TED Talks Daily

Why jobs of the future won't feel like work | David Lee

11 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We've all heard that robots are going to take our jobs -- but what can we do about it? Innovation expert David Lee says that we should start designing...

The forgotten art of the zoetrope | Eric Dyer

10 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Eric Dyer spent years working at a computer to produce images for the screen. Longing to get his hands back on his work, he began exploring the...

Electrical experiments with plants that count and communicate | Greg Gage

10 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Neuroscientist Greg Gage takes sophisticated equipment used to study the brain out of graduate-level labs and brings them to middle- and high-school c...

How Africa can use its traditional knowledge to make progress | Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu

09 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu wants to see Africans unleash their suppressed creative and innovative energies by acknowledging the significance of their indige...

How to seek truth in the era of fake news | Christiane Amanpour

06 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Known worldwide for her courage and clarity, Christiane Amanpour has spent the past three decades interviewing business, cultural and political leader...

A global food crisis may be only a decade away | Sara Menker

05 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sara Menker quit a career in commodities trading to figure out how the global value chain of agriculture works. Her discoveries have led to some start...

Don't suffer from your depression in silence | Nikki Webber Allen

05 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Having feelings isn't a sign of weakness -- they mean we're human, says producer and activist Nikki Webber Allen. Even after being diagnosed with anxi...

Mind-blowing, magnified portraits of insects | Levon Biss

04 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Photographer Levon Biss was looking for a new, extraordinary subject when one afternoon he and his young son popped a ground beetle under a microscope...

The magic of Khmer classical dance | Prumsodun Ok

03 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For more than 1,000 years, Khmer dancers in Cambodia have been seen as living bridges between heaven and earth. In this graceful dance-talk hybrid, ar...

Lessons from the longest study on human development | Helen Pearson

02 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For the past 70 years, scientists in Britain have been studying thousands of children through their lives to find out why some end up happy and health...

What I learned as a prisoner in North Korea | Euna Lee

29 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In March 2009, North Korean soldiers captured journalist Euna Lee and her colleague Laura Ling while they were shooting a documentary on the border wi...

What teen pregnancy looks like in Latin America | Christian Rodriguez

28 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Christian Rodríguez is a photographer and filmmaker -- and the son of a teenage mother. For the past five years, he has documented teen pregnancy in ...

The warmth and wisdom of mud buildings | Anna Heringer

28 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"There are a lot of resources given by nature for free -- all we need is our sensitivity to see them and our creativity to use them," says architect A...

Future tech will give you the benefits of city life anywhere | Julio Gil

27 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Don't believe predictions that say the future is trending towards city living. Urbanization is actually reaching the end of its cycle, says logistics ...

Why people of different faiths are painting their houses of worship yellow | Nabila Alibhai

26 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Divisions along religious lines are deepening, and we're doubting more and more how much we have in common. How can we stand boldly and visibly togeth...

The fascinating secret lives of giant clams | Mei Lin Neo

26 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When you think about the deep blue sea, you might instantly think of whales or coral reefs. But spare a thought for giant clams, the world's largest l...

The boost students need to overcome obstacles | Anindya Kundu

25 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How can disadvantaged students succeed in school? For sociologist Anindya Kundu, grit and stick-to-itiveness aren't enough; students also need to deve...

How a video game might help us build better cities | Karoliina Korppoo

22 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

With more than half of the world population living in cities, one thing is undeniable: we are an urban species. Part game, part urban planning sketchi...

What intelligent machines can learn from a school of fish | Radhika Nagpal

21 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Science fiction visions of the future show us AI built to replicate how our minds work -- but what if we modeled it instead on the other kinds of inte...

The most Martian place on Earth | Armando Azua-Bustos

20 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How can you study Mars without a spaceship? Head to the most Martian place on Earth -- the Atacama Desert in Chile. Astrobiologist Armando Azua-Bustos...

What we're missing in the debate about immigration | Duarte Geraldino

19 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Between 2008 and 2016, the United States deported more than three million people. What happens to those left behind? Journalist Duarte Geraldino picks...

Why Africa must become a center of knowledge again | Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

19 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How can Africa, the home to some of the largest bodies of water in the world, be said to have a water crisis? It doesn't, says Olúfẹ́mi Táíwo...

How digital DNA could help you make better health choices | Jun Wang

18 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What if you could know exactly how food or medication would impact your health -- before you put it in your body? Genomics researcher Jun Wang is work...

Living sculptures that stand for history's truths | Sethembile Msezane

15 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the century-old statues that dotted Cape Town, Sethembile Mzesane didn't see anything that looked like her own reality. So she became a living scul...

Fun home experiments that teach you physics | Helen Czerski

14 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Physics doesn't just happen in a fancy lab -- it happens when you push a piece of buttered toast off the table or drop a couple of raisins in a fizzy ...

The real reason manufacturing jobs are disappearing | Augie Picado

14 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We've heard a lot of rhetoric lately suggesting that countries like the US are losing valuable manufacturing jobs to lower-cost markets like China, Me...

A forgotten ancient grain that could help Africa prosper | Pierre Thiam

13 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Forget quinoa. Meet fonio, an ancient "miracle grain" native to Senegal that's versatile, nutritious and gluten-free. In this passionate talk, chef Pi...

What really motivates people to be honest in business | Alexander Wagner

12 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Each year, one in seven large corporations commits fraud. Why? To find out, Alexander Wagner takes us inside the economics, ethics and psychology of d...

How our friendship survives our opposing politics | Caitlin Quattromani and Lauran Arledge

11 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Can you still be friends with someone who doesn't vote the same way as you? For Caitlin Quattromani and Lauran Arledge, two best friends who think ver...

What it feels like to see Earth from space | Benjamin Grant

07 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What the astronauts felt when they saw Earth from space changed them forever. Author and artist Benjamin Grant aims to provoke this same feeling of ov...

How to build a company where the best ideas win | Ray Dalio

06 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What if you knew what your coworkers really thought about you and what they were really like? Ray Dalio makes the business case for using radical tran...

How young people join violent extremist groups -- and how to stop them | Erin Marie Saltman

05 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Terrorists and extremists aren't all naturally violent sociopaths -- they're deliberately recruited and radicalized in a process that doesn't fit into...

A smog vacuum cleaner and other magical city designs | Daan Roosegaarde

05 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Daan Roosegaarde uses technology and creative thinking to produce imaginative, earth-friendly designs. He presents his latest projects -- from the sid...

TED's secret to great public speaking | Chris Anderson

04 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

There's no single formula for a great talk, but there is a secret ingredient that all the best ones have in common. TED curator Chris Anderson shares ...

Dare to refuse the origin myths that claim who you are | Chetan Bhatt

01 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We all have origin stories and identity myths, our tribal narratives that give us a sense of security and belonging. But sometimes our small-group ide...

How your pictures can help reclaim lost history | Chance Coughenour

31 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Digital archaeologist Chance Coughenour is using pictures -- your pictures -- to reclaim antiquities that have been lost to conflict and disaster. Aft...

How the US government spies on people who protest -- including you | Jennifer Granick

31 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What's stopping the American government from recording your phone calls, reading your emails and monitoring your location? Very little, says surveilla...

Can a robot pass a university entrance exam? | Noriko Arai

30 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Meet Todai Robot, an AI project that performed in the top 20 percent of students on the entrance exam for the University of Tokyo -- without actually ...

Why we need to end the era of orphanages | Tara Winkler

29 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Could it be wrong to help children in need by starting an orphanage? In this eye-opening talk about the bad consequences of good intentions, Tara Wink...

When workers own companies, the economy is more resilient | Niki Okuk

28 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Another economic reality is possible -- one that values community, sustainability and resiliency instead of profit by any means necessary. Niki Okuk s...

"The Sacred Art of the Ori" | Laolu Senbanjo

25 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Every artist has a name, and every artist has a story. Laolu Senbanjo's story started in Nigeria, where he was surrounded by the culture and mythology...

What the sugar coating on your cells is trying to tell you | Carolyn Bertozzi

24 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Your cells are coated with sugars that store information and speak a secret language. What are they trying to tell us? Your blood type, for one -- and...

What would happen if we upload our brains to computers | Robin Hanson

24 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Meet the "ems" -- machines that emulate human brains and can think, feel and work just like the brains they're copied from. Economist and social scien...

A lyrical bridge between past, present and future | David Whyte

23 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

With his signature charm and searching insight, David Whyte meditates on the frontiers of the past, present and future, sharing two poems inspired by ...

What moral decisions should driverless cars make? | Iyad Rahwan

22 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Should a driverless car kill you if it means saving five pedestrians? In this primer on the social dilemmas of driverless cars, Iyad Rahwan explores h...

The era of blind faith in big data must end | Cathy O'Neil

22 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Algorithms decide who gets a loan, who gets a job interview, who gets insurance and much more -- but they don't automatically make things fair, and th...

How I found myself through music | Anika Paulson

21 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"Music is everywhere, and it is in everything," says musician, student and TED-Ed Clubs star Anika Paulson. Guitar in hand, she plays through the beat...

The secret to living longer may be your social life | Susan Pinker

18 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Italian island of Sardinia has more than six times as many centenarians as the mainland and ten times as many as North America. Why? According to ...

A practical way to help the homeless find work and safety | Richard J. Berry

17 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When Richard J. Berry, the mayor of Albuquerque, saw a man on a street corner holding a cardboard sign that read "Want a job," he decided to take him ...

7 principles for building better cities | Peter Calthorpe

17 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

More than half of the world's population already lives in cities, and another 2.5 billion people are projected to move to urban areas by 2050. The way...

How artists can (finally) get paid in the digital age | Jack Conte

16 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's been a weird 100 years for artists and creators, says musician and entrepreneur Jack Conte. The traditional ways we've turned art into money (lik...

How I help free innocent people from prison | Ronald Sullivan

15 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Harvard Law professor Ronald Sullivan fights to free wrongfully convicted people from jail -- in fact, he has freed some 6,000 innocent people over th...

What I saw at the Ferguson protests | Damon Davis

14 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When artist Damon Davis went to join the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after police killed Michael Brown in 2014, he found not only anger but also a...

Meet the microscopic life in your home -- and on your face | Anne Madden

11 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Behold the microscopic jungle in and around you: tiny organisms living on your cheeks, under your sofa and in the soil in your backyard. We have an ad...

You owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse | David Baron

10 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

On August 21, 2017, the moon's shadow will race from Oregon to South Carolina in what some consider to be the most awe-inspiring spectacle in all of n...

Let's end ageism | Ashton Applewhite

09 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's not the passage of time that makes it so hard to get older. It's ageism, a prejudice that pits us against our future selves -- and each other. As...

How your brain decides what is beautiful | Anjan Chatterjee

08 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Anjan Chatterjee uses tools from evolutionary psychology and cognitive neuroscience to study one of nature's most captivating concepts: beauty. Learn ...

How AI can enhance our memory, work and social lives | Tom Gruber

07 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How smart can our machines make us? Tom Gruber, co-creator of Siri, wants to make "humanistic AI" that augments and collaborates with us instead of co...

How a computer learns to recognize objects instantly | Joseph Redmon

04 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ten years ago, researchers thought that getting a computer to tell the difference between a cat and a dog would be almost impossible. Today, computer ...

The stories behind The New Yorker's iconic covers | Françoise Mouly

03 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Meet Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker's art director. For the past 24 years, she's helped decide what appears on the magazine's famous cover, from the...

Nationalism vs. globalism: the new political divide | Yuval Noah Harari

02 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How do we make sense of today's political divisions? In a wide-ranging conversation full of insight, historian Yuval Harari places our current turmoil...

Can art amend history? | Titus Kaphar

01 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Titus Kaphar makes paintings and sculptures that wrestle with the struggles of the past while speaking to the diversity and advances of the pre...

Meet Spot, the robot dog that can run, hop and open doors | Marc Raibert

31 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

That science fiction future where robots can do what people and animals do may be closer than you think. Marc Raibert, founder of Boston Dynamics, is ...

Why I still have hope for coral reefs | Kristen Marhaver

28 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Corals in the Pacific Ocean have been dying at an alarming rate, particularly from bleaching brought on by increased water temperatures. But it's not ...

You smell with your body, not just your nose | Jennifer Pluznick

27 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Do your kidneys have a sense of smell? Turns out, the same tiny scent detectors found in your nose are also found in some pretty unexpected places -- ...

The manipulative tricks tech companies use to capture your attention | Tristan Harris

26 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A handful of people working at a handful of tech companies steer the thoughts of billions of people every day, says design thinker Tristan Harris. Fro...

A simple new blood test that can catch cancer early | Jimmy Lin

25 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Jimmy Lin is developing technologies to catch cancer months to years before current methods. He shares a breakthrough technique that looks for small s...

How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer) | Grace Kim

24 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Loneliness doesn't always stem from being alone. For architect Grace Kim, loneliness is a function of how socially connected we feel to the people aro...

How I fail at being disabled | Susan Robinson

21 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Born with a genetic visual impairment that has no correction or cure, Susan Robinson is legally blind (or partially sighted, as she prefers it) and en...

The human insights missing from big data | Tricia Wang

19 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Why do so many companies make bad decisions, even with access to unprecedented amounts of data? With stories from Nokia to Netflix to the oracles of a...

How your brain hallucinates your conscious reality | Anil Seth

18 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Right now, billions of neurons in your brain are working together to generate a conscious experience -- and not just any conscious experience, your ex...

Can clouds buy us more time to solve climate change? | Kate Marvel

17 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Climate change is real, case closed. But there's still a lot we don't understand about it, and the more we know the better chance we have to slow it d...

Why our screens make us less happy | Adam Alter

14 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What are our screens and devices doing to us? Psychologist Adam Alter has spent the last five years studying how much time screens steal from us and h...

What rivers can tell us about the earth's history | Liz Hajek

13 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Rivers are one of nature's most powerful forces -- they bulldoze mountains and carve up the earth, and their courses are constantly moving. Understand...

How we can face the future without fear, together | Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

11 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's a fateful moment in history. We've seen divisive elections, divided societies and the growth of extremism -- all fueled by anxiety and uncertaint...

Lifesaving scientific tools made of paper | Manu Prakash

10 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Inventor Manu Prakash turns everyday materials into powerful scientific devices, from paper microscopes to a clever new mosquito tracker. From the TED...

The gospel of doubt | Casey Gerald

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What do you do when your firmly held beliefs turn out not to be true? When Casey Gerald's religion failed him, he searched for something new to believ...

My year of living biblically | AJ Jacobs

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Author, philosopher, prankster and journalist AJ Jacobs talks about the year he spent living biblically -- following the rules in the Bible as literal...

Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local | Taiye Selasi

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When someone asks you where you're from … do you sometimes not know how to answer? Writer Taiye Selasi speaks on behalf of "multi-local" people, who...

Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear | Dave Isay

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Dave Isay opened the first StoryCorps booth in New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003 with the intention of creating a quiet place where a person...

Never, ever give up | Diana Nyad

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating … Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that'...

The unheard story of David and Goliath | Malcolm Gladwell

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's a classic underdog tale: David, a young shepherd armed only with a sling, beats Goliath, the mighty warrior. The story has transcended its biblic...

Why I love a country that once betrayed me | George Takei

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When he was a child, George Takei and his family were forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans, as a "security" measure during World War ...

The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural...

Why some of us don't have one true calling | Emilie Wapnick

27 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What do you want to be when you grow up? Well, if you're not sure you want to do just one thing for the rest of your life, you're not alone. In this i...

The boiling river of the Amazon | Andrés Ruzo

26 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When Andrés Ruzo was a young boy in Peru, his grandfather told him a story with an odd detail: There is a river, deep in the Amazon, which boils as i...

Don't feel sorry for refugees -- believe in them | Luma Mufleh

23 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We have seen advances in every aspect of our lives -- except our humanity," says Luma Mufleh, a Jordanian immigrant and Muslim of Syrian descent who f...

A celebration of natural hair | Cheyenne Cochrane

22 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Cheyenne Cochrane explores the role that hair texture has played in the history of being black in America -- from the heat straightening products of t...

Why design should include everyone | Sinéad Burke

21 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sinéad Burke is acutely aware of details that are practically invisible to many of us. At 105 centimeters (or 3’ 5”) tall, the designed world -- ...

The refugee crisis is a test of our character | David Miliband

20 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sixty-five million people were displaced from their homes by conflict and disaster in 2016. It's not just a crisis; it's a test of who we are and what...

Why we need to imagine different futures | Anab Jain

19 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Anab Jain brings the future to life, creating experiences where people can touch, see and feel the potential of the world we're creating. Do we want a...

Doesn't everyone deserve a chance at a good life? | Jim Yong Kim

16 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Aspirations are rising as never before across the world, thanks in large part to smartphones and the internet -- will they be met with opportunity or ...

"Awoo" | Sofi Tukker

16 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Electro-pop duo Sofi Tukker dance it out with the TED audience in a performance of their upbeat, rhythmic song "Awoo," featuring Betta Lemme.For a cha...

Science didn't understand my kids' rare disease until I decided to study it | Sharon Terry

15 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Meet Sharon Terry, a former college chaplain and stay-at-home mom who took the medical research world by storm when her two young children were diagno...

When I die, recompose me | Katrina Spade

14 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What if our bodies could help grow new life after we die, instead of being embalmed and buried or turned to ash? Join Katrina Spade as she discusses "...

How I built a jet suit | Richard Browning

13 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We've all dreamed of flying -- but for Richard Browning, flight is an obsession. He's built an Iron Man-like suit that leans on an elegant collaborati...

What happens in your brain when you pay attention? | Mehdi Ordikhani-Seyedlar

08 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Attention isn't just about what we focus on -- it's also about what our brains filter out. By investigating patterns in the brain as people try to foc...

Why glass towers are bad for city life -- and what we need instead | Justin Davidson

06 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

There's a creepy transformation taking over our cities, says architecture critic Justin Davidson. From Houston, Texas to Guangzhou, China, shiny tower...

How to see past your own perspective and find truth | Michael Patrick Lynch

05 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The more we read and watch online, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake. It's as if we know more but under...

How to design a library that makes kids want to read | Michael Bierut

02 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When Michael Bierut was tapped to design a logo for public school libraries, he had no idea that he was embarking on a years-long passion project. In ...