TEDTalks Video High-Def

Each year, the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference hosts some of the world's most fascinating people: Trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses. These podcasts (also available in audio format) capture the most extraordinary presentations delivered from the TED stage.

URL: http://www.ted.com/talks/browse

Updated: 1 year 17 weeks ago

TEDTalks : Alarming new slides depict a worsening climate crisis - Al Gore (2009)

Thu, 05/07/2009 - 09:00

At TED2009, Al Gore presents updated slides from around the globe to make the case that worrying climate trends are even worse than scientists predicted, and to make clear his stance on "clean coal."

TEDTalks : Gravity-defying sculpture inspired by the sun, the earth, the moon - Tom Shannon (2003)

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 04:23

Tom Shannon shows off his gravity-defying, otherworldly sculpture -- made of simple, earthly materials -- that floats and spins like planets on magnets and suspension wire. It's science-inspired art at its most heavenly.

TEDTalks : A bold vision for teaching arts and sciences -- together - Mae Jemison (2002)

Tue, 05/05/2009 - 09:00

Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer ... Telling stories from her own education and from her time in space, she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one -- to create bold thinker

TEDTalks : The mathematics of war - Sean Gourley (2009)

Mon, 05/04/2009 - 09:00

By pulling raw data from the news and plotting it onto a graph, Sean Gourley and his team have come up with a stunning conclusion about the nature of modern war -- and perhaps a model for resolving conflicts.

TEDTalks : What went wrong (and what's next) at the Large Hadron Collider - Brian Cox (2009)

Fri, 05/01/2009 - 17:26

In this short talk from TED U 2009, Brian Cox shares what's new with the CERN supercollider. He covers the repairs now underway and what the future holds for the largest science experiment ever attempted.

TEDTalks : What can we learn from the 1918 flu pandemic? - Laurie Garrett (2007)

Thu, 04/30/2009 - 09:00

In 2007, as the world worried about a possible avian flu epidemic, Laurie Garrett, author of "The Coming Plague," gave this powerful talk to a small TED University audience. Her insights from past pandemics are suddenly more relevant than ever.

TEDTalks : One woman, eight hilarious characters - Sarah Jones (2009)

Wed, 04/29/2009 - 09:00

In this hilariously lively performance, actress Sarah Jones channels an opinionated elderly Jewish woman, a fast-talking Dominican college student and more, giving TED2009 just a sample of her spectacular character range.

TEDTalks : Exploring the re-wiring of the brain - Michael Merzenich (2004)

Tue, 04/28/2009 - 15:33

Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function.

TEDTalks : How ideas trump economic crises -- a surprising lesson from 1929 - Alex Tabarrok (2009)

Mon, 04/27/2009 - 09:00

The "dismal science" truly shines in this optimistic talk, as economist Alex Tabarrok argues free trade and globalization are shaping our once-divided world into a community of idea-sharing more healthy, happy and prosperous than anyone's predictions.

TEDTalks : Comics that tell the little stories of a big city - Ben Katchor (2002)

Thu, 04/23/2009 - 05:51

In this captivating talk from the TED archive, cartoonist Ben Katchor reads from his comic strips. These perceptive, surreal stories find the profound hopes and foibles of history (and modern New York) preserved in objects like light switches and signs.

TEDTalks : How texting and GoogleMaps helped Kenyans survive crisis - Erik Hersman (2009)

Wed, 04/22/2009 - 09:00

At TEDU 2009, Erik Hersman presents the remarkable story of Ushahidi, a GoogleMap mashup that allowed Kenyans to report and track violence via cell phone texts following the 2008 elections, and has evolved to continue saving lives in other countries.

TEDTalks : Picking apart the puzzle of racism in elections - Nate Silver (2009)

Wed, 04/22/2009 - 09:00

Nate Silver has answers to controversial questions about race in politics: Did Obama's race hurt his votes in some places? Stats and myths collide in this fascinating talk that ends with a remarkable insight on how town planning can promote tolerance.

TEDTalks : Rethinking the way we sit down - Niels Diffrient (2002)

Tue, 04/21/2009 - 15:16

Design legend Niels Diffrient talks about his life in industrial design (and the reason he became a designer instead of a jet pilot). He details his quest to completely rethink the office chair starting from one fundamental data set: the human body.

TEDTalks : The beautiful math that links coral, crochet and hyperbolic geometry - Margaret Wertheim (2009)

Mon, 04/20/2009 - 09:00

Margaret Wertheim leads a project to re-create the creatures of the coral reefs using a crochet technique invented by a mathematician -- celebrating the amazements of the reef, and deep-diving into the hyperbolic geometry underlying coral creation.

TEDTalks : Hang in there! 9 life lessons from rock climbing - Matthew Childs (2009)

Fri, 04/17/2009 - 09:00

In this talk from TED University 2009, veteran rock climber Matthew Childs shares nine pointers for rock climbing. These handy tips bear on an effective life at sea level, too.

TEDTalks : How to feel like the Incredible Hulk - Tim Ferriss (2008)

Wed, 04/15/2009 - 19:43

From the EG conference: Productivity guru Tim Ferriss' fun, encouraging anecdotes show how one simple question -- "What's the worst that could happen?" -- is all you need to learn to do anything.

TEDTalks : Tour the AlloSphere, a stunning new way to see scientific data - JoAnn Kuchera-Morin (2009)

Wed, 04/15/2009 - 09:00

JoAnn Kuchera-Morin demos the AlloSphere, a new way to see, hear and interpret scientific data. Dive into the brain, feel electron spin, hear the music of the elements ... and detect previously unseen patterns that could lead to new discoveries.

TEDTalks : How biotech will drive our evolution - Gregory Stock (2003)

Tue, 04/14/2009 - 09:00

In this prophetic 2003 talk -- just days before Dolly the sheep was stuffed -- biotech ethicist Gregory Stock looked forward to new, more meaningful (and controversial) technologies, like customizable babies, whose adoption might drive human evolution.

TEDTalks : A bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars - Shai Agassi (2009)

Mon, 04/13/2009 - 09:00

Forget about the hybrid auto -- Shai Agassi says it's electric cars or bust if we want to impact emissions. His company, Better Place, has a radical plan to take entire countries oil-free by 2020.

TEDTalks : Busted! The sneaky moves of anti-social smartphone users - Renny Gleeson (2009)

Fri, 04/10/2009 - 16:47

In this funny (and actually poignant) 3-minute talk, social strategist Renny Gleeson breaks down our always-on social world -- where the experience we're having right now is less interesting than what we'll tweet about it later.