New York is a playground of absurdity. I’ve lived here on and off for the past decade. Since I ate my first workday lunch in a “park” in downtown Manhattan, I've been blindly accepting everyone's inexplicable behavior in this city, not least of all the block-long cronut line I pass on my way to work every morning. So when I started curating ...

How exactly does the brain -- a 3-pound snarl of nervous tissue -- create inspired inventions, the feeling of hunger, the experience of beauty, the sense of self? Researchers at the edge of science explain ...

The immense swell of a tsunami can grow up to 100 feet, hitting speeds over 500 mph -- a treacherous combination for anyone or anything in its path. Alex Gendler details the causes of these towering terrors and explains how scientists are seeking to reduce their destruction in the future. [Directed by Augenblick Studios, narrated by Michelle Sno...

What will life be like in the year 2035? Will the typical classroom still be full of desks, or some kind of virtual wonderland? What are the issues everyone will be talking about? What kind of work will today’s students be doing? Adults have lots of ideas, but they don’t necessarily have all the answers. If you’re between the ages of 13 a...

New York's Times Square regularly fills up for great public events, the crowd chanting and cheering. Rarely, however, do they chant, "Science! Science! Science!" as they did last night. An extraordinary number of people came out at 1:31am to watch the landing of Curiosity, NASA's new Mars rover. The TED Blog decided it would be fun to wat...

No television special exploring ideas on improving education in the United States would be complete without hearing from students themselves. And so it was essential that students be able to tell their own stories during our first television special, TED Talks Education, which premiered on PBS last night. To that end, we invited Market Road F...

About this event: TEDxSiliconAlley is a New York City based TEDx event. As the name implies, our focus is on the fast growing New York City technology community.

The Way We Work is an original video series where leaders and thinkers offer practical wisdom and insight into how we can adapt and thrive amid changing workplace conventions. (Made possible with the support of Dropbox)

During World War I, scientists were trying to develop an antidote to the poisonous yellow cloud known as mustard gas. They discovered the gas was irrevocably damaging the bone marrow of affected soldiers. This gave the scientists an idea: cancer cells and bone marrow both replicate rapidly. Could mustard gas be used to fight cancer? Hyunsoo No d...

When under anesthesia, you can't move, form memories, or — hopefully — feel pain. And while it might just seem like you are asleep for that time, you actually aren't. What's going on? Steven Zheng explains what we know about the science behind anesthesia. [Directed by Zedem Media, narrated by Addison Anderson].

Many crystals have signature shapes— like the cascade of pointed quartz or a pile of galena cubes. Every crystal's atoms have a defining feature: their organized, repeating pattern. The pattern isn't restricted to minerals- sand, ice, metals and DNA also have crystalline structures. So what causes them to grow into these shapes again and again? ...

The TED staff got up to dance this afternoon to celebrate V-Day. This global movement, founded by TED speaker Eve Ensler, turns 15 today and is celebrating with the One Billion Rising campaign -- inviting us to stop, dance and rise against violence. One Billion Rising is dedicated to the 1 in 3 of the world’s 3 million women who have been the...

In the 1950s, the discovery of two new drugs sparked what would become a multi-billion dollar market for antidepressants. Neither drug was intended to treat depression at all— many doctors and scientists believed psychotherapy was the only approach to treatment. Neil R. Jeyasingam details the decades-long journey that followed and how it revolut...

Contraceptives are designed to prevent pregnancy in three basic ways: they either block sperm, disable sperm before they reach the uterus, or suppress ovulation. But is one strategy better than the other? And how does each one work? NWHunter describes the mechanics behind different kinds of contraceptives. [Directed by Draško Ivezić, narrated by...

In the 16th century, physician Andreas Vesalius described how a suffocating animal could be kept alive by inserting a tube into its trachea and blowing air to inflate its lungs. Today, Vesalius's treatise is recognized as the first description of mechanical ventilation— a crucial practice in modern medicine. So how do our modern ventilators work...

Parul Sehgal is an editor for "The New York Times Book Review."

In the first of a series of city-related articles, we profile Robin Nagle, anthropologist-in-residence at the Department of Sanitation and long-time resident of New York City. She describes a life dedicated to, well, trash, and documents some of her favorite locations throughout the American city's boroughs, captured in an accompanying photoessa...

About this event: Here at York, we have many platforms for telling our story ... sophomore speeches, commencement charges, punmeister deliveries. TEDxYorkSchool is a new medium for us to tell it. With students, alumni, and faculty who all have truly unique stories, together they create the ethereal substance that is hard to define, but when it's observed first-ha...

“If you’re a teen, you’ve been called apathetic, narcissistic and social-media obsessed,” said Taylor Trudon, the youth editor at Huffington Post. Standing tall in a crisp white blazer, the 25-year-old shared how she went from keeping a high school diary — decorated with stickers and magazine clippings of John Mayer and Uggs — to becoming th...

For most jobs, it's understood that you can be fired – whether for crime, incompetence, or just poor performance. But what if your job happens to be the most powerful position in the country – or the world? That's where impeachment comes in. But how does it work? Alex Gendler details the process of impeachment. [Directed by Mark Phillips, narrat...

In a dark cave, bats can't see much. But even with their eyes shut, they can navigate rocky topography at incredible speeds. This is because bats aren't just guided by their eyes, but rather, by their ears. It may seem impossible to see with sound, but bats, naval officers, and doctors do it all the time. How is that possible? Jacques S. Abramow...

On an unseasonably chilly Monday evening in Manhattan, hundreds stood in line in Times Square for up to two hours. As a city-dweller for seven years, I’ve seen queues this long for big Broadway openings or on New Year’s Eve. But this line was formed for a very different purpose -- for people to have their faces and stories featured in what J...

From April to June 2012, TED will be throwing 14 events around the world to search for unheard voices that need to be seen onstage at TED2013. Learn more about TED2013 Worldwide Talent Search >> Just announced: Applications are open now to appear at the event in New York! If TED@NewYork is the closest event to you geographically, ap...

Matthew O’Reilly is a veteran emergency medical technician on Long Island, New York.

Johann Hari is the author of two "New York Times" best-selling books.

About this event: The inaugural TEDxCornellTech took place on Saturday April 23rd, from 10 AM to 6 PM, in New York City. Speakers from all walks of life, including art, technology, health, science and culture shared ideas with the Cornell Tech student, staff and broader community, to inspire deep conversation and connections at the local level. Additionally, insp...

Percussionist and composer Susie Ibarra is creating virtual sanctuaries for real cities. Working in collaboration with local artists, historians, architects, city planners and musicians, Ibarra and her partner Roberto Rodriguez -- who together form Electric Kulintang -- have created a musical pilgrimage that takes the public on a sound walk ...

About this event: The conference will address the theme "What in the World" with over 20 speakers and performers. The audience of 500 will be equally divided between regular TEDsters and young people in the last two years of the International Baccalaureate, a curriculum shared by 3000 schools around the world. IB aims to educate students with a global view and ...

In 1881, doctor William Halsted rushed to help his sister Minnie, who was hemorrhaging after childbirth. He quickly inserted a needle into his arm, withdrew his own blood, and transferred it to her. After a few uncertain minutes, she began to recover. What made this blood transfusion successful? Bill Schutt explains the history of the life-savin...

Over our lifetimes, our bodies undergo a series of extraordinary metamorphoses: we grow, experience puberty, and many of us reproduce. Behind the scenes, the endocrine system works constantly to orchestrate these changes. Emma Bryce explains how this system regulates everything from your sleep to the rhythm of your beating heart, exerting its in...