Some of the world's greatest scientists, doctors and medical researchers share their discoveries and visions onstage at the TED conference, TEDx events and partner events around the world. You can also download these and many other videos free on TED.com, with an interactive English transcript and subtitles in up to 80 languages. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.
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How often do you think about the air you're breathing? Probably not enough, says entrepreneur and TED Fellow Romain Lacombe. He introduces Flow: a personal air-quality tracker that fits in your hand and monitors pollution levels in real time. See how this device could help you track and understand pollution street by street, hour by hour -- and empower you to take action to improve your health.
The heart is one of the least regenerative organs in the human body -- a big factor in making heart failure the number one killer worldwide. What if we could help heart muscle regenerate after injury? Physician and scientist Chuck Murry shares his groundbreaking research into using stem cells to grow new heart cells -- an exciting step towards realizing the awesome promise of stem cells as medicine.
Bacteria "talk" to each other, sending chemical information to coordinate attacks. What if we could listen to what they were saying? Nanophysicist Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi invented a tool to spy on bacterial chatter and translate their secret communication into human language. Her work could pave the way for early diagnosis of disease -- before we even get sick.
Bees are dying off in record numbers, but ecologist Noah Wilson-Rich is interested in something else: Where are bees healthy and thriving? To find out, he recruited citizen scientists across the US to set up beehives in their backyards, gardens and rooftops. Learn how these little data factories are changing what we know about the habitats bees need to thrive -- and keep our future food systems stable.
Phil Plait was on a Hubble Space Telescope team of astronomers who thought they may have captured the first direct photo of an exoplanet ever taken. But did the evidence actually support that? Follow along as Plait shows how science progresses -- through a robust amount of making and correcting errors. "The price of doing science is admitting when you're wrong, but the payoff is the best there is: knowledge and understanding," he says.
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 of share this kind of chemical relationship. What's responsible for this special connection? Looking for an answer, planetary scientist and MacArthur "Genius" Sarah T. Stewart discovered a new kind of astronomical object -- a synestia -- and a new way to solve the mystery of the Moon's origin.
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 species of ancient humans. Paleoanthropologist Juliet Brophy takes us inside the discovery of Homo naledi, explaining how this mysterious ancestor is forcing us to rethink where we come from -- and what it means to be human.
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 new species from scratch, what should we build? Should we redesign humanity as we know it? Juan Enriquez forecasts the possible futures of genetic editing, exploring the immense uncertainty and opportunity of this next frontier.
The Montreal Protocol proved that the world could come together and take action on climate change. Thirty years after the world's most successful environmental treaty was signed, atmospheric scientist Sean Davis examines the world we avoided when we banned chlorofluorocarbons -- and shares lessons we can carry forward to address the climate crisis in our time.
What if we could harness the sticking powers of sea creatures like mussels, oysters and barnacles, which refuse to budge even on wet, stormy coastlines? Dive into the wonderful world of animals that make their own glue and cement with scientist Jonathan Wilker -- and preview some of the amazing things we can learn from how they do it.
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 climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe. In this inspiring, pragmatic talk, Hayhoe shows how the key to having a real discussion is to connect over shared values like family, community and religion -- and to prompt people to realize that they already care about a changing climate. "We can't give in to despair," she says. "We have to go out and look for the h...
What shapes our perceptions (and misperceptions) about science? In an eye-opening talk, meteorologist J. Marshall Shepherd explains how confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger effect and cognitive dissonance impact what we think we know -- and shares ideas for how we can replace them with something much more powerful: knowledge.
This episode explores the groundbreaking creation of semi-synthetic bacteria using a six-letter genetic alphabet, adding two man-made letters (X and Y) to natural DNA. This innovation challenges fundamental assumptions about life's design and opens vast possibilities for developing novel protein drugs with enhanced properties. Furthermore, the technology offers built-in safety mechanisms and suggests that life, both on Earth and potentially elsewhere, could exist in far more diverse forms than previously imagined.
Daniel Kraft critiques the current "medication nation" plagued by one-size-fits-all dosing, adverse reactions, and poor adherence. He proposes leveraging emerging technologies like real-time vital monitoring, genomics, and AI to personalize drug prescriptions. The core of his vision is a prototype 3D printer for "IntelliMeds," custom-combining micromeds into a single, adaptive polypill for optimal individual health.
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 methodology that combines the UN Sustainable Development Goals with the nine planetary boundaries, beyond which earth's vital systems could become unstable. Learn more about five transformational policies that could help us achieve inclusive and prosperous world development while keeping the earth stable and resilient.
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 improve this vital vaccine? In this informative talk, immunologist and TED Fellow Faith Osier shows how she's combining cutting-edge technology with century-old insights in the hopes of creating a new vaccine that eradicates malaria once and for all.
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 circled above. What happened next? More than you can possibly imagine. Settle in for this fabulous story with a dash of science.
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 affect the global environment? Data scientist Angel Hsu describes how the most populous country on earth is creating a future based on alternative energy -- and facing up to the environmental catastrophe it created as it rapidly industrialized.
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 about her team's surprising discovery of a mysterious new galaxy type.
The universe is incredibly old, astoundingly vast and populated by trillions of planets -- so where are all the aliens? Astronomer Stephen Webb has an explanation: we're alone in the universe. In a mind-expanding talk, he spells out the remarkable barriers a planet would need to clear in order to host an extraterrestrial civilization -- and makes a case for the beauty of our potential cosmic loneliness. "The silence of the universe is shouting, 'We're the creatures who got lucky,'" Webb says.
Dina Katabi introduces a groundbreaking system utilizing Wi-Fi-like signals and AI to passively monitor vital signs. This technology, inspired by Star Wars' "Force," can track movement, detect sleep stages, and measure breathing and heartbeats, even through walls, offering a non-invasive way to manage chronic diseases at home and potentially prevent hospitalizations. Ethical safeguards are also being developed to prevent misuse.
Biologist Dan Gibson edits and programs DNA, just like coders program a computer. But his "code" creates life, giving scientists the power to convert digital information into biological material like proteins and vaccines. Now he's on to a new project: "biological transportation," which holds the promise of beaming new medicines across the globe over the internet. Learn more about how this technology could change the way we respond to disease outbreaks and enable us to download personalized pres...
Chemical engineer Jennifer Wilcox introduces direct air capture technology, explaining how "synthetic forests" use chemicals to scrub CO2 from the air despite the challenge of its low concentration. She details the system's design, energy requirements, and high costs, highlighting companies innovating to make it more economically viable. Wilcox emphasizes that while creating marketable products from CO2 helps, significant global investment, regulation, and a portfolio of solutions are crucial for climate impact, viewing carbon capture as vital for saving human lives and future generations.
Steve Boyes recounts his perilous 121-day, 1,500-mile megatransect through the Okavango Delta, exploring its undocumented source lakes and facing numerous dangers to conduct vital scientific surveys. This groundbreaking effort aims to establish one of the world's largest protected areas, safeguarding critical water resources and wildlife, and reconnecting humanity with its wild heritage.
Penny Chisholm explores Prochlorococcus, a tiny marine microbe that transformed early Earth by producing oxygen and creating conditions for life. Despite its ancient lineage, it was only discovered in the 1980s. This episode details its incredible abundance, its role in the global carbon cycle, and genomic insights into its vast diversity. Chisholm also discusses how studying Prochlorococcus could inspire solutions for fossil fuel dependence and its surprising resilience amidst ocean warming.
Astrobiologist Karen J. Meech recounts the exciting discovery of 'Oumuamua', the first known interstellar visitor to our solar system. She details how scientists raced against time, using various telescopes, to gather data on its unusual elongated shape and reddish surface. The episode explores theories about its natural origin as cosmic debris and the challenges of confirming its true nature.
Prosanta Chakrabarty challenges common misconceptions about evolution, asserting that humans are "fish" and not the pinnacle of a linear progression. He explains that evolution is a verifiable fact, not just a theory, and emphasizes the importance of understanding our true place in the four-billion-year history of life. Through the metaphor of a vast "tree of life," Chakrabarty highlights our deep interconnectedness with all organisms and our shared ancestry, urging us to recognize that we are merely "young leaves" on an ancient, continuously evolving process.
A year after his wife, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, gained global attention for her poignant "You May Want to Marry My Husband" essay, Jason B. Rosenthal candidly discusses his intensely public yet universal experience of grief. He reflects on the realities of home hospice, the importance of end-of-life conversations, and the unexpected ways humor and support helped him cope. Jason shares his ongoing journey to find joy and beauty in everyday life, guided by Amy's permission to move forward, and offers wisdom for embracing an "intentional empty space" after profound loss.
Enric Sala highlights the critical decline of ocean life due to overfishing and details how successful marine reserves like Cabo Pulmo demonstrate the ocean's regenerative power. He exposes that high seas fishing, often unregulated and destructive, is only profitable due to massive government subsidies and even forced labor. Sala proposes safeguarding two-thirds of the world's ocean by creating a vast marine reserve, arguing it will restore ecological, economic, and social benefits, proving that conservation and economic needs can align.
Aaswath Raman discusses the escalating global energy demand for cooling and its environmental impact, including the alarming feedback loop with climate change. He introduces his technology for "night-sky cooling," which leverages a natural phenomenon where heat escapes to the cold of outer space. His team developed a novel material that achieves passive cooling even in direct sunlight, offering a significant efficiency boost for existing cooling systems and paving the way for future energy-independent solutions and broader applications in energy management.
