A simple ode to joy and the light it brings.

A collection of talks from creative individuals striving to bring light to some of the world's most pressing issues.

Explore endless waters with these captivating talks that shine some (literal) light on what’s going in the deepest, darkest parts of our oceans.

Find out what sound a black hole makes, if (possible) alien life is blocking star light and other astounding things happening in our galaxy -- and beyond.

Quixotic Fusion is an ensemble of artists that brings together aerial acrobatics, dance, theater, film, music and visual fx. Watch as they perform three transporting dance pieces at TED2012.

Lighting architect Rogier van der Heide offers a beautiful new way to look at the world -- by paying attention to light (and to darkness). Examples from classic buildings illustrate a deeply thought-out vision of the play of light around us.

These investigations into the dark underbelly of society shed light on some of the world’s most pressing issues.

Can we accurately describe light as exclusively a wave or just a particle? Are the two mutually exclusive? In this third part of his series on light and color Colm Kelleher discusses wave-particle duality and its relationship to how we see light and therefore color. [Directed by Nelson Diaz, narrated by Colm Kelleher].

Light always travels at a speed of 299,792,458 meters per second. But if you're in motion too, you're going to perceive it as traveling even faster -- which isn't possible! In this second installment of a three-part series on space-time, CERN scientists Andrew Pontzen and Tom Whyntie use a space-time diagram to analyze the sometimes confounding ...

Far-UVC light is a type of ultraviolet light that kills microbes and viruses and, crucially, seems to be safe to use around humans. Radiation scientist David Brenner describes how we could use this light to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, in hospitals, nursing homes, trains and other public indoor spaces -- pav...

Each kind of light has a unique wavelength, but human eyes can only perceive a tiny slice of the full spectrum -- the very narrow range from red to violet. Microwaves, radio waves, x-rays and more are hiding, invisible, just beyond our perception. Lucianne Walkowicz shows us the waves we can't see. [Directed by Pew36 Animation Studios, narrated ...

Physicist Patricia Burchat sheds light on two basic ingredients of our universe: dark matter and dark energy. Comprising 96% of the universe between them, they can't be directly measured, but their influence is immense.

In the spectacular large-scale projects he's famous for (such as "Waterfalls" in New York harbor), Olafur Eliasson creates art from a palette of space, distance, color and light. This idea-packed talk begins with an experiment in the nature of perception.

Musicians Ryan and Hays Holladay blur the boundaries of sight and sound, creating a visual experience where music becomes the performer, rather than the performance with captivating colorful explosions that react to their music's slightest beats and tones.

What if every light bulb in the world could also transmit data? At TEDGlobal, Harald Haas demonstrates, for the first time, a device that could do exactly that. By flickering the light from a single LED, a change too quick for the human eye to detect, he can transmit far more data than a cellular tower -- and do it in a way that's more efficient...

Powerful, gripping personal narratives that shed light on what it means to live in some of the world’s most dangerous and volatile regions.

Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics. Session host Juan ...

Photographer Monika Bulaj shares powerful, intimate images of Afghanistan -- of home life, of ritual, of men and women. Behind the headlines, what does the world truly know about this place?

These surprising, slightly psychedelic talks are better than staring at a blacklight poster.

Get ready to rock out with these awesome performances that have lit up the TED stage.

In the last century, our sleep patterns have been heavily influenced by artificial light sources. (Think about your smartphone.) In this instructive talk, sleep researcher Dragana Rogulja outlines the damage this does to our health and suggests some ways to combat the problem.

Have you ever wondered what color is? In this first installment of a series on light, Colm Kelleher describes the physics behind colors-- why the colors we see are related to the period of motion and the frequency of waves. [Directed by Alex Rupert and Bernard Tan, narrated by Colm Kelleher].

Admit it, lasers are pretty cool. Discover the awesome, ingenious ways these beams of light are being used to fight against malaria and HIV, scan ancient monuments ... and even edit memory.

It's an increasingly common sight in hospitals around the world: a nurse measures our height, weight, blood pressure, and attaches a glowing plastic clip to our finger. Suddenly, a digital screen reads out the oxygen level in our bloodstream. How did that happen? Sajan Saini shows how pairing light with integrated photonics is leading to new med...

These talks honor those who have fought for their country while shedding light on what coming home from war means for many whose wounds are more than skin-deep.

Designer Sandra Rey has found a way to channel one of nature's superpowers: bioluminescence. By isolating the DNA that causes some squids to glow, and introducing it into bacteria, she's created a light source that can glow for three days -- without generating the usual pollution caused by lightbulbs. Her idea is still in development, but Rey ma...

TED and Ford are partnering to explore the City of Tomorrow -- a visionary look at the challenges society must address to improve life in our cities, including the movement of people and goods. To bring that to life, Ford recently hosted the City of Tomorrow Symposium in San Francisco. As a part of Ford and TED's partnership, TED Studios partici...

In a series of mind-bending demos, inventor Mary Lou Jepsen shows how we can use red light to see and potentially stimulate what's inside our bodies and brains. Taking us to the edge of optical physics, Jepsen unveils new technologies that utilize light and sound to track tumors, measure neural activity and could possibly replace the MRI machine...

Multi-instrumentalist Ane Brun joins the Lyris Quartet to perform two haunting, mesmerizing songs: the cabaret-inspired "It All Starts With One" and folk-infused "You Light My Fire," with backing vocals from Rebecca Lichtenfeld.

National Geographic Learning’s goal is to bring the world to the classroom, and the classroom to life for English language learners at all levels. With National Geographic Learning programs with TED Talks, students learn their world by experiencing it through the stories, ideas, photography and video of National Geographic and TED. TED Speaker ...