In this joke-laden talk, Kasha Patel uses the standup comedy format to make a case for combining science communication with humor in order to make the former more accessible and the latter more educational.

Melissa Marshall aims to teach great communication skills to scientists and engineers, so that they can effectively share their work.

Van Jones is the CEO of REFORM Alliance and a CNN political commentator.

In our era of the patient-as-data-point, Abraham Verghese believes in the old-fashioned physical exam, the bedside chat, the power of informed observation.

The key to deeply connecting with others is about more than just talking — it's about asking the right kinds of questions, says journalist and author Charles Duhigg. He explores research-backed tools to have more meaningful conversations, sharing a simple yet powerful approach to transform how you communicate.

Jessa Gamble writes about sleep and time, showing how our internal body clock struggles against our always-on global culture.

In his provocative, mind-bending book "The Secret Life of the Mind," neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reveals his life’s work exploring the inner workings of the human brain.

Why do great thoughts and stories resonate so strongly with so many people, and how do we communicate them? Using fMRI experiments, Uri Hasson is looking for the answers.

Why do we find it easier to trust some concepts and ideas over others? Mathematician and TED Fellow Adam Kucharski explores the science of uncertainty, revealing how the very human need for explanation shapes trust in science, fear of technology and belief in conspiracy theories.

Per Espen Stoknes weaves together psychology and economics in imaginative ways, often revolving around our human relationships to the natural world and to each other.

Christopher McDougall is the author of "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen."

Chuck Nice is a radio and TV veteran with a passion for science communication and comedy.

We think of laughter as merely a response to something funny. In this talk, cognitive neuroscientist Sophie Scott argues that it's a complex social behavior that signals a lot more than a successful joke. Using hilarious examples of laughter as used in foreign policy interactions, she demonstrates how the deployment of a well-placed guffaw is ke...

Regina Hartley thinks that those who don't always look good on paper may be just the person you need to hire.

Neuroscientist Uri Hasson researches the basis of human communication, and experiments from his lab reveal that even across different languages, our brains show similar activity, or become "aligned," when we hear the same idea or story. This amazing neural mechanism allows us to transmit brain patterns, sharing memories and knowledge. "We can co...

Our lives depend on a world we can't see: the satellite infrastructure we use every day for information, entertainment, communication and so much more. But Earth orbit isn't a limitless resource, and the problem of space debris will get worse without a significant change to our behavior. Natalie Panek challenges us to consider the environmental ...

It's time to make psychiatry more psychedelic, says psychiatrist Benjamin Lewis. Sharing results from his clinical trial on psychedelic-assisted therapy, he highlights how group therapy paired with the safe use of psilocybin, a compound found in magic mushrooms, has the potential to improve mental health conditions like depression and burnout.

For millions of years, fireflies have spoken to each other with their dance of light, a romantic morse code that’s brightened our natural spaces. In this visual talk, scientist Orit Peleg takes us into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to crack the code of flash synchronization, delving into the beauty and complexity of this mesmerizing ch...

Some think dogs love us just like we love them; others see them as collections of instinctive behaviors incapable of complex feelings. The truth, according to animal behaviorist Julia Espinosa, lies somewhere in the middle. In this talk, she and her canine guest star Loki explain how (and why) we should challenge our assumptions about animal beh...

TED Senior Fellow Kristen Marhaver is a marine biologist studying the ecology, behavior and reproduction of reef corals.

You may have heard of synesthesia, the condition that allows some people to see music or smell colors. This might seem like a strange superpower to most, but Imogen Malpas explains how everyone has a form of synesthesia: one that links time and space. She explores where these synesthetic traits come from–and what they reveal about our histories,...

The US state of Florida is facing down environmental threats that affect millions of people a year, such as toxic algal blooms and hurricanes. The solutions will take Biologist (and Florida resident) Graham Worthy proposes that by breaking down academic silos and engaging interdisciplinary teams, Florida might finally start solving some of its i...

Soon after whaling ships began operating in the North Pacific, an interesting trend emerged. Within just a few years, whalers saw a 58% drop in their successful strikes. Sperm whales had suddenly become harder to kill— they had begun fleeing the boats instead of forming their usual defensive circles. Were whales communicating new strategies to e...

Sarah Gray found meaning in tragic loss­­ by donating the organs of her newborn son to advance scientific research.

Roger Antonsen combines science, mathematics and computer science with entertainment, philosophy and visualizations.

What if we could hear nature's ultrasonic communication -- and talk back? From a bat's shrill speech to a peacock's infrasound mating call, conservation technology researcher Karen Bakker takes us through a sound bath of animal noises that are far outside humanity's range of hearing, demonstrating how artificial intelligence has translated the i...

Daniel Engber explores science and culture as an award-winning journalist for Radiolab, the New York Times, Slate and Wired, among others.

Fascinated by exploration both on and off this planet, Nadia Drake writes and thinks about both the very big (astronomy) and the very small (spiders).

Alix Generous is a young woman with a million and one ideas -- she's done award-winning science, helped develop new technology and tells a darn good joke (you'll see). She has Asperger's, a form of autistic spectrum disorder that can impair the basic social skills required for communication, and she's worked hard for years to learn how to share ...