Catch up on popular TED Talks from 2017

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This week on TED.com December 30, 2017

Talk of the week Lisa Genova: What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's 13:56 minutes · Filmed Apr 2017 · Posted Apr 2017 · TED2017 Alzheimer's doesn't have to be your brain's destiny, says neuroscientist Lisa Genova, the author of Still Alice. She shares the latest science investigating the disease -- and some promising research on what each of us can do to build an Alzheimer's-resistant brain, starting right now. Watch now »

Playlist of the week Curator's Picks: Top 10 TED Talks of 2017 Cue up this playlist of great talks from 2017, as chosen by TED's chief curator, Chris Anderson. Watch » 10 TED Talks • Total run time 3:10:57

More classic TED Talks from 2017 The hard choices -- what we most fear doing, asking, saying -- are very often exactly what we need to do. How can we overcome self-paralysis and take action? Tim Ferriss encourages us to fully envision and write down our fears in detail, in a simple but powerful exercise he calls "fear-setting." Learn how this practice can help you thrive, by separating what you can control from what you cannot. Watch » Right now, billions of neurons in your brain are working together to generate a conscious experience -- and not just any conscious experience, your experience of the world around you and of yourself within it. How does this happen? According to neuroscientist Anil Seth, we're all hallucinating all the time. (When we happen to agree about our hallucinations, we call that "reality.") Join Seth for a delightfully disorienting talk that may leave you questioning the very nature of your existence. Watch » Ever wonder how we poop? Learn about the gut -- the system where digestion (and a whole lot more) happens -- as doctor and author Giulia Enders takes us inside the complex, fascinating science behind it, including its connection to mental health. It turns out, looking closer at something we might shy away from can leave us feeling more fearless and appreciative of ourselves. Watch » In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share. Watch »

Great reading from ideas.ted.com Try this: Making resolutions this week? Some inspiring ideas >> Creative resolutions to start your new year Psychology: Why discounts and sales make us bad shoppers >> Dan Ariely on why you should be suspicious of sales   Science: The wonders of Antarctic moss >> How scientists found superhero powers in a humble plant  Great advice: How to raise happy kids without overparenting >> Wise words from five key experts

Quote of the Week “ The average brain has over a hundred trillion synapses, which is fantastic; we've got a lot to work with. And this isn't a static number. We gain and lose synapses all the time, through a process called neural plasticity. Every time we learn something new, we are creating and strengthening new neural connections, new synapses." Lisa Genova What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's

one weird trick Want to make your New Year's resolutions stick? Change one little word in the way you make them. Read more »

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The history of human emotions

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This week on TED.com December 23, 2017

Talk of the week Tiffany Watt Smith: The history of human emotions 14:20 minutes · Filmed Nov 2017 · Posted Dec 2017 · TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany The words we use to describe our emotions affect how we feel, says historian Tiffany Watt Smith, and they've often changed (sometimes very dramatically) in response to new expectations and ideas. Take nostalgia: Today, it's a gentle wistfulness for the past, but when it was first defined in 1688, it was an illness -- and it was deadly. In this fascinating talk, learn more about the language we use to describe how we feel, and how it continues to evolve -- and pick up some new words to capture those fleeting feelings. Watch now »

Playlist of the week Most popular TED Talks of 2017 What a year! These 14 talks challenged our perceptions of love, happiness, what the future will hold ... and, um, the very nature of reality itself. Watch » Total run time 3:48:09

catch up on this week's new TED Talks Sometimes, words are magic. But in this subtitled talk, legendary poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar asks why we seem to be losing our power to use words these days -- and inspires us to better understand and communicate with one another using this wondrous tool that carries our ideas and culture across generations. (In Hindi with English subtitles) Watch » Could smartphones and cameras be our most powerful weapons for justice? Through her organization Witness, Yvette Alberdingk Thijm is developing technologies that help people use raw video to protect their rights. She shares stories of the growing power of distant witnesses -- and a call to use the tools at our disposal to capture and stop injustice. Watch » Christian Benimana wants to build a network of architects who can help Africa's booming cities flourish -- balancing rapid growth with values that are uniquely African. From Nigeria to Burkina Faso and beyond, he shares examples of a pan-African movement of architects, designers and engineers who are learning from and inspiring each other. Benimana invites us to imagine future African cities as the most resilient, vibrant, inclusive places on earth. Watch » Heather Lanier's daughter Fiona has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a genetic condition that results in developmental delays -- but, as she makes clear, that doesn't make her tragic, angelic or any of the other stereotypes about kids like her. In this talk about the beautiful, complicated, joyful and hard journey of raising a rare girl, Lanier questions our assumptions about what makes a life "good" or "bad," and asks us to take life as it comes. Watch » Joel Jackson wants to reimagine transportation around the needs of the African consumer. He's designed an SUV that's rugged enough for long stretches of uneven terrain and affordable enough to be within reach of those who need it most. Learn more about the challenges of mobility and manufacturing in Africa -- and what a localized motor industry could mean for the future of the continent. Watch » "I'm Deb's son." "And I'm Hank's mom." In this warm, loving, funny talk, Deborah Willis, the legendary photographer and art scholar, speaks onstage with her son, the artist Hank Willis Thomas. The mother and son artists show how they draw from one another in their work, how their art challenges mainstream narratives about black life and black joy, and how, ultimately, everything comes down to love. Watch »

Read more on ideas.ted.com Handy: 6 strategies to take into your next performance review >> How to listen to criticism without losing your cool Design: Visit an apartment that shows life in 2050 >> A fictional scenario you can walk around in Crime: Inside a scheme to launder money through Panama's tallest building >> A multi-million-dollar scheme ... featuring some familiar names You: 9 creative New Year's resolutions inspired by TED Talks >> Inspiring ideas to break the resolution rut Psychology: How to make your New Year's resolutions stick >> A one-word trick that can put your goals within reach

Quote of the Week “ Today, we celebrate happiness. Happiness is supposed to make us better workers and parents and partners; it's supposed to make us live longer. In the 16th century, sadness was thought to do most of those things. It's possible to read self-help books from that period which try to encourage sadness in readers by giving them lists of reasons to be disappointed. These self-help authors thought you could cultivate sadness as a skill, since being expert in it would make you more resilient when something bad did happen to you, as invariably it would. I think we could learn from this today. Feel sad today, and you might feel impatient, even a little ashamed. Feel sad in the 16th century, and you might feel a little bit smug." Tiffany Watt Smith The history of human emotions

ted radio hour: rethinking medicine Our approach to treating disease is, in many ways, narrow and rooted in the past. Is it time for a new paradigm? This hour, TED speakers share their visions for new ways to understand medicine. Listen to TED Radio Hour on Apple Podcasts »

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A new weapon in the fight against superbugs

How physics could help physicians ... Open in your browser

This week on TED.com December 16, 2017

Talk of the week David Brenner: A new weapon in the fight against superbugs 10:13 minutes · Filmed Apr 2017 · Posted Dec 2017 · TED2017 Since the widespread use of antibiotics began in the 1940s, we've tried to develop new drugs faster than bacteria can evolve -- but this strategy isn't working. Drug-resistant bacteria known as superbugs killed nearly 700,000 people last year, and by 2050 that number could be 10 million -- more than cancer kills each year. Can physics help? In a talk from the frontiers of science, radiation scientist David Brenner shares his work studying a potentially life-saving weapon: a wavelength of ultraviolet light known as far-UVC, which can kill superbugs safely, without penetrating our skin. Followed by a Q&A with TED Curator Chris Anderson. Watch now »

Playlist of the week What direction is the future headed?  Cue up these talks to explore what may be in store for our collective future and how we can plan for the unpredictable, together. Watch » 6 TED Talks • Total run time 1:51:12

catch up on this week's new TED Talks How do we improve as our work gets more and more complex? Atul Gawande has studied this question with a surgeon's precision. He shares what he's found to be the key: having a good coach to provide a more accurate picture of our reality, to instill positive habits of thinking, and to break our actions down and then help us build them back up again. As he says: "It's not about how good you are now; it's how good you're going to be." Watch » Space physicist Miho Janvier studies solar storms: giant clouds of particles that escape from the Sun and can disrupt life on Earth (while also producing amazing auroras). How do you study the atmosphere on the Sun, which burns at temperatures of up to around 10 million degrees Kelvin? With math! Join the TED Fellow as she shares her work trying to better understand how the Sun affects us here on Earth. Watch » Joan Blades and John Gable want you to make friends with people who vote differently than you do. A pair of political opposites, the two longtime pals know the value of engaging in honest conversations with people you don't immediately agree with. Join them as they explain how to bridge the gaps in understanding between people on opposite sides of the political spectrum -- and create opportunities for mutual listening and consideration (and, maybe, lasting friendships). Watch » How will we live elsewhere in the galaxy? On Earth, natural resources for creating structures are abundant, but sending these materials up with us to the Moon or Mars is clunky and cost-prohibitive. Enter architect Xavier De Kestelier, who has a radical plan to use robots and space dust to 3D-print our interplanetary homes. Learn more about the emerging field of space architecture with this fascinating talk about the (potentially) not-too-distant future. Watch » Five hundred million Chinese consumers -- the equivalent of the combined populations of the US, UK and Germany -- buy almost everything via their mobile phones, even while standing in brick-and-mortar stores. Retail expert Angela Wang asks: What will this transformation mean for the future of shopping all around the world? Learn more about the new business-as-usual, where everything is ultra-convenient, ultra-flexible and ultra-social. Watch » Africa needs engineers, but its engineering students often end up working at auditing firms and banks. Why? Kamau Gachigi suspects it's because they don't have the spaces and materials needed to test their ideas and start businesses. Which is why he started Gearbox, a makerspace for both professionals and people with no formal engineering background. In this forward-thinking talk, he shares some of the extraordinary projects and innovations coming out of his Kenyan fab lab. Watch »

Read more on ideas.ted.com Tech: Think the US's fight for net neutrality is over? It's just beginning >> Learn how India saved its open internet from corporate takeover Conversation: How to talk with a friend who's depressed >> Real-world tips for staying connected to people you love  Your holiday reading list: 56 books you won’t be able to put down >> Eclectic picks by TED speakers, for giving or reading yourself

Quote of the Week “ We want to re-weave the fabric of our communities. We believe that our differences can be a strength, that our values can be complimentary and that we have to overcome the fight so that we can honor everyone's values and not lose any of our own." Joan Blades and John Gable Free yourself from your filter bubbles

ted radio hour: going undercover Are deception and secrecy categorically wrong? Or can they be a necessary means to an end? This hour, TED speakers share stories of going undercover to explore unknown territory and find the truth. Listen on Apple Podcasts, through the TED Android app, on NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts!

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