Scott Summit: Beautiful artificial limbs
Sophie Scott: Why we should take laughter more seriously
We think of laughter as merely a response to something funny. In this talk, cognitive neuroscientist Sophie Scott argues that it's a complex social behavior that signals a lot more than a successful joke. Using hilarious examples of laughter as used in foreign policy interactions, she demonstrates how the deployment of a well-placed guffaw is ke...
Sheila Marie Orfano: How do you know what's true?
A samurai is found dead in a quiet bamboo grove. One by one, the crime's only known witnesses recount their version of the events. But as they each tell their tale, it becomes clear that every testimony is plausible yet different. And each witness implicates themselves. What's going on? Sheila Marie Orfano explores the phenomenon of warring pers...
Ken Kamler: Medical miracle on Everest
The second deadliest day in the history of Mount Everest climbs happened in 1996 -- and Ken Kamler was the only doctor on the mountain that day. He shares the incredible story of the climbers' battle to save lives in extreme conditions, and uses brain imaging technology to map the medical miracle of one man who survived roughly 36 hours buried i...
Ben Saunders: Why bother leaving the house?
Explorer Ben Saunders wants you to go outside! Not because it’s always pleasant and happy, but because that’s where the meat of life is, “the juice that we can suck out of our hours and days.” Saunders’ next outdoor excursion? To try to be the first in the world to walk from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again.
Anil Ananthaswamy: What it takes to do extreme astrophysics