Today nine nations collectively control more than 15,000 nuclear weapons, each hundreds of times more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We don't need more nuclear weapons; we need a new generation to face the unfinished challenge of disarmament started decades ago. Nuclear reformer Erika Gregory calls on today's rising leade...

There are more than 10,000 nuclear weapons in existence today, each one capable of causing immense destruction. Why don't we talk about this threat as much as some other major issues? In this practical talk, nuclear security expert Emma Belcher shares three questions you can ask your elected officials to gain a better understanding of nuclear we...

Nuclear weapons are some of the most powerful tools of destruction on Earth, and the full scope of a nuclear detonation is almost unimaginable. However, there is a scientifically supported plan of action that could save thousands of lives. What is this plan, and what exactly would it protect us from? Brooke Buddemeier and Jessica S. Wieder explo...

Bringing cross-disciplinary tactics and innovation to a moribund defense industry, N Square’s Erika Gregory seeks to wean the world from its nuclear stockpiles.

Nuclear security expert Emma Belcher delivers an overview of the war in Ukraine, outlines its implications for the deployment of nuclear weapons on the global stage, and offers a vision for how we can try to ensure a peaceful future free of such destructive weaponry.

Emma Belcher develops and implements strategy for reducing the threat posed by nuclear weapons.

About this event: Vladimir Putin's illegal war in Ukraine has raised the spectre of whether and how nuclear weapons might be deployed. While the use of nuclear weapons is widely considered to be "unthinkable," and may lead to unpredictable escalation and even mutually assured destruction, we are now faced with the possibility that new, smaller tactical weapons ma...

Scilla Elworthy founded Oxford Research Group in 1982, to promote effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers and their opponents.

Graham Allison is a leading analyst of US national security and defense policy with a special interest in China, nuclear weapons and decision-making.

Stuart Russell wrote the standard text on AI; now he thinks deeply on AI's future -- and the future of us humans, too.

As computer access expands, Mikko Hypponen asks: What's the next killer virus, and will the world be able to cope with it? And also: How can we protect digital privacy in the age of government surveillance?

About this event: There are more people who capitulate than those who fail. Henry Ford The topic of the first TEDxTomsk conference is “TO ERR IS HUMAN” Is the meaning of mistake changing in contemporary world? “My mistake – I remained an employee for too long. I was unhappy, because all this time I did not learn anything useful. I could have started ...

The TED Interview How to solve the world’s biggest problems with Natalie Cargill May 23, 2024 [00:00:00] Chris Anderson: Hello everyone. Chris Anderson here. Welcome back to The TED Interview. The season we've been delving deep into all aspects of generosity, which I've come to believe is the single most crucial idea we're spreading in our mod...

Nuclear power is one of the safest, cleanest forms of energy -- yet to most people, it might not feel that way. Why is that? Isabelle Boemeke, the world's first nuclear energy influencer and creator of the social media persona Isodope, deftly debunks the major objections to nuclear power and explains her unconventional way of educating people ab...

Taylor Wilson graduated from high school in May. And Popular Science has already dubbed him "The Boy who Played with Fusion" and Forbes has suggested that he may just be "The Bill Gates of Energy." Wilson first received attention at the age of 14, after building a nuclear fusion reactor he'd dreamed up in his parents’ garage. He spoke at ...

When Hillary Clinton became the first female nominee of a major political party in the United States this summer, she reflected that this achievement "belongs to generations of women and men who struggled, sacrificed and made this moment possible." Women have been leaders throughout history, making positive changes in their communities. But in s...

As a novelist, Daniel Suarez spins dystopian tales of the future. But on the TEDGlobal stage, he talks us through a real-life scenario we all need to know more about: the rise of autonomous robotic weapons of war. Advanced drones, automated weapons and AI-powered intelligence-gathering tools, he suggests, could take the decision to make war out ...

"We're not in a clean energy revolution; we're in a clean energy crisis," says climate policy expert Michael Shellenberger. His surprising solution: nuclear. In this passionate talk, he explains why it's time to overcome longstanding fears of the technology, and why he and other environmentalists believe it's past time to embrace nuclear as a vi...

Many people ask, “How are speakers selected for TEDWomen? The answer is that speakers, like ideas, come from many different sources. TED has an open recommendation process on TED.com, and we review those as well as suggestions that come in from everywhere. Sometimes people self nominate but mostly, fans of TEDTalks submit names of women and ...

Created by the team behind An Inconvenient Truth and starring TED2010 speaker (and former CIA covert operative) Valerie Plame Wilson, Countdown to Zero began playing theaters of select cities this week. At TED, Plame spoke about the compelling need to bring the number of nuclear weapons in the world to zero and the film delves further into her a...

How to explain the stunning political upheaval of 2016 -- Brexit in the UK and Donald Trump’s election to the presidency in the US -- as well as the current and ongoing atmosphere of division, discontent and disquiet that fills many people’s lives? One simple answer: “We’ve lost our story,” says Jerusalem University historian Yuval Harari, i...

The face of nuclear terror has changed since the Cold War, but disaster-medicine expert Irwin Redlener reminds us the threat is still real. He looks at some of history's farcical countermeasures and offers practical advice on how to survive an attack.

Nuclear power: the energy crisis has even die-hard environmentalists reconsidering it. In this first-ever TED debate, Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson square off over the pros and cons. A discussion that'll make you think -- and might even change your mind.

About this event: Following the footsteps of the TEDxFulbright community in Washington D.C., Santa Monica, Frankfurt & Dublin, TEDxFulbrightMelbourne will be the first to premiere in the Southern Hemisphere, hosting eight incredible speakers over three hours at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre this April. Our theme, 'A Certain Optimism: Changing the...

Nations can now attack other nations with cyber weapons: silent strikes on another country's computer systems, power grids, dams that leave no trace behind. (Think of the Stuxnet worm.) Guy-Philippe Goldstein shows how cyberattacks can leap between the digital and physical worlds to prompt armed conflict -- and how we might avert this global sec...

Daniel Suarez is a former systems consultant turned novelist who will speak in session two at TEDGlobal 2013. Officially subtitled "Those Flying Things," this is unofficially known as the drone session, and it will feature various speakers tackling the topic of unmanned aerial vehicles. For his part, Suarez will expound on some of the themes...

At TED2010, Bill Gates unveils his vision for the world's energy future, describing the need for "miracles" to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he's backing a dramatically different type of nuclear reactor. The necessary goal? Zero carbon emissions globally by 2050.

The man who helped usher in the environmental movement in the 1960s and '70s has been rethinking his positions on cities, nuclear power, genetic modification and geo-engineering. This talk at the US State Department is a foretaste of his major new book, sure to provoke widespread debate.

Chemist Rebecca Abergel and her colleagues have found a way to remove radioactive contaminants from the body. Now they are trying to put their solution in a pill. After the US dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War Two, more than 100,000 people died -- many from exposure to radiation. At high doses,...

Technology thriller author, most recently of the book Kill Decision, Daniel Suarez has been thinking about drones for some time. But as he says, as he stands onstage at TEDGlobal 2013, he's not here to talk fiction. "I'm here to talk about very real autonomous combat drones," he says, adding that he doesn't mean remotely piloted drones such ...