Origami, which literally translates to "folding paper," is a Japanese practice dating back to at least the 17th century. In origami, a single, traditionally square sheet of paper can be transformed into almost any shape, purely by folding. The same simple concepts yield everything from a paper crane with about 20 steps, to a dragon with over 1,0...

After Robert Lang's talk on origami at TED2008, Bruno Bowden stepped onstage with a challenge -- he would fold one of Lang's astonishingly complicated origami figures, blindfolded, in under 2 minutes. He's accompanied by the cellist Rufus Cappadocia.

Robert Lang is a pioneer of the newest kind of origami -- using math and engineering principles to fold mind-blowingly intricate designs that are beautiful and, sometimes, very useful.

Taking design cues from origami, robotician Jamie Paik and her team created "robogamis": folding robots made out super-thin materials that can reshape and transform themselves. In this talk and tech demo, Paik shows how robogamis could adapt to achieve a variety of tasks on earth (or in space) and demonstrates how they roll, jump, catapult like ...

Perhaps you’ve punched out a paper doll or folded an origami swan? TED Fellow Manu Prakash and his team have created a microscope made of paper that's just as easy to fold and use. A sparkling demo that shows how this invention could revolutionize healthcare in developing countries … and turn almost anything into a fun, hands-on science experiment.

Robert Lang merges mathematics with aesthetics to fold elegant modern origami. His scientific approach helps him make folds once thought impossible -- and has secured his place as one of the first great Western masters of the art.

Poet Rives does 8 minutes of lyrical origami, folding history into a series of coincidences surrounding that most surreal of hours, 4 o'clock in the morning.

These talks are here to set the record straight and illuminate the unexpected ways formulas and fractions influence everything, from love and war to origami and coral reefs.

Numbers, patterns and equations are at the core of these talks, which will teach you how to fold better origami and how to quantify history.

An engineer with Google (he helped build Google Earth), Bruno Bowden is also an enthusiastic folder of paper.

A microscope that costs less than $1. A post-natal incubator for $25. These TED Talks highlight exciting innovations that render formerly-expensive things affordable — whether it’s to save you money, or to save lives.

A round-up of fascinating TED speakers who have founded some of the most amazing companies.

Soft robotics expert Jamie Paik designs "robogamis" -- folding robots inspired by origami that are more adaptable than classical robots.

The James Webb Space Telescope is a miracle of modern science and engineering. With a 21-foot, gold-coated mirror protected by a sunshield that's the size of a tennis court, it's the world's most powerful telescope and humanity's latest attempt to answer questions like: "Where did we come from?" and "Are we alone?" (It also needed to be folded u...

The TED Fellows are an extraordinary group of 350+ artists, scientists, entrepreneurs and more — each at the beginning of a landmark career. Below, watch the most-viewed talks from these unusual trailblazers, each with a unique idea to share.

These onstage demos offer a mind-blowing peek at where technology is taking us. Flying robots, levitating superconductors, brainwave-reading headsets and more …

A collection of talks from creative individuals striving to bring light to some of the world's most pressing issues.

Stephen Coleman studies applied ethics, particularly the ethics of military and police force, and their application to human rights.

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

About this event: Introduzione agli sviluppi teorici che hanno portato l'origami a raggiungere livelli artistici e tecnologici impensabili solo pochi decenni fa. Verranno anche evidenziate le potenzialità dell'origami nella didattica, per l'insegnamento della matematica e non solo... A seguire Workshop creativo con la realizzazione di modelli origami alla portata...

About this event: At TEDxPaloAltoSalon Rethink 2019, we will hear from an extraordinary lineup of individuals rethinking our understanding of epigenetics, musical performance, neuro technology, belief systems, origami, nuclear power and more.

Spoken word artist Lemon Andersen begins today’s talk with the poem, “Please Don’t Take My Air Jordans,” written by Reg E. Gaines in 1994. My Air Jordans cost a hundred with tax. My suede Starter jacket says Raiders on the back. I’m stylin’, smilin’ looking real mean, Cause it ain’t about bein’ heard. Just about bein’ seen. For Andersen,...

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely points out the surprising joy and engagement we feel when we make things. We are the CEOs of our own lives. We work hard to spur ourselves to get up and go to work and do what we must do day after day. We also try to encourage people to work for and with us. We do this in our personal lives, too: from a very youn...

About this event: At TEDxPaloAltoSalon 2019: Rethink, hear from an extraordinary lineup of individuals rethinking our understanding of epigenetics, musical performance, neuro technology, belief systems, origami, nuclear power and PTSD.

Global health expert Alanna Shaikh gave an unexpected and moving talk at TEDGlobal 2012, called “How I’m preparing to get Alzheimer’s.” In it, she told the story of her father’s struggle with the disease, and outlined some strategies she'd devised in case dementia struck her later in life, too. The TED Blog was curious: How is her experiment...

About this event: TEDxPeachtree 2014 took place in Atlanta, Georgia on Octoer 17, 2014. In our sixth year, we asked our community to provide their interpretation of "Illuminate" and the thirteen speakers who took the stage gave us an truly broad array of ideas worth sharing! Ideas shared on stage include origami in space, wearable technology for canines, a new wa...

Architect Shigeru Ban uses paper tubes to build temporary, ecologically sustainable structures. These geometrically complex structures can be big and impressive -- like a concave complex built for Expo 2000 in Germany -- or small and functional, like the half-pipe office Ban built for himself atop the Pompadou Center in Paris. No matter thei...

When TED Fellow Gabriel Barcia-Colombo saw an extraction of strawberry DNA for the first time, he was smitten. “I’d never thought about DNA being a beautiful thing before I saw it in this form,” he says in today’s talk, given at the TED Fellows Retreat. Barcia-Colombo was inspired to join the public biotech lab Genspace, where biotechnolo...

TED Talks are available in 94 languages, from Albanian to Vietnamese, thanks to the tireless work of our translators. So far, more than 8,500 volunteers have created the upwards of 33,500 translated talks. To celebrate this accomplishment, every week the TED Blog is bringing you a Q&A with one of our most prolific translators. Today, mee...

The TED-Ed team is excited to have just passed our one-year mark -- we launched our YouTube Channel on March 12, 2012. And what a year it has been! In 365 days, we have published more than 100 TED-Ed Originals plus nearly 100 TED Talks, totaling more than 16 million views. And we have almost 100 additional projects in production as we speak. ...