Human resources is a huge part of what makes businesses work. Strengthen and motivate your team with these accessible talks focused on creating a rich, spirited company culture.
Psychologist Angela Duckworth studies the traits that allow us to stick to our goals — and she chose four great talks that explore other facets of how human beings behave.
Consider the claw. Frequently found on animals around the world, it's one of nature's most versatile tools. Bears use claws for digging as well as defense. An eagle's needle-like talons can pierce the skulls of their prey. Even the ancestors of primates used to wield these impressive appendages, until their claws evolved into nails. So what caus...
What moves Jill Bolte Taylor? "I love talks that contribute to the overall well-being of who we are as humanity -- about how we can explore ourselves as people in relationship with one another and with this beautiful planet."
IDEO's David Kelley says that product design has become much less about the hardware and more about the user experience. He shows video of this new, broader approach, including footage from the Prada store in New York.
What happens if you get infected with the coronavirus? Who's most at risk? How can you protect yourself? Public health expert David Heymann, who led the global response to the SARS outbreak in 2003, shares the latest findings about COVID-19 and what the future may hold. (Recorded February 27, 2020)
Symmetry is everywhere in nature. And we usually associate it with beauty: a perfectly shaped leaf or a butterfly with intricate patterns mirrored on each wing. But it turns out that asymmetry is pretty important, too — and more common than you might think. Leo Q. Wan takes us into the human body to show how biological asymmetry can be quite bea...
Four decades ago, Judith Heumann helped to lead a groundbreaking protest called the Section 504 sit-in -- in which disabled-rights activists occupied a federal building for almost a month, demanding greater accessibility for all. In this personal, inspiring talk, Heumann tells the stories behind the protest -- and reminds us that, 40 years on, t...
Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman of Climbing PoeTree combine impactful poetry and sharp beatboxing in a spoken word performance of "Being Human." They're joined by the captivating vocals and instrumental melodies of Claudia Cuentas and Tonya Abernathy for "Awakening."
Have you ever wondered: Am I a human being? Ze Frank suggests a series of simple questions that will determine this. Please relax and follow the prompts. Let's begin …
In the past 3,000 years, many populations have evolved genetic adaptations to their local environments. People in Siberia and the high arctic are uniquely adapted to survive extreme cold. The Bajau people can dive 70 meters and stay underwater for almost 15 minutes. So what are other recent changes? And will our technological innovations impact ...
Jer Thorp creates beautiful data visualizations to put abstract data into a human context. At TEDxVancouver, he shares his moving projects, from graphing an entire year's news cycle, to mapping the way people share articles across the internet.
Traveling is extremely arduous for microscopic sperm -- think of a human trying to swim in a pool made of...other humans. We can compare the journey of a sperm to that of a sperm whale by calculating the Reynolds number, a prediction of how fluid will behave, often fluctuating due to size of the swimmer. Aatish Bhatia explores the great (albeit ...
Learn about the ways climate change is deeply altering how we live, where we live and the foods we eat -- ultimately threatening some of our most basic human rights.
Is a universal translator possible in real life? We already have many programs that claim to be able to take a word, sentence, or entire book in one language and translate it into almost any other. The reality, however, is a bit more complicated. Ioannis Papachimonas shows how these machine translators work, and explains why they often get a bit...
(NOTE: This talk was given in 2011, and this field of science has developed quickly since then. Read "Criticisms & updates" below for more details.) Surgeon Anthony Atala demonstrates an early-stage experiment that could someday solve the organ-donor problem: a 3D printer that uses living cells to output a transplantable kidney. Using simila...
In this prophetic 2003 talk -- just days before Dolly the sheep was stuffed -- biotech ethicist Gregory Stock looked forward to new, more meaningful (and controversial) technologies, like customizable babies, whose adoption might drive human evolution.
Human beings are everywhere. With settlements on every continent, we can be found in the most isolated corners of Earth's jungles, oceans and tundras. Our impact is so profound, most scientists believe humanity has left a permanent mark on Earth's geological record. So what would happen if suddenly, every human on Earth disappeared? Dan Kwartler...
How To Be A Better Human isn’t your average self improvement podcast. Each week join Chris Duffy in conversation with guests and past speakers as they uncover sharp insights and give clear takeaways on how YOU can be a better human. From your work to your home and your head to your heart, How To Be a Better Human looks in unexpected places for n...
Svante Pääbo explores human genetic evolution by analyzing DNA extracted from ancient sources, including mummies, an Ice Age hunter and the bone fragments of Neanderthals.