The most notable talks of 2017, chosen by TED Curator Chris Anderson.

You may have heard that you should be pooping once a day -- but that's a load of crap, says Dr. Jen Gunter. From the enzymes in your mouth to the nutrient-absorbing power of your large intestine, she journeys through the digestive tract to explain why it's okay to poop at your own pace -- and shares the many regulating benefits of a fiber-rich d...

In this educational talk, worm farmer David Witzeneder explains how vermicomposting -- the use of worms to break down organic matter -- can empower us to turn household waste into a fertile resource without even leaving our homes.

An uncomfortable brush with a loved one's mortality caused baker Jasmine Cho to have an epiphany -- that she needed to combine what made her happy with what she found important. In this inspiring personal talk, she describes how she repurposed her love for baking by using cookies as a storytelling canvas to highlight the stories of marginalized...

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, chef José Andrés traveled to the devastated island with a simple idea: to feed the hungry. Millions of meals served later, Andrés shares the remarkable story of creating the world's biggest restaurant -- and the awesome power of letting people in need know that somebody cares about them.

The world's dietary habits threaten to collapse our ecosystem. Environmentalist and entrepreneur Pat Crowley believes we need to find alternative sources of nutrients, making the case for insects as our next culinary frontier.

Can't remember where your soup spoon ought to go? What about your salad fork? Knowing how to set a traditional table can seem like antiquated etiquette -- but it can come in handy! Anna Post, great-great-granddaughter of etiquette expert Emily Post, shows how to set a table with a plate full of tips and tricks to boot -- even your grandmother wi...

Before empires and royalty, before pottery and writing, before metal tools and weapons – there was cheese. As early as 8000 BCE, Neolithic farmers began a legacy of cheesemaking almost as old as civilization. Today, the world produces roughly 22 billion kilograms of cheese a year, shipped and consumed around the globe. Paul S. Kindstedt shares t...

Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge reservation, is the founder of the company The Sioux Chef and committed to revitalizing Native American cuisine.

The joy of a new semester: picking classes you never knew existed. These are talks we wish were courses.

In 1980, Paul Ehrlich and Julian Simon bet $1,000 on a question with stakes that couldn't be higher: would the earth run out of resources to sustain a growing human population? They bet $200 on the price of five metals. If the price of a metal decreased or held steady over the next decade, Simon won. If the price increased, Ehrlich won. So, what...

Give old things new life and even imagine a futuristic perspective on repurposing everyday items with these fun and thoughtful talks.

Jasmine Crowe is the creator of Goodr, a tech-enabled sustainable food waste management company that strives to eliminate hunger and save food from landfills.

Technology architect Fadi Chehadé helped set up the infrastructure that makes the internet work -- essential things like the domain name system and IP address standards. Today he's focused on finding ways for society to benefit from technology. In a crisp conversation with Bryn Freedman, curator of the TED Institute, Chehadé discusses the ongoin...

Must-listen talks about the future of the environment, crime, technology, government and the human race.

On a mission to create a hunger-free world, agricultural entrepreneur Cedric Habiyaremye makes the case for cultivating quinoa -- and other versatile, nutrient-rich grains -- in places experiencing malnutrition, like his native Rwanda. He shares a model to help smallholder farmers across Africa diversify their fields with nutritious and indigeno...

To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner and team study the world's "Blue Zones," communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age. In his talk, he shares the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that keep them spry past age 100.

Priscilla Chomba-Kinywa is an ICT4D expert with experience in technology and innovation spanning 20 years, 6 continents and 70 countries.

From flying cars to lab-grown food, we love thinking about what delights the future will bring. But futurist Angela Oguntala suggests that, in fact, these pop-culture benchmarks create a blinkered vision of the future. In her talk, Oguntala urges us to reach further and push for true innovation.

Children's book author Jarrett Krosoczka shares the origins of the Lunch Lady graphic novel series, in which undercover school heroes serve lunch...and justice! His new project, School Lunch Hero Day, reveals how cafeteria lunch staff provide more than food, and illustrates how powerful a thank you can be.

About 10,000 years ago, humans began to farm. This agricultural revolution was a turning point in our history and enabled the existence of civilization. Today, nearly 40 percent of our planet is farmland. Spread all over the world, these lands are the pieces to a global puzzle we're all facing: in the future, how can we feed every member of a gr...

Farmers keep us fed and our economies stable, but in the US they're retiring faster than they're being replaced. Take a crash course in agricultural policy with Eric Sannerud to see why this problem can't be solved by simply buying from your local farmer's market -- and learn how you can use your vote to create a better future for farmers.

Put down the cayenne-lemon water and step away from the herbal tea. Cleanses and detox products like these don't remove toxins, says Dr. Jen Gunter, and some of them may even be hurting your health. Learn how your body rids itself of harmful substances and what you can do to keep this system running smoothly. Want to hear more from Dr. Gunter? C...

In a war, it turns out that violence isn't the biggest killer of civilians. What is? Illness, hunger, poverty -- because war destroys the institutions that keep society running, like utilities, banks, food systems and hospitals. Physician Margaret Bourdeaux proposes a bold approach to post-conflict recovery, setting priorities on what to fix first

Paul Greenberg researches and writes about fish, aquaculture and the future of the ocean.

TED Fellow Bruce Friedrich plans to compete with the meat industry on its own terms -- by creating alternatives to conventional meat that taste the same or better and cost less.

Sharpen your pencils! It’s time to hit the books again, with these TED Talks that take you through a busy day of math, history, gym, lunch, English, science and art. No finals required.

Humans rely on water for virtually all our activities, from growing food and sanitation to making materials like steel, cement and paper. But clean water sources worldwide are disappearing due to overuse, pollution and climate change, says molecular engineer Seth Darling. He shares game-changing new technologies that could help protect this prec...

What if we took out more greenhouse gases than we put into the atmosphere? This hypothetical scenario, known as "drawdown," is our only hope of averting climate disaster, says strategist Chad Frischmann. In a forward-thinking talk, he shares solutions to climate change that exist today -- conventional tactics like the use of renewable energy and...

India is fast becoming a superpower, says Shashi Tharoor -- not just through trade and politics, but through "soft" power, its ability to share its culture with the world through food, music, technology, Bollywood. He argues that in the long run it's not the size of the army that matters as much as a country's ability to influence the world's he...