TED Talks Science and Medicine
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Where did the Moon come from? A new theory | Sarah T. Stewart
13 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Earth and Moon are like identical twins, made up of the exact same materials -- which is really strange, since no other celestial bodies we know o...
How a new species of ancestors is changing our theory of human evolution | Juliet Brophy
01 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2013, a treasure trove of unusual fossils were uncovered in a cave in South Africa, and researchers soon realized: these were the remains of a new ...
The age of genetic wonder | Juan Enriquez
15 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gene-editing tools like CRISPR enable us to program life at its most fundamental level. But this raises some pressing questions: If we can generate ne...
Can we solve global warming? Lessons from how we protected the ozone layer | Sean Davis
29 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Montreal Protocol proved that the world could come together and take action on climate change. Thirty years after the world's most successful envi...
What sticky sea creatures can teach us about making glue | Jonathan Wilker
24 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What if we could harness the sticking powers of sea creatures like mussels, oysters and barnacles, which refuse to budge even on wet, stormy coastline...
The biology of gender, from DNA to the brain | Karissa Sanbonmatsu
10 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How exactly does gender work? It's not just about our chromosomes, says biologist Karissa Sanbonmatsu. In a visionary talk, she shares new discoveries...
The fascinating science of bubbles, from soap to champagne | Li Wei Tan
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this whimsical talk and live demo, scientist Li Wei Tan shares the secrets of bubbles -- from their relentless pursuit of geometric perfection to t...
The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it | Katharine Hayhoe
14 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How do you talk to someone who doesn't believe in climate change? Not by rehashing the same data and facts we've been discussing for years, says clima...
3 kinds of bias that shape your worldview | J. Marshall Shepherd
11 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What shapes our perceptions (and misperceptions) about science? In an eye-opening talk, meteorologist J. Marshall Shepherd explains how confirmation b...
100 solutions to reverse global warming | Chad Frischmann
28 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What if we took out more greenhouse gases than we put into the atmosphere? This hypothetical scenario, known as "drawdown," is our only hope of averti...
The radical possibilities of man-made DNA | Floyd E. Romesberg
26 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Every cell that's ever lived has been the result of the four-letter genetic alphabet: A, T, C and G -- the basic units of DNA. But now that's changed....
The pharmacy of the future? Personalized pills, 3D printed at home | Daniel Kraft
18 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We need to change how we prescribe drugs, says physician Daniel Kraft: too often, medications are dosed incorrectly, cause toxic side effects or just ...
5 transformational policies for a prosperous and sustainable world | Johan Rockström
17 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In a talk about how we can build a robust future without wrecking the planet, sustainability expert Johan Rockström debuts the Earth3 model -- a new ...
The key to a better malaria vaccine | Faith Osier
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The malaria vaccine was invented more than a century ago -- yet each year, hundreds of thousands of people still die from the disease. How can we impr...
How I became part sea urchin | Catherine Mohr
21 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As a young scientist, Catherine Mohr was on her dream scuba trip -- when she put her hand right down on a spiny sea urchin. While a school of sharks c...
How China is (and isn't) fighting pollution and climate change | Angel Hsu
29 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
China is the world's biggest polluter -- and now one of its largest producers of clean energy. Which way will China go in the future, and how will it ...
A rare galaxy that's challenging our understanding of the universe | Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil
28 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What's it like to discover a galaxy -- and have it named after you? Astrophysicist and TED Fellow Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil lets us know in this quick talk...
Where are all the aliens? | Stephen Webb
19 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The universe is incredibly old, astoundingly vast and populated by trillions of planets -- so where are all the aliens? Astronomer Stephen Webb has an...
A new way to monitor vital signs (that can see through walls) | Dina Katabi
12 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
At MIT, Dina Katabi and her team are working on a bold new way to monitor patients' vital signs in a hospital (or even at home), without wearables or ...
How to build synthetic DNA and send it across the internet | Dan Gibson
11 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Biologist Dan Gibson edits and programs DNA, just like coders program a computer. But his "code" creates life, giving scientists the power to convert ...
A new way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere | Jennifer Wilcox
05 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our planet has a carbon problem -- if we don't start removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we'll grow hotter, faster. Chemical engineer Jennife...
How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | Steve Boyes
03 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Navigating territorial hippos and active minefields, TED Fellow Steve Boyes and a team of scientists have been traveling through the Okavango Delta, A...
The tiny creature that secretly powers the planet | Penny Chisholm
02 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Oceanographer Penny Chisholm introduces us to an amazing little being: Prochlorococcus, the most abundant photosynthetic species on the planet. A mari...
The story of 'Oumuamua, the first visitor from another star system | Karen J. Meech
27 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In October 2017, astrobiologist Karen J. Meech got the call every astronomer waits for: NASA had spotted the very first visitor from another star syst...
Four billion years of evolution in six minutes | Prosanta Chakrabarty
15 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Did humans evolve from monkeys or from fish? In this enlightening talk, ichthyologist and TED Fellow Prosanta Chakrabarty dispels some hardwired myths...
The journey through loss and grief | Jason B. Rosenthal
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In her brutally honest, ironically funny and widely read meditation on death, "You May Want to Marry My Husband," the late author and filmmaker Amy Kr...
Let's turn the high seas into the world's largest nature reserve | Enric Sala
06 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What if we could save the fishing industry and protect the ocean at the same time? Marine ecologist Enric Sala shares his bold plan to safeguard the h...
How we can turn the cold of outer space into a renewable resource | Aaswath Raman
01 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What if we could use the cold darkness of outer space to cool buildings on earth? In this mind-blowing talk, physicist Aaswath Raman details the techn...
How vultures can help solve crimes | Lauren Pharr
31 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Can a bird that symbolizes death help the living catch criminals? In this informative and accessible talk, forensic anthropologist Lauren Pharr shows ...
Scientists must be free to learn, to speak and to challenge | Kirsty Duncan
16 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"You do not mess with something so fundamental, so precious, as science," says Kirsty Duncan, Canada's first Minister of Science. In a heartfelt, insp...
The doctors, nurses and aid workers rebuilding Syria | Rola Hallam
15 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Local humanitarians are beacons of light in the darkness of war, says humanitarian aid entrepreneur and TED Fellow Rola Hallam. She's working to help ...
The "dead zone" of the Gulf of Mexico | Nancy Rabalais
18 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ocean expert Nancy Rabalais tracks the ominously named "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico -- where there isn't enough oxygen in the water to support li...
Should we create a solar shade to cool the earth? | Danny Hillis
05 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this perspective-shifting talk, Danny Hillis prompts us to approach global issues like climate change with creative scientific solutions. Taking a ...
How fungi recognize (and infect) plants | Mennat El Ghalid
27 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, the world loses enough food to feed half a billion people to fungi, the most destructive pathogens of plants. Mycologist and TED Fellow Men...
The wonderful world of life in a drop of water | Simone Bianco and Tom Zimmerman
07 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"Hold your breath," says inventor Tom Zimmerman. "This is the world without plankton." These tiny organisms produce two-thirds of our planet's oxygen ...
The brain-changing benefits of exercise | Wendy Suzuki
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What's the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today? Exercise! says neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. Get inspired to go to the gym a...