Accepting the 2006 TED Prize, Dr. Larry Brilliant talks about how smallpox was eradicated from the planet, and calls for a new global system that can identify and contain pandemics before they spread.

We've known about global warming for 50 years and done little about it, says Google.org director Larry Brilliant. In spite of this and other depressing trends, he's optimistic and tells us why. From Skoll World Forum, Oxford, UK, www.skollfoundation.org

Examining the facts and figures of the coronavirus outbreak, epidemiologist Larry Brilliant evaluates the global response in a candid interview with head of TED Chris Anderson. Brilliant lays out a clear plan to end the pandemic -- and shows why, to achieve it, we'll have to work together across political and geographical divides. "This is not t...

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. (Curated in partnership with the National Security Agency.)

These women are trailblazers inspiring a new generation of girls to follow their lead and change the ratio in STEM (science, math, engineering and tech).

Talks from scientists, musicians, innovators, activists -- all under the age of 20. Watch these amazing wunderkinds.

Easy, straightforward techniques to jumpstart innovative thinking and surface new, brilliant ideas.

These brilliant people have shaped their fields -- from inventing the World Wide Web to changing the world of dance. They share their work in their own words.

How can we fit more people into cities without overcrowding? Kent Larson shows off folding cars, quick-change apartments and other innovations that could make the city of the future work a lot like a small village of the past.

TED Prize winner Larry Brilliant has spent his career solving the world's biggest problems, from overseeing the last smallpox cases to saving millions from blindness.

Do you sometimes have your most creative ideas while folding laundry, washing dishes or doing nothing in particular? It's because when your body goes on autopilot, your brain gets busy forming new neural connections that connect ideas and solve problems. Learn to love being bored as Manoush Zomorodi explains the connection between spacing out an...

Comedian Gina Brillon commands the stage with an uproarious stand-up performance, poking fun at everyday interactions and annoyances. "Have you ever had somebody say something wrong with such confidence that it made you question how you've been saying it your whole life?" she jokes.

How being bored can lead to new possibilities, better ideas and even an extra shot of creativity.

Stefan Sagmeister prefers to watch with company: “I find watching TED Talks the most brilliant alternative to watching TV, especially with someone else while stopping and going and stopping and discussing it all.”

I wish that you would help build a global system to detect each new disease or disaster as quickly as it emerges or occurs. The plan Early detection, early response. This is the only way to deal with contagious diseases, says epidemiologist and tech visionary Larry Brilliant. He helped eradicate polio, and directed the World Health Organization’...

How do you raise money to get an idea off the ground, support a community, or help change the world? Take a crash course on the secret art of successful fundraising with development strategist Kara Logan Berlin as she shows how you can learn to ask for the resources you need -- and get them, too.

Violinist Sirena Huang gives a technically brilliant and emotionally nuanced performance. In a charming interlude, the 11-year-old praises the timeless design of her instrument.

After Vusi Mahlasela's 3-song set at TEDGlobal, the audience wouldn't let him go. His encore, "Woza," showcases his brilliant guitar playing and multilingual lyrics.

Philosopher-comedian Emily Levine talks (hilariously) about science, math, society and the way everything connects. She's a brilliant trickster, poking holes in our fixed ideas and bringing hidden truths to light. Settle in and let her ping your brain.

Fifty percent of traffic accidents happen at intersections. Gary Lauder shares a brilliant and cheap idea for helping drivers move along smoothly: a new traffic sign that combines the properties of "Stop" and "Yield."

In this funny and inspiring talk, Dan Phillips tours us through a dozen homes he's built in Texas using recycled and reclaimed materials in wildly creative ways. Brilliant, low-tech design details will refresh your own drive to make more with less.

Robert Gupta, violinist with the LA Philharmonic, talks about a violin lesson he once gave to a brilliant, schizophrenic musician -- and what he learned. Called back onstage later, Gupta plays his own transcription of the prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1.

Rather than demo another new technology, Tom Wujec reaches back to one of our earliest but most ingenious devices -- the astrolabe. With thousands of uses, from telling time to mapping the night sky, this old tech reminds us that the ancient can be as brilliant as the brand-new.

Nathan Myhrvold and team's latest inventions -- as brilliant as they are bold -- remind us that the world needs wild creativity to tackle big problems like malaria. And just as that idea sinks in, he rolls out a live demo of a new, mosquito-zapping gizmo you have to see to believe.

Speaking to an audience of students, US First Lady Michelle Obama reminds each one to take their education seriously -- and never take it for granted. This new, brilliant generation, she tells us, is the one that could close the gap between the world as it is and the world as it should be.

After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.

MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte takes you on a journey through the last 30 years of tech. The consummate predictor highlights interfaces and innovations he foresaw in the 1970s and 1980s that were scoffed at then but are ubiquitous today. And he leaves you with one last (absurd? brilliant?) prediction for the coming 30 years.

The thrill of chasing your dreams and pursuing creative endeavors can wear on you. When things feel overwhelming, take a deep breath and let these TED Talks reinvigorate your sense of purpose and passion.

A Puerto Rican actress, comedian and writer, Gina Brillon has been a standup comic since she was 17.