"I am so happy to be here, because I can actually breathe the air," says Peggy Liu, who lives in China, as she steps on the TED2014 stage. Her typical day begins not with checking the time, but by checking the air pollution levels on her phone to determine whether her children will need to wear face masks that day. In Brussels, Belgium, if the...

The TED community has been very busy over the past few weeks. Below, some newsy highlights. 121 years of celebrating art. Originally an art exhibition, the Venice Biennale is a tradition stretching back to 1895 and has expanded over the years to include events for music, theater, film, dance and architecture. Opening on May 28, the 15th I...

Too many of us, too often, think of pain as something that needs to be eliminated, at any cost. But we -- doctors, patients, drug makers, and all of us -- can be part of a much-needed shift that  questions this attitude, says bioethicist Travis Rieder. Travis Rieder’s journey down the rabbit hole of opioid dependence began with his motorcycle a...

Jaime Lerner reinvented urban space in his native Curitiba, Brazil. Along the way, he changed the way city planners worldwide see what's possible in the metropolitan landscape.

One day in the fall, you called upon your friend, Sherlock Holmes, and found him in conversation with Jabez Wilson. Wilson had been working for the mysterious League of Red-Headed Men. Today, he arrived at work to find the group had disappeared, and now turns to Holmes to make sense of the events. Follow the detective and see if you can solve th...

In September 1991, two hikers discovered a corpse emerging from the ice. Researchers soon realized they were looking at the mummified body of a man who'd lived about 5,300 years ago, and theorized he got caught in bad weather and froze. However, a shocking discovery revealed his true cause of death and upended his story. So, how did he die? Albe...

Welcome to the "Auntieverse" — a surreal tribute to "auntie culture" by artist Niceaunties, inspired by the spirit of the women who care for each other and their families. From sushi-bedecked cars with legs to hot tub baths full of ramen, Niceaunties shares a visual feast that fuses AI and imagination and celebrates the eccentric, vibrant world ...

If you've been in a restaurant kitchen, you've seen how much food, water and energy can be wasted there. Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson shares his very personal vision for drastically reducing restaurant, and supermarket, waste -- creating recycling, composting, sustainable engines for good (and good food).

Five billion people can't use the internet. Aleph Molinari empowers digitally excluded people, by giving them access to computers and sharing the know-how to use them.

Painter Alyssa Monks finds beauty and inspiration in the unknown, the unpredictable and even the awful. In a poetic, intimate talk, she describes the interaction of life, paint and canvas through her development as an artist, and as a human.

"There are a lot of resources given by nature for free -- all we need is our sensitivity to see them and our creativity to use them," says architect Anna Heringer. Heringer uses low-tech materials like mud and bamboo to create structures from China to Switzerland, Bangladesh and beyond. Visit an awe-inspiring school, an elegant office and cozy s...

Can we make tattoos both beautiful and functional? Nanotechnologist Carson Bruns shares his work creating high-tech tattoos that react to their environment -- like color-changing ink that can tell you when you're getting a sunburn -- and shows exciting ways they can deliver real-time information about our health.

Have we misunderstood pain? Researcher and physician Amy Baxter unravels the symphony of connections that send pain from your body to your brain, explaining practical neuroscience hacks to quickly block those signals. Her groundbreaking research offers alternatives for immediate pain relief -- without the need for addictive opioids. (Followed by...

Journalist Carl Honoré believes the Western world's emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. But there's a backlash brewing, as everyday people start putting the brakes on their all-too-modern lives.

In this intimate talk filmed at TED's offices, energy innovator Amory Lovins shows how to get the US off oil and coal by 2050, $5 trillion cheaper, with no Act of Congress, led by business for profit. The key is integrating all four energy-using sectors—and four kinds of innovation.

The pandemic has changed the way we work, live, and interact. What will life be like when the pandemic is over? Mfon details the importance of social interaction during the pandemic and beyond.

Change is hard, but it's also necessary. It can be tough to get through the initial growing pains, but eventually, things turn out in ways you could never imagine. Realize what change is and what its important processes are, and embrace it!

Diminishing the gap of inequities among students who have access to and use of information and communication technologies and those who do not is crtical for establishing equality in education.

Why should we care about virtual reality in the educational environment? Mfon Akpan is passionate about the opportunities virtual reality can give our students today. In his energizing talk, he answers why we should care about virtual reality in the classroom. Mfon Akpan is an accounting professor and enthusiast for virtual reality in education.

We all try and multitask. But can we really accomplish multiple things at once? What are the consequence of attempting to multitask?

As the need and access for technology has continued to grow, so has anxiety and depression. How do we deal with this phenomenon when the technology itself is created in way to make us crave its usage. Mfon details examples of trending and concerning mental health struggles and offers a very simple idea to battle this crisis.