A host of heroes - April Gudenrath
What can some of literature’s most famous heroes teach us? From the epic hero (like Beowulf) to the tragic hero (like Oedipus), each has something distinctive to share. April Gudenrath describes the many faces of the fictional hero — and shows how they can inspire everyday people.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-host-of-heroes-april-gudenrath
via TED Education.
Pool medical patents, save lives - Ellen ‘t Hoen
Patenting a new drug helps finance its immense cost to develop — but that same patent can put advanced treatments out of reach for sick people in developing nations, at deadly cost. Ellen ‘t Hoen talks about an elegant, working solution to the problem: the Medicines Patent Pool. (Filmed at TEDxZurich.)
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/pool-medical-patents-save-lives-ellen-t-hoen
via TED Education.
A 40-year plan for energy - Amory Lovins
In this intimate talk filmed at TED’s offices, energy innovator Amory Lovins shows how to get the US off oil and coal by 2050, $5 trillion cheaper, with no Act of Congress, led by business for profit. The key is integrating all four energy-using sectors—and four kinds of innovation.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-40-year-plan-for-energy-amory-lovins
Talk by Amory Lovins.
via TED Education.
Taylor Wilson: My radical plan for small nuclear fission reactors
Taylor Wilson was 14 when he built a nuclear fusion reactor in his parents’ garage. Now 19, he returns to the TED stage to present a new take on an old topic: fission. Wilson, who has won backing to create a company to realize his vision, explains why he’s so excited about his innovative design for small modular fission reactors — and why it could be the next big step in solving the global energy crisis.
via TED Talks Director.
The optimism bias - Tali Sharot
Are we born to be optimistic, rather than realistic? Tali Sharot shares new research that suggests our brains are wired to look on the bright side — and how that can be both dangerous and beneficial.
via TED Education.
The search for other Earth-like planets - Olivier Guyon
Billions of stars. Billions of galaxies. A thousand years just to count all of the stars in our galaxy and then another thousand to count the galaxies in the universe. At TEDYouth 2012, Olivier Guyon examines the possibility of finding other planets within these astronomical numbers, some potentially rife with life.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-search-for-other-planets-olivier-guyon
Talk by Olivier Guyon.
via TED Education.
Tracking the trackers - Gary Kovacs
As you surf the Web, information is being collected about you. Web tracking is not 100% evil — personal data can make your browsing more efficient; cookies can help your favorite websites stay in business. But, says Gary Kovacs, it’s your right to know what data is being collected about you and how it affects your online life. He unveils a Firefox add-on to do just that.
via TED Education.
Let’s teach kids to code - Mitch Resnick
Coding isn’t just for computer whizzes, says Mitch Resnick of MIT Media Lab — it’s for everyone. In a fun, demo-filled talk Resnick outlines the benefits of teaching kids to code, so they can do more than just “read” new technologies — but also create them. (Filmed at TEDxBeaconStreet.)
Talk by Mitch Resnick.
via TED Education.
Feats of memory anyone can do - Joshua Foer
There are people who can quickly memorize lists of thousands of numbers, the order of all the cards in a deck (or ten!), and much more. Science writer Joshua Foer describes the technique — called the memory palace — and shows off its most remarkable feature: anyone can learn how to use it, including him.
via TED Education.
Music and emotion through time - Michael Tilson Thomas
In this epic overview, Michael Tilson Thomas traces the development of classical music through the development of written notation, the record, and the re-mix.
Talk by Michael Tilson Thomas.
via TED Education.
How much does a video weigh? - Michael Stevens of Vsauce
What color is a mirror? How much does a video weigh? Michael Stevens, creator of the popular educational YouTube channel Vsauce, spends his day asking quirky questions like these. In this talk he shows how asking the right — seemingly silly — questions can make incredibly effective lessons.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-much-does-a-video-weigh-michael-stevens
Talk by Michael Stevens.
via TED Education.
Pavlovian reactions aren’t just for dogs - Benjamin N. Witts
Dr. Ivan Pavlov’s groundbreaking work revealed that a dog will respond to neutral stimuli, such as a bell, in the same way that it will respond to, say, mouth-watering food. This research is widely applicable beyond a dog’s salivation. Benjamin N. Witts sketches a few situations in which people are conditioned to react in a Pavlovian way, from dating to parenting.
Lesson by Benjamin N. Witts, animation by AirFox Media.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/pavlovian-reactions-aren-t-just-for-dogs-benjamin-n-witts
via TED Education.
Making sense of how life fits together - Bobbi Seleski
From something as miniscule as a cell to the biosphere we all call home, living things fit together in numerous interesting ways. Bobbi Seleski catalogs biology from our body and beyond, tracking how unicellular organisms, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and our biosphere build off of each other and work together.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/making-sense-of-how-life-fits-together-bobbi-seleski
Lesson by Bobbi Seleski, animation by Alan Foreman.
via TED Education.
Hey science teachers — make it fun - Tyler DeWitt
High school science teacher Tyler DeWitt was ecstatic about a lesson plan on bacteria (how cool!) — and devastated when his students hated it. The problem was the textbook: it was impossible to understand. He delivers a rousing call for science teachers to ditch the jargon and extreme precision, and instead make science sing through stories and demonstrations. (Filmed at TEDxBeaconStreet.)
via TED Education.
String theory and the hidden structures of the universe - Clifford Johnson
What is everything made of? Thus far, we can break everything in the universe down to a few very small elementary particles. But they fit into strange patterns that are not understood. Some scientists believe that this is because we can go deeper - perhaps to simple vibrating strings! At TEDYouth 2012, Clifford Johnson describes these ideas, along with the concept of string theory.
Talk by Clifford Johnson.
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/string-theory-and-the-hidden-structures-of-the-universe-clifford-johnson
via TED Education.
