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  • The fable of Medusa

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    Medusa, transformed into a monstrous Gorgon by a wrathful Athena, sought refuge in a hidden cave. Time after time, would-be heroes journeyed to the cave to make their names by murdering Medusa— but fell to her gaze every time. Until another young man, Perseus, began his quest for glory. Laura Aitken-Burt shares the myth of Medusa and her infamous power to petrify.

    Lesson by Laura Aitken-Burt, directed by Yael Reisfeld.

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    View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-myth-of-medusa-laura-aitken-burt
    Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-myth-of-medusa-laura-aitken-burt/digdeeper

    Animator's website: https://www.yaelreisfeld.com & https://www.instagram.com/yaelreisfeld
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    Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey, Yelena Baykova, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Akinola Emmanuel, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Sebastiaan Vleugels, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Abhishek Goel, Heidi Stolt, Nicole Sund, Karlee Finch, Mario Mejia, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov, Kyanta Yap, Rebecca Reineke, William Biersdorf, Patricia Alves Panagides, Yvette Mocete, Cyrus Garay, Samuel Barbas, LadyGeek, Marin Kovachev, and Penelope Misquitta.

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    8 min
  • The satisfying math of folding origami - Evan Zodl

    Dig into the mathematical rules and patterns of folding origami, the ancient Japanese art of paper folding.

    Uploaded 11-02-21

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    Origami, which literally translates to “folding paper,” is a Japanese practice dating back to at least the 17th century. In origami, a single, traditionally square sheet of paper can be transformed into almost any shape, purely by folding. The same simple concepts yield everything from a paper crane with about 20 steps, to a dragon with over 1,000 steps. Evan Zodl explores the ancient art form.

    Lesson by Evan Zodl, directed by Charlotte Arene.

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    View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-unexpected-math-of-origami-evan-zodl
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    Animator's website: https://vimeo.com/charlottearene
    Sound design: https://www.campstudio.co/
    Educator's website: https://www.youtube.com/ezorigami
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    Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Max Salas, Xavi Ramos, Khoa Nguyen Anh, Ron Kakar, Jennifer Heald, flóra lili donáti, Megulo Abebe, TAO7 HORUS, isolwi, Linh Tran, Vedasheersh, Michael Chang, Alexander Gruber, Irene Y., Kate Sem, VPpurplebelt, Ujjwal Dasu, Winnie Yeung, Giovanna Suleiman Dores, Moritz Heinz, Theunis Groenewald, Võ Thiên Kim, JasonD, Terran Gimpel, Dillon Jason Ramai, Gareth Thomas, Talia Sari, Allen, Kevin Fowler, Sarat Chandra Vegunta, Gautam, Mahina Bachiller, Bruce Vieira Lopes, Charmaine Hanson, Paul Aldred-Bann, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Adriano Fontes, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, SpartacusDMR, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler and Leonardo Monrroy.



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    8 min
  • How playing an instrument benefits your brain - Anita Collins

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    Uploaded 22-07-14

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins

    When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.

    Lesson by Anita Collins, animation by Sharon Colman Graham.



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    7 min
  • Why do we, like, hesitate when we, um, speak? - Lorenzo García-Amaya

    Why do we fill pauses in speech with words like “um,” “uh,” and “like”? Dig into the hesitation phenomenon to find out their linguistic significance.

    Uploaded 18-02-21

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    For as long as we’ve had language, some people have tried to control it. And some of the most frequent targets of this communication regulation are the ums, ers, and likes that pepper our conversations. These linguistic fillers occur roughly 2 to 3 times per minute in natural speech. So are ums and uhs just a habit we can’t break? Or is there more to them? Lorenzo García-Amaya investigates.

    Lesson by Lorenzo García-Amaya, directed by Yael Reisfeld.

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    View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-we-like-hesitate-when-we-um-speak-lorenzo-garcia-amaya
    Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-we-like-hesitate-when-we-um-speak-lorenzo-garcia-amaya#digdeeper

    Animator's website: https://www.yaelreisfeld.com/
    Educator's website: http://umich.edu/~speechlab/
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    Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Brady Jones, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Mario Mejia, Nicolas Silva, Kurt Almendras, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Kristiyan Bonev, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov, Jaime Arriola, Rebecca Reineke, William Biersdorf, Patricia Alves Panagides, Valeria Sloan Vasquez, Yvette Mocete, Cyrus Garay, Victoria Soler-Roig, Samuel Barbas, Brighteagle, LadyGeek, Curtis Light, Dwight Schrute, Dianne Palomar, Marin Kovachev, Ravi S. Rāmphal, Tekin Gültekin, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Aidan Forero, Sunny Patel, Lowell Fleming, Hoai Nam Tran, Stina Boberg, Kack-Kyun Kim, Ken, zjweele13, Jurjen Geleijn, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea and John Saveland.



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    8 min
  • How do you know if you have a virus? - Cella Wright

    Dig into two testing techniques for viruses: PCR tests to diagnose an infection and immunoassays to detect antibodies.

    Uploaded 18-05-20

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    A new virus emerges and spreads like wildfire. In order to contain it, researchers must first collect data about who’s been infected. Two main viral testing techniques are critical: one tells you if you have the virus and the other shows if you’ve already had it. So, how exactly do these tests work? Cella Wright explores the science of PCR tests and immunoassays.

    Lesson by Cella Wright, directed by Hype CG.

    Animator's website: https://www.hype.cg/ and https://www.luisacopetti.com/
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    View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-virus-tests-actually-work-cella-wright

    Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Carlos H. Costa, Eimann P. Evarola, Aleksandr Lyozin, Mohamed Elsayed, Alan Wilder, Marcus Appelbaum, Francisco Leos, Kevin O'Leary, Les Howard, Ten Cha, Mehmet Yusuf Ertekin, Arlene Weston, phkphk123321, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Austin Randall, Abhishek Bansal, Jayant Sahewal, Dian Atamyanov, igor romanenko, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Brandy Sarver, Guy Hardy, Tu-Anh Nguyen, Karl Laius, Madee Lo, JY Kang, Marc Bou Zeid, Abhishek Goel, Charles A Hershberger, Coenraad Keuning, Robert Seik, Heidi Stolt, Alexis Hevia, Todd Gross, Brady Jones, Christina Salvatore, Zhong Ming Zenny Tan, Karisa Caudill, Bruno Pinho, Derek Drescher, Mihail Radu Pantilimon, Amin Shahril, Mohamed Elsayed, Barthélémy Michalon, Chumi Ogbonna, Karlee Finch, Mohammad Said, jj5252 and Kelvin Lam.



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    7 min
  • The true story of 'true' - Gina Cooke

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-true-story-of-true-gina-cooke

    Uploaded 16-12-13

    The older the word, the longer (and more fascinating) the story. With roots in Old English, 'true' shares etymological ancestors with words like betroth and truce...but also with the word tree. In fact, trees have been metaphors for steadfastness and faithfulness for as long as the word true has defined the same qualities. Gina Cooke describes the poetic relationship between 'tree' and 'true.'

    Lesson by Gina Cooke, animation by Brad Purnell.



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    7 min
  • The death of the universe

    The shape, contents and future of the universe are all intricately related. We know that it's mostly flat; we know that it's made up of baryonic matter (like stars and planets), but mostly dark matter and dark energy; and we know that it's expanding constantly, so that all stars will eventually burn out into a cold nothingness. But is there any beauty in this dark ending?

    Uploaded 12-12-13

    Animation by Giant Animation Studios.



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    7 min
  • The good news on poverty (Yes, there's good news) - Bono

    Human beings have been campaigning against inequality and poverty for 3,000 years. But this journey is accelerating. Bono "embraces his inner nerd" and shares inspiring data that shows the end of poverty is in sight ... if we can harness the momentum.

    Uploaded 23-08-13

    Talk by Bono.



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    18 min
  • Can you solve the world’s most evil wizard riddle? - Dan Finkel

    Practice more problem-solving at https://brilliant.org/TedEd/

    Uploaded 19-05-20

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    The evil wizard MoldeVort has been trying to kill you for years, and today it looks like he’s going to succeed. But your friends are on their way, and if you can survive until they arrive, they should be able to help stop him. Can you keep MoldeVort trapped long enough for help to arrive? Dan Finkel shows how.

    Lesson by Dan Finkel, directed by Artrake Studio.

    Animator's website: https://www.artrake.com
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    View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-world-s-most-evil-wizard-riddle-dan-finkel

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    8 min
  • Overcoming the scientific divide - Aaron Reedy

    Teaching is both a science and an art, and many teachers around the world spend endless hours perfecting their professional practice. At TEDActive 2013, a few teachers from the United States offer some tricks of the trade they've learned (and continue to hone) along the way.

    Uploaded 20-06-13

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    11 min

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TED-Ed’s mission is to create lessons worth sharing. Feed and expand your curiosity with our award-winning animated shorts - published on YouTube and available with supplemental learning materials on ed.ted.com.