It's late, pitch dark and a self-driving car winds down a narrow country road. Suddenly, three hazards appear at the same time. With no human at the wheel, the car uses smart eyes, sensors that'll resolve these details all in a split-second. How is this possible? Sajan Saini explains how LIDAR and integrated photonics technology make self-drivin...

People often describe failure as a teachable moment— a necessary stumble on our way to improvement. But learning from our mistakes isn't always easy, especially when those failures are demoralizing, overwhelming, or just downright confusing. So what prevents us from turning our mistakes into mastery? Explore the biggest obstacles of learning fr...

Last week, education researcher Sugata Mitra won the first-ever $1 million TED Prize to build his School in the Cloud. Prior to his TED Prize win, Mitra was known for his “Hole in the Wall” experiment. In 1999, Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall near an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC and left it there -- w...

About this event: Which values do we teach our kids? Through sports or arts, how do we develop respect, team spirit and collaboration? How do we change the perspective on gender from the youngest age? Can we apply Burning Man’s principles in the classroom for self-directed learning or collaborative experiments? Can we leverage technology to solve educational c...

Today, artificial intelligence helps doctors diagnose patients, pilots fly commercial aircraft, and city planners predict traffic. These AIs are often self-taught, working off a simple set of instructions to create a unique array of rules and strategies. So how exactly does a machine learn? Briana Brownell digs into the three basic ways machines...

“Early one morning last February, a man turned up on my doorstep who had travelled through the night to get there,” said Sugata Mitra, the education reformer who received the 2013 TED Prize. “This schoolteacher wanted to do something positive for his village, which had no electricity, health care or primary education … It was just the kind o...

The question of whether or not humans are inherently selfish is one of philosophy’s oldest debates. The idea that we only act out of self-interest is an extreme stance that few philosophers would endorse. However, the idea that all humans have a deep selfish streak is something many philosophers would agree with. So, are we innately selfish? Mar...

Ten years ago, educator Sugata Mitra and his colleagues cracked open a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed a networked PC, and left it there for the local children to freely explore. What they quickly saw in their ‘Hole in the Wall’ experiment was that kids from one of the most desperately poor areas of the world c...

It’s a question on so many minds: what will the future of education look like? It’s something Sir Ken Robinson has asked for decades. And tonight in Session 3 of TED2013, Robinson got the opportunity to announce the winner of the 2013 TED Prize, someone who has a bold answer. “So many kids are disengaged from education and there’s a t...

How good are you with money? What about reading people's emotions? How healthy are you, compared to other people you know? Knowing how our skills stack up against others is useful in many ways. But psychological research suggests that we're not very good at evaluating ourselves accurately. In fact, we frequently overestimate our own abilities. D...

A couple has been considering getting engaged, but they’re worried about divorce statistics. An AI-based model was just released that can predict your likelihood of divorce with 95% accuracy. The only catch is the model doesn’t offer any reasons for its results. So, should they decide whether or not to get married based on this AI’s prediction? ...

Adam Braun went to school in the US and now runs a nonprofit that builds schools in Ghana, Laos, Nicaragua and Guatemala. In contrast, Sugata Mitra—the winner of the 2013 TED Prize—went to school in India and now is a professor in the UK, where his research on self-directed learning routinely brings him into elementary schools. Both of these...

Imagine the brain could reboot, updating its damaged cells with new, improved units. That may sound like science fiction — but it's a potential reality scientists are investigating right now. Ralitsa Petrova details the science behind neurogenesis and explains how we might harness it to reverse diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. [Directe...

*Yaaawwwwwn* Did just reading the word make you feel like yawning yourself? Known as contagious yawning, the reasons behind this phenomenon have been attributed to both the physiological and psychological. It's been observed in children as young as four and even in dogs! Claudia Aguirre visits the many intriguing theories that might explain cont...

About this event: " Intelligent Gaming Matters" Creativity Matters - Why Creativity Matters... An Exploration in Gaming - Creativity matters because it is an essential element of self-directed lifelong learning. - Creativity matters because it enables us to adapt to rapidly changing economic, civic and cultural circumstances. - ...

Imagine a future where nobody dies— instead, our minds are uploaded to a digital world. There they could live on in a realistic, simulated environment with avatar bodies, calling in and contributing to the biological world. Mind-uploading has powerful appeal— but what would it actually take to scan a person's brain and upload their mind? Michael...

As one of the agency’s best employees, you’ve been selected as a finalist to take on a new top-secret mission. You’ve already shown your aptitude for surveillance and disguise, but the agency’s looking to test one last critical skill: how well you can drive. Can you prove that you're a good driver? Iseult Gillespie shares tips on how to best tac...

Flow is more than just concentrating or paying attention; it's a unique mental state of effortless engagement. And those who more frequently experience flow report higher levels of positive emotions, creativity, and feelings of accomplishment. But what exactly is flow? And how can we find it in our daily lives? Explore steps you can take to incr...

Our minds and bodies constantly master lessons from our surroundings. In other words, we seem to have a natural inclination to learn. That is the idea behind this week’s TED Radio Hour: “Unstoppable Learning,” brought to you by NPR. This episode explores that dynamic experience of learning that begins in the womb and how recognizing this essenti...

The victory of the underdog. The last minute penalty shot that wins the tournament. The training montage. Many people love to glorify victory on the field, cheer for teams, and play sports. But should we be obsessed with sports? Are sports as good for us as we make them out to be, or are they just a fun and entertaining pastime? Leah Lagos and J...

By Sarah Schoengold Sugata Mitra has opened the doors of the world’s first School in the Cloud. Located inside George Stephenson High School in Killingworth, England, this one-room learning lab is a space where students can embark on their own learning adventures, exploring whatever questions most intrigue them. Students even designed ...

About this event: " Musical Collaboration Matters" Creativity Matters - Why Creativity Matters... A Musical Collaboration - Creativity matters because it is an essential element of self-directed lifelong learning. - Creativity matters because it enables us to adapt to rapidly changing economic, civic and cultural circumstances. ...

About this event: " Global Entrepreneurship Matters" Creativity Matters - Enterpreneurship Matters... Global Thinking Matters - Creativity matters because it is an essential element of self-directed lifelong learning. - Creativity matters because it enables us to adapt to rapidly changing economic, civic and cultural circumstances. ...

How do you raise kids to step outside of their comfort zones and unlock their inner potential? It all starts with helping them develop a resilient mindset. Mother and business owner Tameka Montgomery makes the case for cultivating an entrepreneurial outlook at an early age -- and offers five strategies for emboldening young minds to embrace oppo...

About this event: What are you curious about? – That was the creative slogan of the second annual TEDxStendenUniversity which took place on 15th of May in the Auditorium of Stenden University of Applied Sciences in Leeuwarden. Local and international Curious Minds were united for a unique day of inspirational talks and innovative ideas. The topics of the talks va...

In a classroom in Ontario, a class of 9th graders learned the book Siddhartha, not by listening to lectures from their teacher, but by asking questions like, “How do you know when you’ve reached enlightenment?” Meanwhile, a group of 3rd through 5th graders in rural Georgia was posed a question in Spanish, even though they speak English: “Why...

ReThinking with Adam Grant What animal intelligence reveals about human stupidity with Justin Gregg March 7, 2023 [00:00:00] Adam Grant: Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to ReThinking, my podcast on the science of what makes us tick. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to expl...

By Courtney E. Martin What do sperm donation, marathon runners, disabled rockstars, and yacht racing have in common? They’ve all been subjects of the careful eye and artistic vision of British director Jerry Rothwell, the winner of the first annual Sundance Institute | TED Prize Filmmaker Award, who has received $125,000 to spend the next ...

We tend to think of prejudice as something that other people, particularly bad people, have in their hearts and minds. The truth is, prejudice is inside us all. The good news is that psychology provides a powerful way to combat it. Prejudice is due in part to cultural learning, from our parents, our schools and social messages and depictio...

ReThinking with Adam Grant Ambition vs. aspiration with philosopher Agnes Callard June 13, 2023 [00:00:00] Adam Grant: Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to ReThinking, my podcast on the science of what makes us tick. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explore new thoughts ...