Beautiful, intimate and ultimately uplifting stories of challenge -- from making a new home in a strange country, to rebuilding life after unthinkable tragedy.
It's hard to know where to start with personal finance — saving, budgeting and everything else in between. These TED Talks provide insightful perspectives and practical advice to help you face your financial situation with honesty and compassion.
Cynthia Breazeal wonders: Why can we use robots on Mars, but not in our living rooms? The key, she says, is in training robots to interact with people. Now she dreams up and builds robots that teach, learn -- and play. Watch for amazing demo footage of a new interactive game for kids.
If you could guarantee that your child would avoid inheriting a serious condition, such as blindness, would you do it? Alastair O'Neill describes the wrenching decisions people have made now that science can pre-screen healthy embryos.
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.
When Ramona Pierson was 22, she was hit by a drunk driver and spent 18 months in a coma. In this talk, she tells the remarkable story of her recovery -- drawing on the collective skills and wisdom of a senior citizens' home.
For the past 70 years, scientists in Britain have been studying thousands of children through their lives to find out why some end up happy and healthy while others struggle. It's the longest-running study of human development in the world, and it's produced some of the best-studied people on the planet while changing the way we live, learn and ...
Whether buying a bottle of wine, making an online purchase or going to a movie, most of us share far more information than is necessary: birthdates, credit card numbers, addresses. At a time when our personal information is at risk every day, cryptographer Dr. Maria Dubovitskaya is part of a team which has designed a system that shares only what...
We all love to tell personal stories of adversity and triumph, but how do they prepare us to navigate an unpredictable future? Entrepreneur Andrew Peek believes that our life stories limit us. "Are we wrapped in the warmth of the story we've been writing for decades? The further we are into a story, the less likely we are to want to rewrite it."...
Philip Krinks was happy and successful in his job as a management consultant. He was challenged and passionate about the work. But something was missing. Was this career being true to his personal mission? Krinks drew on a reflective walk in the country and embarked on a larger journey that led from a corporate job to a post as a Christian pasto...
Did humans evolve from monkeys or from fish? In this enlightening talk, ichthyologist and TED Fellow Prosanta Chakrabarty dispels some hardwired myths about evolution, encouraging us to remember that we're a small part of a complex, four-billion-year process -- and not the end of the line. "We're not the goal of evolution," Chakrabarty says. "Th...
Twenty-somethings rejoice! From personal finance to finding your passion, these TED Talks can help you through your (first, second and possibly third) quarter-life crisis.
You take vacation days, sick days and mental health days; now it's time to add a financial health day to that list! What to do on it? Behavioral psychologist Wendy De La Rosa shares 10 simple steps you can take to spend less, save more -- and stress less.
Two sisters take the same DNA test. The results show that one sister is 10% French, the other 0%. Both sisters share the same two parents, and therefore the same set of ancestors. So how can one be 10% more French than the other? Tests like these rely on our DNA to answer questions about our ancestry, but DNA actually can't tell us everything. P...
Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'" A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.
TED Fellow Prosanta Chakrabarty explores hidden parts of the world in search of new species of cave-dwelling fish. These subterranean creatures have developed fascinating adaptations, and they provide biological insights into blindness as well as geological clues about how the continents broke apart million of years ago. Contemplate deep time in...
From improving vaccines to modifying crops to solving crimes, DNA technology has transformed our world. Now, for the first time in history, anyone can experiment with DNA at home, in their kitchen, using a device smaller than a shoebox. We are living in a personal DNA revolution, says biotech entrepreneur Sebastian Kraves, where the secrets buri...
In her book "The Defining Decade," Meg Jay suggests that many twentysomethings feel trivialized during what is actually the most transformative -- and defining -- period of our adult lives.
Not since World War II have so many people been forcibly displaced by war and persecution. Talks on why it's important to help refugees thrive, and personal stories of starting over.
Millions of baby boomers are moving into their senior years with empty pockets and declining choices to earn a living. And right behind them is a younger generation facing the same challenges. In this deeply personal talk, author Elizabeth White opens up an honest conversation about financial trouble and offers practical advice for how to live a...
In 2018, media professor David Carroll filed a legal claim against infamous data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica. He wanted his data -- which the firm misappropriated, along with that of millions of other internet users. In this fascinating talk, he shares the story of his crusade, demonstrating the now-undeniable link between data rights and...
The pain of personal loss, war and conflict is universal. These speakers share large and small ways to remember those lost even long after they're gone.