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TED-Ed episodes

  • Experiments that hint of longer lives - Cynthia Kenyon

    What controls aging? Biochemist Cynthia Kenyon has found a simple genetic mutation that can double the lifespan of a simple worm, C. elegans. The lessons from that discovery, and others, are pointing to how we might one day significantly extend youthful human life.

    Uploaded 09-08-13

    Talk by Cynthia Kenyon.



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    22 min
  • Vultures: The acid-puking, plague-busting heroes of the ecosystem - Kenny Coogan

    Explore the essential role vultures play in cleaning our ecosystems and why their conservation is key to a healthy planet.

    Uploaded 24-02-20

    --

    In the African grasslands, a gazelle suffering from tuberculosis takes its last breath. The animal’s corpse threatens to infect the water, but for the vulture, this isn’t a problem: it’s a feast. With a stomach of steel that can digest diseased meat and waste, vultures are essential to removing dangerous pathogens from ecosystems. Kenny Coogan explores the importance of the desert’s cleanup crew.

    Lesson by Kenny Coogan, directed by Mali Mamut.

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    View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/vultures-the-acid-puking-plague-busting-heroes-of-the-ecosystem-kenny-coogan

    Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Paul Aldred-Bann, Manav parmar, Susan Wang, Utkarsh Dubey, Thawsitt, Xuebicoco, Jezabel, Maeve, Kim Humphrey, Kristen Damas, JackKeyton, Matthew D. Vigil, Amin Shahril, Adriano Fontes, Xiao Yu, Fatima Kried, Aravind Battaje, Melissa Suarez, Jason Duncan, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Chhunheng Veng, Leonardo Monrroy, Sumedh Ghaisas, Guhten, Amer Harb, Dowey Baothman, Norbert Orgován, Shafeeq Ansari, Gabriel Balsa, Maryam Sultan, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Adam Foreman, Sebastiaan Vleugels, Lâm Nguyễn, Mark Byers, Bradley Heinold, Monkeypatcher, Laurence McMillan, Connor Roberts, Dmitry Neverov, Tonya Ratliff-Garrison, Avinash Amarnath, Eric McDaniel, Cristian Cristian, France Lipužič and EdoKun.



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    7 min
  • Early forensics and crime-solving chemists - Deborah Blum

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/early-forensics-and-crime-solving-chemists-deborah-blum

    Uploaded 01-04-13

    In a CSI age, we take forensic science for granted. New York did not have a medical examiner or forensic toxicologist until 1918, whose eventual arrival changed the landscape of crime investigation forever. At TEDYouth 2012, Deborah Blum prompts the audience to solve crimes with chemistry.

    Talk by Deborah Blum.



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    11 min
  • Grammar's great divide: The Oxford comma - TED-Ed

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/grammar-s-great-divide-the-oxford-comma-ted-ed

    Uploaded 17-03-14

    If you read "Bob, a DJ and a clown" on a guest list, are three people coming to the party, or only one? That depends on whether you're for or against the Oxford comma -- perhaps the most hotly contested punctuation mark of all time. When do we use one? Can it really be optional, or is there a universal rule? TED-Ed explores both sides of this comma conundrum.

    Lesson by TED-Ed, animation by Zedem Media.



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    6 min
  • What actually triggered the Irish Potato Famine - Stephanie Honchell Smith

    Dig into what caused the Irish potato famine, and explore how the UK government’s response turned the crisis into a catastrophe.

    --

    For over 200 years, potatoes thrived in Ireland; roughly half the country’s residents lived almost entirely on potatoes. But when harvesting began in 1845, farmers found their potatoes blackened and shriveled. While this failed harvest created a crisis, the government’s response turned it into a national catastrophe. Stephanie Honchell Smith digs into Ireland's Great Famine.

    Lesson by Stephanie Honchell Smith, directed by Denys Spolitak.

    This video made possible in collaboration with Gates Ventures
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    Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti and Helen Lee.

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    7 min
  • How we'll eradicate polio for good - Bruce Aylward

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-we-ll-stop-polio-for-good-bruce-aylward

    Polio is almost completely eradicated. But as Bruce Aylward says: Almost isn't good enough with a disease this terrifying. Aylward lays out the plan to continue the scientific miracle that ended polio in most of the world -- and to snuff it out everywhere, forever.

    Talk by Bruce Aylward.

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    29 min
  • Want to be happier? Remain in the moment - Matt Killingsworth

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/want-to-be-happier-stay-in-the-moment-matt-killingsworth

    When are humans most happy? To gather data on this question, Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the surprising results: We're often happiest when we're lost in the moment. And the flip side: The more our mind wanders, the less happy we can be. (Filmed at TEDxCambridge.)

    Talk by Matt Killingsworth.

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    15 min
  • Mysteries of vernacular: Hearse - Jessica Oreck

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mysteries-of-vernacular-hearse-jessica-oreck

    Uploaded 04-04-13

    Today, we recognize the word hearse as a vehicle that carries a coffin to a funeral. Jessica Oreck explains how this word has, at various times, described a wolf, a rake, and a frame, eventually landing at its meaning today.

    Lesson and animation by Jessica Oreck.



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    4 min
  • The method that can "prove" almost anything - James A. Smith

    Explore the data analysis method known as p-hacking, where data is misrepresented as statistically significant.

    Uploaded 05-08-21

    --

    In 2011, a group of researchers conducted a study designed to find an impossible result. Their study involved real people, truthfully reported data, and commonplace statistical analyses. So how did they do it? The answer lies in a statistical method scientists often use to try to figure out whether their results mean something, or if they’re random noise. James A. Smith explores p-hacking.

    Lesson by James A. Smith, directed by Anton Bogaty.

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    Animator's website: https://www.instagram.com/anton_bogaty
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    Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Sylvain, Can Aydogmus, JasonD, Terran Gimpel, Gareth Thomas, Talia Sari, Phan Quang Lam, Katie McDowell, Allen, Sarat Chandra Vegunta, Mahina Bachiller, Bruce Vieira Lopes, Charmaine Hanson, Paul Aldred-Bann, Thawsitt, Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Adriano Fontes, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, SpartacusDMR, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Leonardo Monrroy, Sumedh Ghaisas, Maryam, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rare Media, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Josue Perez Miranda, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, Xavier dupont, paul g mohney, Aravind Battaje, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian and John Hong.



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    7 min
  • Einstein's brilliant mistake: Entangled states - Chad Orzel

    View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/einstein-s-brilliant-mistake-entangled-states-chad-orzel

    Uploaded 16-10-14

    When you think about Einstein and physics, E=mc^2 is probably the first thing that comes to mind. But one of his greatest contributions to the field actually came in the form of an odd philosophical footnote in a 1935 paper he co-wrote -- which ended up being wrong. Chad Orzel details Einstein's "EPR" paper and its insights on the strange phenomena of entangled states.

    Lesson by Chad Orzel, animation by Gunborg/Banyai.



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    7 min

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