vittorio de Sica (1951) - Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle...

Through his William J. Clinton Foundation, former US President Bill Clinton has become a vital and innovative force for world change. He works in four critical areas: health, economic empowerment, citizen service, and reconciliation.

Learn about the detrimental (and even deadly) impact racism has on our minds and bodies — and what society can do to heal and support the wellbeing of all.

On September 21, gunmen attacked a shopping mall in Nairobi, killing at least 67 people, with many others still missing. We are extraordinarily saddened to hear that among the victims of this violence were TEDxKraków speaker Ross Langdon and his partner Elif Yavuz. Ross, an architect by trade, gave a beautiful talk at TEDxKraków 2012 abou...

Please enjoy your weekly roundup of TED-related news: Good luck and farewell to the Cassini spacecraft. Launched 20 years ago, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will begin its final mission on April 26.  The spacecraft will embark on a series of 22 dives through the space between Saturn and its rings, transmitting data that may help us understand...

Great design doesn’t just look good -- it has the potential to make lives easier and to enhance the public good. Public Interest Design, the website dedicated to examining how, has created a list of 100 makers, educators, connectors, policymakers and visualizers in the U.S. who are doing incredible work at the intersection of design and serv...

Foreign Policy magazine has picked its annual list of the 100 Top Global Thinkers and, nestled among their ranks, are many a TED Speaker. Below, watch the talks from those who appear on the 2012 list, as well as what number on the list they occupy. 3. Bill Clinton talks “rebuilding Rwanda” and Hillary Clinton makes a surprise appearance a...

The description of last night’s episode of The Colbert Report reads: “At the Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting, President Bill Clinton discusses foreign aid, poverty, TED Talks, Twitter and the Colbert Galactic Initiative.” So how did TED enter the conversation? Colbert suggested that Clinton, who accepted the TED Prize in 2007 with ...

Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Sunni Patterson combines the heritage, culture, and traditions of her native town with a spiritual worldview to create powerful music and poetry.

Can architecture actually make a difference in the lives of the people who use it? Michael Murphy and his team at MASS Design Group believe so. Take a look at their designs. Michael Murphy (TED Talk: Architecture that’s built to heal) was an architecture student at Harvard Graduate School of Design when he took a break from an all-nighter to he...

Cities are a constellation of dreams -- dreams that are constantly dying and being born. Cities are living things, with character and distinct personalities. Africa’s cities teem with these dreams. Who gets to decide which ones live, and which ones die? To become an architect, Christian Benimana had to go far away from home. There were no...

Snakes slither along the ground, right? Well, not always. In this talk from TEDxVirginiaTech, snake expert Jake Socha introduces us to five species of snakes with the ability to fly -- no plane or Samuel L. Jackson needed. It’s a fascinating look at how these creatures create lift, even though they are essentially cylinders, and appear to swi...

Sometimes, things get a little buried in our archive of 2,800+ TED Talks. Check out some great ones, unearthed for your viewing pleasure.

What do you say when you see your mother and father so many years after being separated from them during the massacre in Rwanda? Clemantine Wamariya, now a human rights advocate, has lived through this surreal experience. In 1994, Clemantine Wamariya, 6, and her sister Claire, 15, fled the Rwandan massacre, became separated from their parents, ...

Through his organization, Baobab Health, Gerry Douglas has implemented a top-of-the-line electronic medical records system in Malawi. Many health centers in the developed world have not yet achieved what Baobab has. His secret weapons? Touch screen computers, super-high usability, and low power usage, just to name a few. Interactive Fel...

TEDGlobal 2017 kicks off August 27–30, 2017, in Arusha, Tanzania. Ten years after the last TEDGlobal in Arusha, we'll again gather a community from across the continent and around the world to explore ideas that may propel Africa's next leap — in business, politics and justice, creativity and entrepreneurship, science and tech. Today, we're t...

As usual, the TED community has lots of news to share this week. Below, some highlights. An underwater museum. Off the south coast of Lanzarote, 12 to 14 meters beneath the sea, lies artist Jason DeCaires Taylor’s latest museum, Museo Atlántico, which opened on January 10. Three years in the making, the installation is not only an artisti...

There are two things Africa-rising apologists are quick to cite as examples of the continent's ability to leapfrog past its challenges and end up with solutions that are far ahead of the rest of the world: mobile phones and mobile money. But the frequency with which these two are wielded have also rendered them well-worn. Is Africa’s ability...

A trip to a public bathroom stall several years ago inspired journalist Rose George to think. "I asked myself the question: Where does this stuff go?" George remembers. "With this question, I found myself plunged into the world of sanitation, toilets and poop. And I have yet to emerge." Many people don't think much about toilets. As sh...

In 2007, journalist Andrew Mwenda took the stage at TEDGlobal in Arusha, Tanzania, and decried the symptomatic disease affecting his home continent: aid. The surprising take certainly got the goat of some members of the audience, including U2 frontman Bono, who has devoted so much time to promoting the need for African aid and who spoke up from ...

TEDWomen 2013 brought so many moments of delight. In session 1, Jessica Matthews showed us how a jumprope could generate electricity. In session 2, Rupal Patel revealed an incredible system to give an authentic voice to those who are unable to speak. And in session 3, Esta Soler explained how the Polaroid camera was an incredible weapon in f...