Fascinating talks that seek to unravel some of the most fundamental, yet unexplainable parts of the cosmos.

In this wide-ranging, thought-provoking talk, Kevin Kelly muses on what technology means in our lives -- from its impact at the personal level to its place in the cosmos.

At Serious Play 2008, astrophysicist George Smoot shows stunning new images from deep-space surveys, and prods us to ponder how the cosmos -- with its giant webs of dark matter and mysterious gaping voids -- got built this way.

Astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize winner George Smoot studies the cosmic microwave background radiation -- the afterglow of the Big Bang. His pioneering research into deep space and time is uncovering the structure of the universe itself.

Lord Martin Rees, one of the world's most eminent astronomers, is an emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and the UK's Astronomer Royal. He is one of our key thinkers on the future of humanity in the cosmos.

We've misplaced the building blocks of the cosmos -- and particle physicists like Claire Malone are on a mission to find them. Despite scientists hitting a "major snag" in uncovering what exactly makes up dark matter and dark energy, she explains how questioning our fundamental understanding of nature itself invites a different, more meaningful ...

Is outer space really the silent and lifeless place it's often depicted to be? Perhaps not. Astrophysicist and musician Matt Russo takes us on a journey through the cosmos, revealing the hidden rhythms and harmonies of planetary orbits. The universe is full of music, he says -- we just need to learn how to hear it.

Astronomers once gazed upon the night sky and counted every star in the galaxy by hand. The process has evolved since then, but the thirst for celestial knowledge remains the same. Join astrophysicist Emily Levesque for an anecdote-rich jaunt through the technological history of photographing the cosmos and learn about the one constant that make...

A physicist, cosmologist and gifted science communicator, Sean Carroll is asking himself -- and asking us to consider -- questions that get at the fundamental nature of the universe.

In the next 15 years, the market for commercial space-travel is predicted to double from $300 to $600 billion. Karin Nilsdotter, CEO of the Swedish Spaceport, believes that the cosmos are the next big frontier in business. And while microgravity research, lunar real estate and space tourism may still sound like sci-fi, Nilsdotter argues that the...

Astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger explores the thrilling possibility of discovering life beyond Earth, highlighting how cutting-edge technology like the James Webb Space Telescope lets us analyze distant planets for signs of life in unprecedented detail. Could examining these "alien earths" uncover evidence of new life forms and transform our unde...

Astrophysicist and TED Fellow Sarah Rugheimer searches for aliens -- but not the cartoony green kind. She's looking for extraterrestrial microbes by studying how these single-celled organisms emit gases, which could reveal evidence of them throughout the cosmos. Wondering if we're really alone in the universe, Rugheimer identifies two big hurdle...

Roughly 85 percent of mass in the universe is "dark matter" -- mysterious material that can't be directly observed but has an immense influence on the cosmos. What exactly is this strange stuff, and what does it have to do with our existence? Astrophysicist Risa Wechsler explores why dark matter may be the key to understanding how the universe f...

For thousands of years, people made both functional maps and what are known as cosmographies, illustrating the earth and its position in the cosmos, often including constellations, gods, and mythic locations. These maps were meant to depict the world's geography, but weren't necessarily useful for navigation and contained some glaring mistakes. ...

In this fascinating conversation, cosmologist and TED Fellow Katie Mack delves into everything from the Big Bang theory to what we see at the edge of the observable universe to a few ways the cosmos might end. Stay tuned to hear Mack recite an original poem on the wonder and marvel of existence. (This conversation, hosted by deputy director of t...

Humans have been studying the stars for thousands of years, but astrophysicist Juna Kollmeier is on a special mission: creating the most detailed 3-D maps of the universe ever made. Journey across the cosmos as she shares her team's work on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, imaging millions of stars, black holes and galaxies in unprecedented detail....

The universe that we know, with its luminous stars and orbiting planets, is largely made up of elements we can't actually see -- like dark energy and dark matter -- and therefore don't fully understand. Theoretical physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein takes us inside the search for this cosmos-shaping invisible matter and explains how, with the he...

TED Fellow Sathya Raghu Mokkapati's agricultural startup builds low-cost greenhouse systems helping Indian smallholder farmers confront the impacts of climate change.

Matt Russo is an astrophysicist and musician who translates the rhythm and harmony of the cosmos into music and sound.

Katie Mack unravels the connections between the smallest particles, the largest interstellar objects and the various ways the universe might end.

Carrie Nugent is part of a team that uses NASA's NEOWISE telescope to search the skies for and catalog asteroids.

Brian Greene is perhaps the best-known proponent of superstring theory, the idea that minuscule strands of energy vibrating in a higher dimensional space-time create every particle and force in the universe.

Stephen Hawking's scientific investigations shed light on the origins of the cosmos, the nature of time and the ultimate fate of the universe. His bestselling books for a general audience have given an appreciation of physics to millions.

Using all the techniques known to astronomy -- mathematics, computers and data from telescopes on the ground and in space -- Juna Kollmeier seeks to understand how the universe formed by mapping stars, galaxies and black holes at scale.

Kelsey Johnson has spent her life in awe of the universe, and she works to inspire that awe in future generations.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein plumbs the deepest corners of the universe to uncover the hiding places of dark matter -- and the secret origins of the cosmos.

Katie Paterson's art is at once understated and monumental.

Emily Levesque explores how the most massive stars in the universe evolve and die and how technology is changing the stories we tell about science and the cosmos.

Pierre Barreau is an entrepreneur, computer scientist, composer and director who loves to create impactful things.