Joined by vocalist KAZU, drumming virtuoso Ian Chang thunders through two songs full of bubbling melodies, punctuated by synchronized lights.

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016 for discovering that even microscopic matter at the smallest scale can exhibit macroscopic properties and phases that are topological. But ... what does that mean? Fan Zhang helps decode some seriously tricky science. [Directed by Anton Trofimov, narrat...

In the wealthiest circles of Victorian England, dieters would swallow an unhatched tapeworm and let it grow inside them by consuming undigested meals. And while modern fad diets aren't usually this extreme, they do promise similar results; specifically, losing weight fast. So, are there any fast diets that do work? And are any of them actually h...

CRISPR gene drives allow scientists to change sequences of DNA and guarantee that the resulting edited genetic trait is inherited by future generations, opening up the possibility of altering entire species forever. More than anything, the technology has led to questions: How will this new power affect humanity? What are we going to use it to ch...

Here's a stat worth knowing: In the UK, 63% of men who finish short-term prison sentences are back inside within a year for another crime. Helping them stay outside involves job training, classes, therapy. And it would pay off handsomely -- but the government can't find the funds. Toby Eccles shares an imaginative idea for how to change that: th...

Our love of technology is perhaps rivaled only by our fear of change. Every time technology advances, the ripple effect of change can cripple even the strongest companies. Development expert Patrick Forth notes that 75% of the Fortune 500 in 2020 will be names never heard before. How can large companies better channel change and continue to thri...

An early bird rises with the sun, springing out of bed abuzz with energy. Meanwhile, a night owl groggily rises much later, not hitting their stride until late in the day. How many people are truly night owls or early birds? And are our sleep schedules predetermined at birth, or can we change them? Explore how our circadian systems act as intern...

Why do arguments change people's minds in some cases and backfire in others? Hugo Mercier explains how arguments are more convincing when they rest on a good knowledge of the audience, taking into account what the audience believes, who they trust, and what they value. [TED-Ed Animation by TED-Ed]

When Gastón Acurio started his now world-famous restaurant Astrid & Gastón in the 1990s, no one suspected that he would elevate the Peruvian home-cooking he grew up with to haute cuisine. Nearly thirty years and a storied career later, the chef wants the rest of us to embrace our culinary roots and transform the world with the meals we prepa...

When the world's problems have you weary, journalist and science fiction writer Annalee Newitz suggests a good dose of escapist fiction to refresh your perspective. Step into the whimsical world of science fiction, cosplay and "goblincore" to see how fantasy worlds help us reimagine our relationships with our communities and each other — and why...

Things are pretty shocking out there right now -- record-breaking storms, deadly terror attacks, thousands of migrants disappearing beneath the waves and openly supremacist movements rising. Are we responding with the urgency that these overlapping crises demand from us? Journalist and activist Naomi Klein studies how governments use large-scale...

Who says change needs to be hard? Organizational change expert Jim Hemerling thinks adapting your business in today's constantly-evolving world can be invigorating instead of exhausting. He outlines five imperatives, centered around putting people first, for turning company reorganization into an empowering, energizing task for all.

A vast amount of food is discarded daily across the world simply because it looks ugly. Food influencer Dana Cowin is here to convince you that there's beauty in the misshapen potato and the squishy lemon, that the fries or lemonade they yield will taste as good as their more attractive counterparts. Food is food, she says, and embracing that re...

Stories help you make sense of your life -- but when these narratives are incomplete or misleading, they can keep you stuck instead of providing clarity. In an actionable talk, psychotherapist and advice columnist Lori Gottlieb shows how to break free from the stories you've been telling yourself by becoming your own editor and rewriting your na...

What if we could solve the climate and housing crises at the same time? Financial institutions have pledged trillions to transform the economy and accelerate climate action -- but right now, that money is not flowing at the speed it needs to, says sustainable investing expert Veronica Chau. Illuminating the links between climate change and affor...

You don't need political power to make real change, says activist Katie Fahey. She tells the story of how she led a successful movement in Michigan to end gerrymandering — the practice of drawing district lines to favor one political party — and how it all started with a simple social media post.

Concerned about the war Ukraine? You're not alone. Historian Yuval Noah Harari provides important context on the Russian invasion, including Ukraine's long history of resistance, the specter of nuclear war and his view of why, even if Putin wins all the military battles, he's already lost the war. (This conversation, hosted by TED global curator...

After bringing her son to a summer camp for gender-nonconforming children, photographer Lindsay Morris launched a project to share the campers' stories with the world. One of them, Reed J. Williams, is now a powerful advocate for transgender youth. Together, Morris and Williams reveal two sides to the LGBTQ+ experience — one as a mother, one as ...

Our food systems have not been designed to adapt to major disruptions like climate change, says environmental journalist Amanda Little. In this eye-opening talk, she shows how the climate crisis could devastate our food supply -- and introduces us to the farmers, entrepreneurs and engineers who are radically rethinking what we grow and how we ea...

Activist Shad Begum has spent her life empowering women to live up to their full potential. In a personal talk, she shares her determined struggle to improve the lives of women in her deeply religious and conservative community in northwest Pakistan -- and calls for women around the world to find their political voice. "We must stand up for our ...

Is there a way to give back that benefits everyone? Citing the success of collective giving practices from around the world, philanthropic advisor Rebecca Darwent asks donors to let communities lead decision-making, ushering in a new era of philanthropy that's rooted in interconnected humanity.

What job is best for a young man who's been a tennis ace, a cross-country traveler, a chemistry nerd and an NFL draftee? How about ... astronaut? Leland Melvin tells the story of the challenges he's accepted and the opportunities he's seized -- and how they led him to the International Space Station and a whole new perspective of life on earth. ...

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 down. One still-unknown factor: How might clouds play a part? There's a small hope that they could buy us some time to fix things ... or they could make global warming worse. Climate scientist Kate ...

Climate change doesn't care about ideological divides, says policy analyst and China expert Changhua Wu. Here's what she says the US can learn from the progress China has made on the clean energy revolution -- and why collaboration instead of competition is the key to avoiding climate catastrophe.

It's 1997. The United States Senate has called a hearing about global warming. Some expert witnesses point out that past periods in Earth's history were warmer than the 20th century. Because such variations existed long before humans, they claim the current trend is also the result of natural variation. Can you spot the problem with this argumen...

About 10,000 years ago, humans began to farm. This agricultural revolution was a turning point in our history and enabled the existence of civilization. Today, nearly 40 percent of our planet is farmland. Spread all over the world, these lands are the pieces to a global puzzle we're all facing: in the future, how can we feed every member of a gr...

There's nothing funny about climate change, but Rainn Wilson and 16 of his friends give it their best shot. (Featuring Mayim Bialik, Retta, Conan O'Brien, Randall Park, Maria Bamford, Chris Gethard, Tig Notaro, Al Madrigal, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Larry Wilmore, Ed Helms, Nick Kroll, Margaret Cho, Maz Jobrani, Omid Djalili and Aisha Tyler. Directed...

For the nearly 20 million Americans with a felony record, punishment doesn't end after their prison sentence. Sociologist Reuben Jonathan Miller sheds light on the aftershocks of mass incarceration through the stories of people who've lived it, left it and still have to grapple with punishing policies after their release. A challenge to rethink ...

Could we cure climate change? Geoengineering researcher Tim Kruger wants to try. He shares one promising possibility: using natural gas to generate electricity in a way that takes carbon dioxide out of the air. Learn more -- both the potential and the risks -- about this controversial field that seeks creative, deliberate and large-scale interve...

What does it mean to be an active citizen? It's about more than just voting and paying taxes, says social entrepreneur Gabriel Marmentini. He explains why we can't rely on the state alone to solve all our problems — and presents the four key ingredients for anyone to become a change-maker and engage in solving public issues.