TED Talks Daily

TED

Ideas worth spreading from the TED Conference

  • 7 minutes 26 seconds
    A concrete plan for sustainable cement | Ryan Gilliam
    Cement is one of the most-consumed materials on Earth — second only to water — and it accounts for a whopping eight percent of the world's carbon pollution. What if we could turn this climate villain into a hero? Clean tech innovator and serial entrepreneur Ryan Gilliam reveals his company's surprisingly simple process for transforming waste from the cement-making process back into limestone using existing infrastructure, creating a competitive and eco-friendly product that could pave the way for gigaton-scale climate solutions.

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    13 March 2025, 3:12 pm
  • 7 minutes 6 seconds
    What you're missing by focusing on the average | Sharon Zicherman
    Are you looking at the right data when making big decisions? Data deconstructor Sharon Zicherman challenges our reliance on averages, showing how they can be misleading — especially in life-changing moments. By rethinking the way we interpret data, he reveals a smarter approach to assessing risk and making better choices.

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    12 March 2025, 3:03 pm
  • 10 minutes 3 seconds
    How light and code can transform a city | Leo Villareal
    Leo Villareal is an artist, but his tools aren't paint and canvas; he manipulates light, color and computer code to create monumental works of public art. In a dazzling talk, he takes us inside his efforts to light up some of the world's most iconic bridges — including an installation of 25,000 LED lights on San Francisco's Bay Bridge and a piece uniting nine bridges along London's River Thames — and shows how public art can transform a city.

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    11 March 2025, 3:09 pm
  • 14 minutes 5 seconds
    The 7 pillars of unlocking potential | Anirudh Krishna
    Why do some countries have a seemingly endless supply of talent in certain fields? From Jamaica's sprinters to South Korea's golfers, public policy professor Anirudh Krishna explains why "talent ladders" — structured pathways to identify and nurture people's potential — are the best way to make sure everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

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    10 March 2025, 3:09 pm
  • 28 minutes 56 seconds
    The Past and Future of Gender in Sport | Good Sport

    We often take gender for granted as a “natural” division in sports and life. But did you know the first decisions to divide sports into “male” and “female” categories were in many ways the result of women beating men in mixed gender competitions? In this episode, Jody chats with Veronica Ivy, a trans world cycling champion, about the pitfalls of dividing sports by gender. Then he hears from Laura Pappano, a journalist and researcher about the fascinating (and modern) history of gender segregation in sports. Finally, Jody returns to his Ultimate Frisbee roots as he and Raha Mozaffari, a two-time National Champion in the Mixed Division, talk about what we could learn from sports if we stopped using gender as the primary way to categorize athletes -- and explored all the other ways we could create games that are safe, fair, and competitive. 


    Transcripts for Good Sport are available at go.ted.com/GStranscripts


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    9 March 2025, 7:00 am
  • 15 minutes 36 seconds
    How to make anxiety your friend | David H. Rosmarin
    When anxiety rears its head, we often just want it to go away. Clinical psychologist David H. Rosmarin asks us to consider instead the positive role anxiety can play in our lives, sharing four practical steps to transform it from your enemy into your ally.

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    8 March 2025, 7:00 am
  • 16 minutes 57 seconds
    Can AI match the human brain? | Surya Ganguli
    AI is evolving into a mysterious new form of intelligence — powerful yet flawed, capable of remarkable feats but still far from human-like reasoning and efficiency. To truly understand it and unlock its potential, we need a new science of intelligence that combines neuroscience, AI and physics, says neuroscientist and Stanford professor Surya Ganguli. He shares a vision for a future where this interdisciplinary approach helps us create AI that mimics human cognition, while at the same time offering new ways to understand and augment our own brains.

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    7 March 2025, 4:12 pm
  • 19 minutes 18 seconds
    What you can learn crossing the ocean in a canoe | Lehua Kamalu
    “Being on a voyage forces you to unplug,” says TED Fellow and third-generation captain Lehua Kamalu. Sharing ancient knowledge from traditional Hawaiian ocean voyaging, she reflects on the transformational power of seafaring journeys — and what it means to travel mindfully, no matter where you are.

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    6 March 2025, 4:02 pm
  • 10 minutes 11 seconds
    How to finance the future of farming | Berry Marttin
    Agriculture is key to solving the climate crisis, but most farmers don’t have the financial incentive to switch to more eco-friendly practices, says banker and farmer Berry Marttin. He explores how improving the systems around carbon and biodiversity credits could bolster the economic viability of a green transition, offering hope for a world in which sustainable produce is not only possible but also profitable.

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    5 March 2025, 4:07 pm
  • 12 minutes 51 seconds
    How to handle grief at work and beyond | Meredith Wilson Parfet
    What happens when personal grief collides with your professional life? Drawing on her experience as the CEO of a crisis management firm and a hospice chaplain, Meredith Wilson Parfet breaks down the reality of grief — at work and beyond — and shares practical tools for navigating chaos, without toxic positivity.

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    4 March 2025, 4:02 pm
  • 14 minutes 49 seconds
    Why smell matters more than you think | Paule Joseph
    TED Fellow and chemosensory researcher Paule Joseph unveils the hidden power of a sense that's too often overlooked: smell. She delves into the science behind smell — from how it evokes memory and emotion to its potential for early disease detection — and advocates for the creation of a baseline test for taste and smell that could open the door to more comprehensive health care.

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    3 March 2025, 4:07 pm
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