Whose pleasure is prioritized during sex, and why? Psychosexologist Karen Gurney explains how a lack of equal pleasure in the bedroom actually reflects broader gender inequality in society -- and asks you to reconsider what dynamics are at play, even behind closed doors.

Karen DeSalvo, the chief health officer at Google, explains the partnership between big tech and public health in slowing the spread of COVID-19 -- and discusses a new contact tracing technology recently rolled out by Google and Apple that aims to ease the burden on health workers and provide scientists critical time to create a vaccine. (This v...

An undulating sky melds into the landscape, two silhouettes move along a balustraded walkway, and a ghostly figure’s features extend in agony. Since Norwegian artist Edvard Munch created "The Scream" in 1893, it’s become one of the world’s most famous artworks. But why has its cry traveled so far and endured so long? Noah Charney shares the insp...

Carina Morillo knew almost nothing about autism when her son Ivan was diagnosed -- only that he didn't speak or respond to words, and that she had to find other ways to connect with him. She shares how she learned to help her son thrive by being curious along with him. (In Spanish with English subtitles)

If we're going to solve the climate crisis, we need to talk about construction. The four main building materials that humans currently use -- concrete, steel, masonry and wood -- have a heavy environmental impact, but what if we had a fifth option? Architect Michael Green proposes an entirely new, natural medium inspired by the structure of tree...

Should we keep the outdoors out of hospitals? Ecologist and TED Fellow Jessica Green has found that mechanical ventilation does get rid of many types of microbes, but the wrong kinds: the ones left in the hospital are much more likely to be pathogens.

After 15 years in the British diplomatic corps, Carne Ross became a "freelance diplomat," running a bold nonprofit that gives small, developing and yet-unrecognized nations a voice in international relations. At the BIF-5 conference, he calls for a new kind of diplomacy that gives voice to small countries, that works with changing boundaries and...

Physicist Brian Greene explains superstring theory, the idea that minscule strands of energy vibrating in 11 dimensions create every particle and force in the universe.

The ground beneath your feet is home to a massive, mysterious world of microbes -- some of which have been in the earth's crust for hundreds of thousands of years. What's it like down there? Take a trip to the volcanoes and hot springs of Costa Rica as microbiologist Karen Lloyd shines a light on these subterranean organisms and shows how they c...

How do the world's best leaders and visionaries earn trust? They don't just present data -- they also tell great stories. Leadership consultant Karen Eber demystifies what makes for effective storytelling and explains how anyone can harness it to create empathy and inspire action.

Kiran Bir Sethi shows how her groundbreaking Riverside School in India teaches kids life's most valuable lesson: "I can." Watch her students take local issues into their own hands, lead other young people, even educate their parents.

We think of pain as a symptom, but there are cases where the nervous system develops feedback loops and pain becomes a terrifying disease in itself. Starting with the story of a girl whose sprained wrist turned into a nightmare, Elliot Krane talks about the complex mystery of chronic pain, and reviews the facts we're just learning about how it w...

"We underestimate the power of our own generous actions," says Asha Curran, CEO of the global generosity movement GivingTuesday. Sharing stories of people making a difference through simple acts of kindness, she shows how generosity, even in its simplest forms, can be a transformative force — and explains why we all benefit from a world grounded...

Kiran Bedi has a surprising resume. Before becoming Director General of the Indian Police Service, she managed one of the country's toughest prisons -- and used a new focus on prevention and education to turn it into a center of learning and meditation. She shares her thoughts on visionary leadership at TEDWomen.

Think you know a thing or two about sex? Think again. In this fascinating talk, biologist Carin Bondar lays out the surprising science behind how animals get it on. (This talk describes explicit and aggressive sexual content.)

Did you know that one of the most notorious poisons is also a key ingredient for life as we know it? Join space chemist Karin Öberg and learn how she scans the universe in search of this paradoxical chemical using ALMA, the world's largest radio telescope, to detect hotbeds of molecular activity and the formation of life-sustaining planets.

Hatshepsut was a female pharaoh during the New Kingdom in Egypt. Twenty years after her death, somebody smashed her statues, took a chisel and attempted to erase the pharaoh’s name and image from history. But who did it? And why? Kate Green investigates Hatshepsut's history for clues to this ancient puzzle. [Directed by Steff Lee, narrated by Ad...

Investors tend to think in daily and quarterly numbers, leading to a system that can harm the future health of the economy and planet. Michelle Greene explains how the Long-Term Stock Exchange is reimagining public markets by holding companies to forward-thinking standards of diversity and inclusion, employee investment and environmental respons...

Our bodies and homes are covered in microbes -- some good for us, some bad for us. As we learn more about the germs and microbes who share our living spaces, TED Fellow Jessica Green asks: Can we design buildings that encourage happy, healthy microbial environments?

Creative technologist Peter Kirn contemplates the intimate connection between the corporeal and emotional worlds through music. He discusses the physical impact of Beethoven's symphonies, concluding with a live demonstration of an instrument that registers the body's response and generates sound based solely on his physical movements.

Like your uncle at a family party, the rumpled Swedish doctor Lennart Green says, "Pick a card, any card." But what he does with those cards is pure magic -- flabbergasting, lightning-fast, how-does-he-do-it? magic.

With scissors and paper, artist Béatrice Coron creates intricate worlds, cities and countries, heavens and hells. Striding onstage in a glorious cape cut from Tyvek, she describes her creative process and the way her stories develop from snips and slices.

It was one of the strangest trials in Dutch history. The defendant in a 1947 case was an art forger who had counterfeited millions of dollars worth of paintings. But he wasn't arguing his innocence— in fact, his life depended on proving that he had committed fraud. Who was this artist, and why was he on trial for his life? Noah Charney investiga...

From health-tracking wearables to smartphones and beyond, data collection and computer modeling have become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. Advancements in these areas have given birth to "digital twins," or virtual models that evolve alongside real-world data. Aerospace engineer Karen Willcox explores the incredible possibilities these syst...

What if you could own more clothes without crowding your closet or growing your carbon footprint? Introducing the dematerialized future of your wardrobe, digital fashion entrepreneur Karinna Grant talks about the brands selling pixelated clothes via NFTs and augmented reality — and explores the creative and sustainable potential of fashion that ...

At TED2012, filmmaker Karen Bass shares some of the astonishing nature footage she's shot for the BBC and National Geographic -- including brand-new, previously unseen footage of the tube-lipped nectar bat, who feeds in a rather unusual way ...

Social psychologist Thomas Curran explores how the pressure to be perfect -- in our social media feeds, in school, at work -- is driving a rise in mental illness, especially among young people. Learn more about the causes of this phenomenon and how we can create a culture that celebrates the joys of imperfection.

In the 19th century, schools provided free housing for teachers. Gregg Garn, a dean at the University of Oklahoma, makes an eloquent argument to restart this tradition. In this fascinating talk, Garn reviews the brutal economics of being a teacher -- and asks how we as communities can enhance the quality of life for our best and brightest instru...

Do states, sports teams and cities with badly designed flags struggle with a sense of pride? Designer and flag researcher Michael Green dives into the specifics of how poor branding can affect community morale.

An average teaspoon of ocean water contains five million bacteria and fifty million viruses -- and yet we are just starting to discover how these "invisible engineers" control our ocean's chemistry. At TEDxMonterey, Melissa Garren sheds light on marine microbes that provide half the oxygen we breathe, maintain underwater ecosystems, and demonstr...