Colin Robertson had 3 minutes on the TED stage to tell the world about his solar-powered crowdsourced health care solution. And then...

At the onstage introduction of Twirlr, a new social-sharing platform, someone forgets to silence their cell phone. And then ... this happens. (Song by Scott Brown and Anthony King; edit by Nathan Russell.)

Musician and researcher Charles Limb wondered how the brain works during musical improvisation -- so he put jazz musicians and rappers in an fMRI to find out. What he and his team found has deep implications for our understanding of creativity of all kinds.

Vishal Vaid and his band explore a traditional South Asian musical form in this mesmerizing improv performance. Sit back and let his music transport you.

Bad days happen to good people. Here are talks guaranteed to help cheer you up.

Pianist ELEW and saxophonist Marcus Miller perform an ensnaring three-part set informed by their love of science, masterfully blending rock and jazz improv techniques. (Listen closely and you may also hear a take on Roger and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things.")

How did some of our quirkiest talks pull in millions of views? Watch these fun, fascinating hits and see for yourself.

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, "ghostbusters" running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. His group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together.

Usman Riaz is a 21-year-old whiz at the percussive guitar, a style he learned to play by watching his heroes on YouTube. The TED Fellow plays onstage at TEDGlobal 2012 -- followed by a jawdropping solo from the master of percussive guitar, Preston Reed. And watch these two guitarists take on a very spur-of-the-moment improv.

In a hilarious, completely improvised talk, improv master Anthony Veneziale takes to the TED stage for a truly one-of-a-kind performance. Armed with an audience-suggested topic ("stumbling towards intimacy") and a deck of slides he's never seen before, Veneziale crafts a meditation on the intersection of love, language and ... avocados?

A list of the jazziest performances to hit the TED stage, straight from the bandstand.

While studying for his PhD in physics, Uri Alon thought he was a failure because all his research paths led to dead ends. But, with the help of improv theater, he came to realize that there could be joy in getting lost. A call for scientists to stop thinking of research as a direct line from question to answer, but as something more creative. It...

Take a trip around the globe and enjoy music from all corners of the Earth.

Ben Wellington blends his love of statistics, the city, and comedy in his entertaining analysis of the story of New York City, told through data.

Charlie Todd is the creator of Improv Everywhere, a group that creates absurd and joyful public scenes.

Uri Alon, a physicist turned systems biologist, admits that while studying for his Ph.D., he had a bit of a meltdown. His research was going in loops, all paths leading to dead ends. Because he'd always assumed that his work in science would be a straight line from question to answer, and because scientists don’t talk about the strong emotions t...

Every day, a sea of decisions stretches before us, and it's impossible to make a perfect choice every time. But there are many ways to improve our chances — and one particularly effective technique is critical thinking. Samantha Agoos describes a 5-step process that may help you with any number of problems. [Directed by Nick Hilditch, narrated b...

Photo and video: James Duncan Davidson. Music: Tyler Walker Our photographer James Duncan Davidson made this great little video from all the hundreds of photos he snapped during Improv Everywhere's prank on TED2012. Watch the whole prank ... and learn more about how they did it.

"In the middle of my PhD, I was hopelessly stuck," confesses scientist Uri Alon. "Every research direction I tried led to a dead end. It seemed my basic assumptions stopped working." Alon felt like a failure. And even though he got through it, the experience stuck with him ... especially when it happened again. While Alon was studying phy...

Lux Narayan is a perpetual learner of various things -- from origami and molecular gastronomy to stand-up and improv comedy.

About this event: The event will be a 2014 retrospective - we'll show the most memorable TED talks, discuss important events and host on stage one of the best Polish improv theatres - Hofesinka - improvising to the 2014 experiences from the audience registration forms.

Can robots and humans interact the way that human beings interact with each other? Guy Hoffman researches embodied cognition and intelligence in robots.

About this event: Diverse international speakers came together and shared their 'hot spots' with 200 selected audience members. Speakers ranged from immersive designer to architect, future trend reporter, artificial humans designer, a mystery surprise guest, former White House advisor, to improv comedy,plus live music.

Uri Alon studies how cells work, using an array of tools (including improv theater) to understand the biological circuits that perform the functions of life.

Photos: James Duncan Davidson Colin Robertson is a futurist and is not someone most people have heard of. And as he began his presentation, the crowd was treated to a TED speaker's worst nightmare: The slides crashed and the Mac multi-colored pizza-wheel of death appeared. Then an error message appeared on screen. Then another, and anothe...

Humorist, writer and trickster Emily Levine riffs on science and the human condition.

One of the best things that you can do to boost your immune system is head to bed, says sleep scientist Matt Walker. It can even make your flu shot more effective!

About this event: Each year we come up with an abstract theme that gives us a lot of latitude when it comes to selecting ideas and speakers. This year we chose "Yes and..." "Yes and…” is a guiding principle of Improv that promotes inclusion. The Yes explains the situation, while the And allows the listener to add their own experience to the talk, and take action.

A jazz icon since the late 1960s, Naná Vasconcelos contributed Latin percussion to some of the world’s most cerebral, soulful music.