Quels sont les meilleurs drones avec caméra 4K ?

Trouver le bon drone 4K n’a rien d’évident. Celui qui immortalisera vos souvenirs, vous fera découvrir les paysages sous un nouvel angle ou accompagnera vos premiers pas dans le pilotage doit correspondre à vos usages. Qualité d’image, autonomie, portée, stabilisation ou aides au vol : face à...

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45,6 km/h et un saut de deux mètres : regardez le robot « Superman » pulvériser les limites humaines

Unitree vient de publier une nouvelle vidéo, présentant son dernier modèle de robot humanoïde. Évasif sur les caractéristiques techniques, le constructeur le présente comme dépassant les meilleurs athlètes humains.

Un astéroïde que l’on surveille de près cache une surprise : une sonde qui vient de le survoler révèle des images inédites

La célèbre sonde japonaise Hayabusa 2 continue son périple dans le Système solaire à la recherche de nouvelles connaissances sur les astéroïdes géocroiseur dont certains pourraient entrer en collision avec la Terre. Elle vient de livrer des images inédites d'un de ces géocroiseurs.

Comment l'industrie automobile transforme ses déchets en ressources stratégiques pour la transition écologique

L’image de carcasses de voitures empilées à perte de vue dans des casses à ciel ouvert est en train de changer, grâce une filière en pleine mutation qui permettra à terme de fabriquer les véhicules selon un modèle circulaire.

Penser l’intelligence artificielle autrement, par Jean-Claude Heudin

Régulièrement, je vais publier ici, sur Futura, un court article sur l'intelligence artificielle ou sur un sujet scientifique qui me tient à cœur. Aujourd'hui : la voie empruntée pour l’intelligence artificielle par les géants de la tech est-elle la seule possible ?

Le « glacier de l’apocalypse » pourrait basculer dès cette année… et tout changer

Longtemps, les scientifiques ont hésité à reprendre le surnom donné au glacier Thwaites. Aujourd’hui, ils estiment que le « glacier de l’apocalypse » pourrait perdre, très bientôt, la plateforme de glace qui freine son écoulement. Un basculement aux conséquences planétaires.

Plus petites qu’un ongle, ces dents fossiles pourraient réécrire l’histoire de nos origines

Des dents fossiles pas plus grandes qu'un ongle de bébé viennent de réécrire les premières pages de notre histoire évolutive. En mars 2026, des paléontologues ont annoncé la découverte la plus méridionale jamais réalisée de Purgatorius, considéré comme l'ancêtre commun de tous les primates. Où...

Un historien décrypte le « piège de Thucydide » et ce qu’il révèle du face-à-face Chine-États-Unis

Le « piège de Thucydide » est souvent présenté comme le scénario noir du face-à-face Chine-États-Unis. Mais un historien invite à regarder Athènes et Sparte autrement : la vraie leçon n’est peut-être pas celle que l’on croit.

New York prépare l’un des gratte-ciel les plus vertigineux des États-Unis, avec une structure hors norme

Depuis que New York existe, la course des constructions vers le ciel n’a jamais cessé. L’un des derniers gratte-ciel vient d’être présenté et fait déjà parler de lui. Situé à proximité de la gare Grand Central, au 175 Park Avenue, il dominera Manhattan de sa hauteur spectaculaire.

Voici le chat qui, sans le savoir, a permis d’identifier deux nouveaux virus

Un chat de Floride a permis la découverte de deux virus jusque-là inconnus, grâce aux proies qu’il rapporte régulièrement à son propriétaire… virologue.

Économie circulaire automobile : ces “mines urbaines” cachées dans nos voitures

The Future is NEUTRAL développe à l’échelle industrielle l’économie circulaire automobile en boucle fermée, au service de l'ensemble des acteurs du secteur. Une activité stratégique expliquée par Sophie Schmidtlin, Chief Technology Officer.

GAIA transforme les déchets automobiles en ressources

Dans le centre de déconstruction de GAIA, la voiture devient une ressource dans une logique d’économie circulaire.

Health, wealth and AI: Day 3 of TED2026

Day 3 of TED2026 is a tour de force, exploring the history of sound on Earth, innovations in personal and public health and the cutting-edge technology shaping our future. The day’s sessions included talks curated by listening champion Julian Treasure and host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour Manoush Zomorodi.

Watch TED2026 on TED Live, check out more photos from the event and learn more about attending a future TED conference.

What does the universe sound like? Astrophysicist Mark Whittle takes us back to its conception: vast sound waves rippling through the cosmos for millions of years, slowly becoming the tapestry of galaxies we see today. Then he plays it for us, and for one brief stunning moment, we hear the sound of creation itself. Back on Earth, biologist David Haskell and sound designer Matthew Mikkelsen trace the primitive language of sound: from the first insect chirp to the layered symphonies of rainforests and oceans. The universe has been singing long before we could hear it. It’s about time we listened.

Good ears don’t make a good listener. Writer Michael Chorost knows this better than anyone. Partially deaf and fitted with cochlear implants, he spent months learning to hear again. What he learned went far beyond the mechanics of hearing. Listening, he says, is a moral act: setting aside your assumptions to hear people as they really are. The reason we struggle with this, explains journalist Emily Kasriel, is we often mistake listening for agreeing. Separating the two is where real connection begins. And sometimes the most powerful listening requires no words at all. Irish dance duo The Gardiner Brothers prove it in an electrifying performance — dancing an entire conversation through nothing but rhythm and sound. The ears are just the beginning; real listening takes discipline.

What happens when you really listen? For activist Susan Burton, everything changes. After the death of her son sent her into a spiral of addiction and incarceration, she walked into an AA meeting and, for the first time, found people who listened. It saved her life, and she’s made it her mission to save many more through A New Way of Life Reentry Project. Writer Harville Hendrix found the same truth in his marriage. On the brink of divorce, he and his wife turned to the simple yet radical practice of listening without judgment, and discovered they barely knew each other at all. He says: “You cannot love who you do not know. You cannot know without listening.” That’s why director John Lloyd goes to the sound department for the best takes — they’re the only ones truly paying attention. As he says, “You never learn anything by talking, only by listening.”

Back to biological basics. We’re living in the most sedentary era in human history, and it’s quietly wrecking our health — even for people who exercise regularly. Exercise scientist Keith Diaz has a solution: a five-minute “movement break” every half hour. He shows the data on why quick moments of movement can dramatically boost your health, mood and energy. In a similar vein, precision medicine pioneer Michael Snyder shows how wearables are revolutionizing personal health tracking, with a particular focus on how they can help people identify their risk for pre-diabetes. Physician Dhruv Khullar explores the potential of GLP-1 drugs to move beyond weight-loss medication into a promising treatment for addiction. By quietly dialing down the brain’s reward response, GLP-1s don’t kill your desires, they just make them more manageable, giving people the mental space to change their lives.

A new way to calculate wealth. Billionaires are deeply unpopular — polling in popularity below trial lawyers and just above TikTok influencers, according to a new poll from Forbes and Harris X. Yet where billionaires flourish, poverty shrinks and economies grow. Randall Lane, the editorial steward of Forbes’s signature rankings, including its famous “World’s Billionaires List,” thinks this widespread dislike is the result of the world’s richest people giving away less than one percent of their net worth (while the average American donates two percent to charity per year). To close that gap, Forbes is launching a new list — “True Net Worth” — that counts what you’ve given away as wealth you still own, turning the ego that drives billionaires up the list into a force that might do some good.

Will AI ever become conscious? OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger takes us back to a transformative moment in a Marrakesh alley, where he stood, frozen, watching an AI agent he’d built improvise a voice translation workflow in nine seconds — a capability he hadn’t programmed but appeared to happen spontaneously. That’s just one example of amazing capabilities being brought to life by OpenClaw users across the world, and it’s precisely what consciousness explorer Anil Seth would put on the examining table: the all-too-human tendency to project inner life onto algorithms. Seth’s careful case against conscious AI warns against letting a sophisticated mirror convince us it has a self, insisting that consciousness isn’t a computational side effect but something rooted in flesh and blood. But whether or not AI ever becomes conscious, our belief that it might be is already rewriting the rules of agency, ethics and invention.

7 things we learned at day 1 of TED2026

It’s time for TED!

TED2026 marks a pivotal milestone: our final conference in our beloved Vancouver venue before embarking on TED’s next chapter. To open the conference, TED’s Chris Anderson and Helen Walters welcome TED Vision Steward Sal Khan onto the stage for an eclectic session. Seven speakers explore how to thrive in the wild, wonderful and sometimes terrifying future we’re all facing together … before the session wraps up with a bang.

Watch TED2026 on TED Live, check out more photos from the event and learn more about attending a future TED conference.

Progress stalls. Hope doesn’t have to. Malala Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel laureate in history, so you might think she’s got social change figured out. But here’s the truth: “I don’t have all the answers,” she says. In a moving talk, she tells the story of her advocacy for girls’ education — from surviving an assassination attempt and meeting with world leaders to watching hard-won progress collapse when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021 — and talks about how to keep working for the future you want, even when hope feels lost. “If we start with something, work together and stay ambitious, hope stops being a thing we wait to feel and becomes something we create,” she says.

The next great infrastructure? Drones. Drone executive Adam Bry is helping to build the future of autonomous flight. He makes the case that self-flying drones are already transforming everything from emergency responses to public safety — preventing wildfires, mapping power grids and catching crime, all in real time. In a live demo, he launches a drone in Tokyo while piloting it from across the Pacific in Vancouver. For Bry, the future is one where flying robots work seamlessly in the background, as essential to daily life as roads and power lines.

A technology platform for public safety. Garrett Langley built Flock Safety after watching crime rise in his own Atlanta neighborhood. Today, the network of license plate readers, cameras and drones helps solve more than a million crimes a year. He says the old model of policing — officers driving around looking for “suspicious activity” — was slow and riddled with bias, while data-driven technology can get to the truth faster. He takes the hardest questions head-on — about constitutionality, privacy guardrails and the state of mass surveillance — and asks if the US can build an infrastructure that makes crime simply unsustainable.

Peace is possible, but it has to start with more than empathy. After four decades spent living and working inside conflict zones, mediator Hiba Qasas shows how the traditional peacebuilding playbook mistakes process for progress, overlooking the real drivers of lasting peace: power, incentives and legitimacy. She introduces her framework, STIR, which flips the script by leading with principled pragmatism — or “self-interest with a spine” — an approach that has brought hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian leaders into an active coalition, working together even in the midst of war.

Music is a language we intuitively know. In a breathtaking performance, kaleidoscopic music maker Jacob Collier explores what he calls “the wiggle”: the fluid, supple energy that weaves melody, rhythm and harmony into a story. Professing his love for harmony — “the wiggle between the wiggles” — he reveals its power to shift the entire color of a song. There are no straight lines in nature, and there are none in music either. The wiggle is what makes it such a wonderful world. 

The virtual cell is almost here. Complex diseases like Alzheimer’s have stumped medicine for decades, because each patient’s biology is uniquely tangled. But scientist and 2025 Audacious Project grantee Silvana Konermann thinks artificial intelligence holds the key to finally untangling it. Her team at Arc Institute is harnessing single-cell sequencing, CRISPR and AI to run a billion high-quality cellular experiments, training a model that can “speak” the language of cells, the way LLMs learned to speak ours. The goal: a universal virtual cell that tells researchers exactly which interventions could turn a diseased cell back into a healthy one, transforming a century of guess-and-check medicine into something more like a cheat code.

Warning: this talk begins with an explosion. Science educator Mark Rober has spent years cracking the code on how to teach a generation raised on YouTube. If you can get their attention — like building the tallest elephant toothpaste fountain in history to teach the science of catalytic reactions — then suddenly you have somewhere to attach the learning. He calls it “hiding the vegetables.” Now he’s channeling this method into a full science curriculum for teachers everywhere that’s free, forever. Teachers have the most important job on the planet, he says: it’s time they had the tools to match.

Watch TED2026 on TED Live, check out more photos from the event and learn more about attending a future TED conference.

Watch TED2026: All of Us — live online this week

Can’t make it to Vancouver for TED2026 this week? No problem! You can stream the entire conference online with TED Live.

TED Live brings the TED conference experience to your home – or anywhere you want to watch. Get exclusive access to every talk. Share the minute-by-minute excitement of the conference with people around the world. Get exclusive access to every talk, including ones that may not go online, and revisit your favorite talks on-demand anytime year-round.

This week, hear from:

• Malala Yousafzai, Nobel laureate, education activist
• Mark Rober, Science education champion
• Jacob Collier, Kaleidoscopic music maker
• Keke Palmer, Multihyphenate entertainer
• Reed Hastings, Entrepreneur, philanthropist
• Steve Huffman, Cofounder and CEO of Reddit
• Jonathan Haidt, Social psychologist
• Van Jones, TV host, author, changemaker
• Sylvia A. Earle, Ocean scientist
• Maya Higa, Content creator for wildlife conservation
• Yinka Ilori, Designer of joy
• Azusa Murakami, Artist
• … and many more speakers illuminating the path forward in tech, culture, climate and what’s next

Watch TED2026 beginning Monday, April 13 »

Mi-primitif, mi-géant : cette créature découverte en Chine pourrait changer ce que l’on sait sur les dinosaures

Quelque 165 millions d'années sous le sable du désert du Gansu. Un crâne presque intact. Une espèce inconnue qui chamboule l'arbre généalogique des dinosaures à long cou. Jinchuanloong niedu, découvert en Chine, intrigue les paléontologues du monde entier.

Curiosity, courage and connections: Day 2 of TEDNext 2025

Curious about what happened on day 2 of TEDNext? Think of this as your backstage pass to a day full of bold ideas, daring feats and fresh perspectives that will flip the way you think, feel and create.

From using AI to enhance your life (without losing your humanity) to decoding love and flirting in a high-tech world — and from exploring the language of money to catching breakthroughs in science and creativity — here’s a taste of what made day 2 unforgettable.

What exactly is TEDNext? A vibrant, three-day exploration of what’s next, propelling the “future you” to think expansively at every level, from personal to global. The second-ever TEDNext conference, held in Atlanta, continues an expansion of the annual slate of conferences from TED, with a conference designed to spark imagination, embrace possibility and foster dreams about what the next version of “you” can be.

Watch TEDNext 2025 on TED Live, check out more photos from the event and learn more about attending a future TED conference.

Some key takeaways from day 2:

Don’t compete with AI — work with it. Taking a clear-eyed look at the collective fear that AI is coming for our jobs, technologist Priyanka Vergadia shows why human instincts still catch nuance that algorithms miss — especially when it comes to building products people actually want to use. Meanwhile, AI education entrepreneur Priya Lakhani shows how a one-size-fits-all approach to the classroom strains teachers and fails students. By pairing human judgment with AI’s pattern-recognition abilities, as well as integrating neuroscience into personalized learning paths, both of these talks make a compelling case for how this tech can amplify what humans do best — and reveal how irreplaceable we truly are.

On the Spot: Bipartisan leadership is still possible. Democratic Governor of Delaware Matt Meyer and Republican Governor of Oklahoma J. Kevin Stitt sit down for TED’s On the Spot segment (a rapid-fire Q&A) to show how state leaders can deliver results, restore trust in government and lead with compassion across party lines. From improving classrooms and healthcare systems to driving workforce and energy innovations, they share concrete examples of bipartisan cooperation — showing it isn’t just possible, it’s essential. “Go and talk to someone who disagrees with you,” says Governor Meyer. “Not to argue with them, but actually to listen to them, empathize with them, understand the position that they come from.”

Anyone can learn the language of money (and appreciation). Wall Street trader-turned-financial educator Vivian Tu shares how everyday people can build wealth by learning financial terms, talking openly about money and using modern tools that are actually built for today’s economy. As the founder of Your Rich BFF, she shows how financial literacy can shift power — and give everyone a real shot at getting rich. Meanwhile, emotional intelligence coach Timm Chiusano shares how one terrible workday unlocked a life-changing habit: noticing the good that’s already here. He calls it being “addicted to appreciation,” a way of paying attention that asks nothing in return, rewires how we see strangers and makes ordinary things suddenly fascinating.

Two words can change your life: “challenge accepted.” Daredevil Michelle Khare is known for testing human limits through extreme physical and mental feats — training as a chess grandmaster, escaping Harry Houdini’s deadliest magic trick, trying to earn a Taekwondo black belt in 90 days (it typically takes three to five years). But all these stunts haven’t left her a woman without fear; rather, she’s learned that fear is information. She explains how embracing fear, building a great team and adopting an amateur’s mindset turns the impossible into possible.

In an age of AI intimacy, we need a new blueprint for love. Drawing on research with thousands of couples, social psychologist Sara Nasserzadeh breaks down six essential ingredients for thriving relationships: attraction, respect, trust, compassion, shared vision and loving behaviors. But what happens when intimacy becomes engineered? Sextech expert Bryony Cole explores how AI relationships — always available, perfectly empathetic and nearly effortless — can erode our tolerance for the friction and growth that make human intimacy real, revealing how to set healthy boundaries. Shifting the focus back to human interactions, dating educator Francesca Hogi reframes flirting as a superpower that can strengthen both new and existing relationships. She shows how anyone can make others feel seen, special and acknowledged by practicing attentiveness, giving thoughtful compliments and sprinkling in playfulness. 

On the Spot: Making hits, breaking rules and putting Atlanta on the map. Music mogul Jermaine Dupri takes the stage for On the Spot, sharing how he turns ideas into era-defining music. In a speedy Q&A, he dives into his creative process, the city that shaped him and the thinking behind hits like Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” and Usher’s “Nice & Slow”. From experimenting in the studio to spotting what will resonate with listeners, Dupri shows that intuition and risk-taking are the true secrets to lasting success in music.

Stand out, stay curious and let creativity lead the way. Exploring how new perspectives spark innovation, TED Senior Fellow Lope Gutiérrez Ruiz shows why building diverse teams, drawing inspiration from unexpected fields and trusting your own perspective can help creative people craft memorable, authentic work — like his studio’s funky, experimental fonts that push the boundaries of what’s possible with tech. Meanwhile, scientist and storyteller Harini Bhat celebrates the power of not knowing, revealing how curiosity (and a lifelong obsession with unanswered questions) drives discovery. Through her popular science channel, she distills groundbreaking research into captivating, accessible stories that make science feel thrilling and human. Her message: seek what excites you, embrace what you don’t understand and let wonder transform how you see the world. 

Watch TEDNext 2025 on TED Live, check out more photos from the event and learn more about attending a future TED conference

Accelerating solutions to the climate crisis: The talks of TEDCountdown @BloombergGreenFestival

We’re midway into the decisive decade for climate change — the decisions and actions taken today will determine the way we live tomorrow. In a special evening of TED Talks, performances and conversations, TED’s global climate initiative, TED Countdown, partnered with Bloomberg Green at the Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle to dive into the current state of climate, big-picture thinking about the economy, the interplay of climate and democracy and more.

The event: TEDCountdown@BloombergGreenFestival, a session of TED Talks presented by TED Countdown, TED’s global climate initiative, and Bloomberg Green. Hosted by Logan McClure Davda, TED’s Head of Impact, and Manoush Zomorodi, host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour.

When and where: McCaw Hall, Seattle, WA, on July 11, 2024

Speakers: Johan Rockström, Akshat Rathi, Gaya Herrington, Nathaniel Stinnett, Deb Chachra, Aline Sousa and Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir

Music: Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and musician Courtney Marie Andrews performs “May Your Kindness Remain” and “If I Told,” music based on a personal journey of self-discovery and introspection.

The talks in brief:

We’re halfway through the 2020s, dubbed the most decisive decade for action on climate change. Where exactly do things stand? Climate scientist Johan Rockström offers a frank status report on the state of our planet — the more we learn, the more risk we uncover — and explains what must be done to maintain a safe operating space for humanity on Earth.

Historically, capitalist economies have pursued profits by extracting from the environment. Can we flip that script? Author and climate reporter Akshat Rathi shows how the climate crisis is forcing governments and businesses to change how capitalism works, harnessing its forces to create solutions instead of making problems worse.

It’s time to change the goal of our economic system from the relentless pursuit of growth to human and ecological well-being, says sustainability researcher and economist Gaya Herrington. She calls for a “well-being economy” that shifts the global mindset from “never enough” to “enough for each” and prioritizes solving poverty, caring for nature and fostering shared prosperity for all.

The biggest barrier to addressing the climate crisis is a lack of political will, says environmental voting advocate Nathaniel Stinnett. He explains why increasing voter participation among citizens is crucial to enacting climate solutions — and breaks down how his nonprofit organization is using behavioral science to transform climate concern into environmental action.

Infrastructure needs to be localized, flexible and reversible if we’re to empower the world with long-term, sustainable green energy, says engineering professor Deb Chachra. She explores how being plugged into the grid provides individual agency — a luxury not shared by everyone — and explains why these shared networks need to change with the environment if we’re to move the needle on climate change.

What do the people doing the daily work of implementing solutions to climate change on the ground really think? TED Countdown visited Aline Sousa, president of CENTCOOP, a network of over 1,000 waste pickers in Brasília, to hear about the importance of these often-overlooked individuals putting climate solutions into practice. She calls for better recognition — and payment — for these key players working to reduce and neutralize emissions.

Filmmaker and sustainability leader Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir shares her journey diving into the Icelandic principle InnSæi, or intuition. She suggests tuning into your unconscious mind offers new paths to success, outlining three ways InnSæi can help humanity address our biggest existential threats.

Setting the table: Notes on Session 1 of TED Countdown 2024 Dilemma Series

Can we nourish 10 billion people while restoring the earth? That’s the question on hand for the TED Countdown 2024 Dilemma Series on the future of food.

In Session 1, five speakers explored how we can turn the challenge of providing healthy food for everyone into solutions for regenerating nature and society. It’s a question riddled with competing views, from how to address food insecurity and waste to the myriad cultures surrounding food production and consumption. At the same time, the food we eat is the single biggest impact we have on the planet, and it’s not just on climate change. Let’s dig in.

The event: TED Countdown 2024 Dilemma Series: The future of food, hosted by TED’s David Biello and Nicole Ng

When and where: June 5, 2024 at the TED World Theater in New York City

Speakers: Jonathan Foley, Agnes Kalibata, Gonzalo Muñoz, Dana Gunders, Aline Sousa

The talks in brief:

Sustainability scientist Jonathan Foley gives an overview of the devastating environmental impact of conventional agriculture and its associated land use. What can we do about it? He presents a potpourri of solutions to help build a sustainable food system that nourishes the world.

Smallholder farmers produce most of Africa’s food, yet they often lack the resources needed to thrive, says agricultural scientist and policymaker Agnes Kalibata. Working to empower farmers, she highlights how providing better tools, climate resilience strategies and market access can help nourish both people and the planet.

Chilean farmer and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion Gonzalo Muñoz explores the interconnectedness of food and politics, sharing how his team successfully negotiated two international pledges to make agriculture part of the climate solution, and outlines three goals for the effort’s success.

A trillion dollars’ worth of food is wasted annually, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, says food waste expert and executive director of ReFED Dana Gunders. From solar-powered cold rooms to phone apps that sell discounted restaurant leftovers, she shares innovative solutions and tips to keep good food from going to the trash.

The improper handling of waste is the third largest source of methane in the world, says Aline Sousa, but waste pickers like her help reduce this environmental impact. She dives into the monumental role of those who ensure recyclables, compostables and trash end up in the right facilities — and calls for broader support of their efforts at the local level.

Bridge-Builders: Notes on Session 6 of TED2024

In Session 6 of TED2024, we heard from bridge-builders — inspiring speakers working to unite people across political divides, conflicts, differences and more.

The event: Talks from Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, hosted by TED’s Helen Walters and Dave Isay, the founder of StoryCorps and winner of the 2015 TED Prize

When and where: Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Speakers: Gabrielle Rifkind, David Finnigan, Ketakandriana Rafitoson, Spencer J. Cox, Daniel Lubetzky

Performance: The Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC) is a choral and dialogue program for Palestinian and Israeli youth in Jerusalem. JYC’s founder Micah Hendler and executive director Amer Abu Arqub discuss the impetus behind the program, how music creates cross-cultural understanding and introduce the chorus itself for a rousing performance.

Gabrielle Rifkind is director of the Oxford Process, an organization devoted to ending armed conflict with the tools of mass psychology and geopolitics, rather than the weapons of war. With inclusive negotiating strategies, she believes we can create a world where nations rush to the bargaining table rather than to their guns.

In the wake of his production Kill Climate Deniers, playwright David Finnigan received countless messages from everyday individuals defending their beliefs. While climate deniers still refuse to believe science, says Finnigan, they’re right about one thing: climate action requires us to change how we live — and that’s something we all should embrace.

In Madagascar, activist Ketakandriana Rafitoson empowers citizens to protect their rights in the face of systemic exploitation. In the absence of strong democratic traditions, her grassroots toolkit of citizen assemblies, legal aid and collective action is helping to organize Madagascar, one community at a time.

​​When he felt his faith in the peaceful transfer of power in the US eroding, Governor of Utah Spencer J. Cox reached out to his political opponent to produce a campaign ad — together. It sparked a nationwide conversation about bridging political divides and fostering a united society. On the TED stage, he shares three things we can all do to disagree without hate.

We’re being programmed to think every issue is binary: “us versus them.” But Daniel Lubetzky says the real enemy is not a person but a mindset: extremism that hijacks the agenda and foments division. He previews a new initiative that aims to bring together “builders” (instead of “dividers”) from around the world and across the political spectrum, to replace eternal conflict with practical problem-solving.

TED2024, held April 15-19, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada, is a week of talks, discovery sessions, excursions, dinners, performances and more celebrating “The Brave and the Brilliant.” Special thanks to our strategic partners PwC, Adobe, Schneider Electric and Northwestern Mutual.

Lessons: Notes from Session 2 of TED Countdown Summit 2023

What lessons are already available to us as we tackle climate change? For Session 2 of TED Countdown Summit 2023, science, solutions and the role of industry in stemming the threat of the climate emergency took center stage.

The event: Talks from Session 2 of TED Countdown Summit 2023, hosted by TED’s Lindsay Levin and David Lammy, Member of Parliament for Tottenham, England and Shadow Foreign Secretary

When and where: Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at the Fillmore Detroit in Detroit, Michigan

Speakers: Jonathan Foley, Emma Nehrenheim, Cedrik Neike, Susan Lozier, Morten Bo Christiansen, Bo Cerup-Simonsen, Mike Duggan, Laprisha Berry Daniels

To solve climate change, the International Monetary Fund estimates that the global community needs to invest between three and six trillion dollars annually in climate solutions. Where should that money go and which projects should we fund? Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, uses a science-based framework to outline a plan for investing with maximum impact. First, we need to prioritize immediate actions with cumulative benefits, like stopping deforestation and cutting methane leaks. Next, we should focus our spending on cutting carbon emissions now over investing in distant high-tech solutions. Third, we must prioritize geographical hotspots with an outsized effect on climate change, like the Amazon rainforest or high-emission factories. And finally, we should invest in solutions that benefit people’s well-being, promote food security and increase access to clean water and sanitation.

Batteries will be fundamental to powering a sustainable world — but only if we don’t repeat the same mistakes of past industrialization, says battery recycler Emma Nehrenheim. She outlines the environmentally intensive impact of battery production — particularly from the extraction of minerals for lithium-ion batteries, which provide energy for electric vehicles and other key aspects of life — and proposes a shift towards a circular battery economy that uses and reuses already existing materials, vastly reducing the industry’s carbon footprint and need for mineral extraction.

We are running out of time to save our planet from climate change — and the metaverse can help. Using virtual tools like AI to cheat time in the real world, Cedrik Neike explains how “digital twin technology” (think simulated giga factories that are one-for-one digital copies of real ones) can help solve real-world problems more efficiently by providing a digital space to test solutions, without pollution. Using the example of virtually ideating the production of safer and faster-charging batteries and then bringing those learnings to the physical world, Neike points to the potential of industrial metaverses to revolutionize industries and redesign entire cities — from transportation, agriculture and housing — addressing massive challenges and avoiding the creation of excess waste at the same time.

Oceanographer Susan Lozier dives into the importance of the ocean’s natural circulation, which overturns water in a way that naturally captures carbon and regulates global temperatures. She shares the incredible research being done internationally to track changes in this overturn, as warming global temperatures could slow the circulation, lessen carbon uptake and increase the rate of climate-related disasters. While a collapse in this age-old system isn’t likely until 2100, Lozier warns of the dangers faced by future generations if we don’t change course now, calling for climate action to lower temperatures within the next 10 years.

As leader of the decarbonization team for A.P. Moller – Maersk, Morten Bo Christiansen is drawing an organizational roadmap to net zero that could help transform the global shipping industry. In conversation with TED’s Lindsay Levin, Christiansen shares his company’s ambitious goal to decarbonize their heavy-emitting business by 2040, highlighting how they’ve started implementing solutions like using green methanol as fuel in their container ships and deploying electric trucks in the US. He also points out the challenges in scaling green fuel production, price issues due to the high cost of green fuels and the need for collaborations across the value chain to manage these obstacles. Despite these challenges, Christiansen remains optimistic, making the case that the added cost to consumers for using green shipping methods is far outweighed by the urgently needed environmental benefits.

In conversation with TED’s Lindsay Levin, Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO of the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, discusses the essential role of their center in orchestrating systemic, global collaboration to tackle large-scale environmental challenges. Discussing the center’s origins, purpose and the strides it’s made in technological, commercial and regulatory spaces, Cerup-Simonsen highlights the push towards green alternatives, like green methanol and ammonia, in global shipping. Through tangible initiatives like “green corridors,” which enable end-to-end zero-carbon shipping between selected ports, they’re fostering cross-industry collaboration to accelerate the green transition and sharing lessons learned in combating the uncertainty hindering decisive action from companies and nations.

Mike Duggan is serving his third term as mayor of Detroit, and he’s dead set on building the city’s climate responsiveness. His proposal is a unique one: to transform blighted, vacant lots into solar farms throughout the city. He describes how, with the buy-in of Detroiters themselves, he plans to start building these farms in different neighborhoods with the aim of powering all of Detroit’s municipal buildings and cleaning up dilapidated, vacant land from the city’s manufacturing past.

Like many cities, Detroit is already feeling the effects of climate change. In the past 10 years, two major floods have cost the city more than a billion dollars in damages. The challenge of climate change may be daunting, but human beings have moved from place to place and adapted to changes in climate (both environmental and social) throughout history. For inspiration, public health social worker Laprisha Berry Daniels mines the survival strategies her grandparents learned after leaving the Jim Crow South to settle in Detroit. The climate crisis may be unprecedented, but Daniels says we can still prepare for it by embracing the lessons of the past. First, we must accept the reality of climate change and prepare for it. Second, we should embrace the power of mutual aid. Lastly, we should empower communities to adapt through community-led planning.

More than $1B catalyzed for 2023 Audacious Projects

Today, The Audacious Project, a collaborative funding initiative housed at TED, announced that more than one billion dollars has been committed to its newest cohort of projects. This is a significant funding milestone in the initiative’s five-year history and comes at a critical time on key issues such as climate change, migrant rights and criminal justice reform.

The 2023 Audacious Project grantees are:

• CAMFED: Helping girls in Sub-Saharan Africa thrive in school — and beyond
• Canopy: Scaling the use of next-generation pulp in key supply chains to conserve endangered forests
• Clean Slate Initiative: Clearing arrest and conviction records to unlock opportunity
• Global Fishing Watch: Leveraging the power of data to safeguard the ocean by making the invisible visible
• Innovative Genomics Institute: Engineering microbiomes with CRISPR to improve our climate and health
• Jan Sahas’ Migrants Resilience Collaborative: Unlocking life-enhancing benefits and services for India’s domestic migrant workers
• ReNew2030: Accelerating renewable energy for a climate-secure future
• Restore Local, A project of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), led by the World Resources Institute: Accelerating locally-led land restoration of Africa’s vital landscapes and forests
• Think of Us: Transforming foster care in the US through the power of lived experience
• Upstream USA: Increasing equitable access to high-quality contraceptive care across the US

“With our 2023 Audacious Project cohort, some of the most complex and challenging problems we’re facing right now – transitioning to renewable energy, increasing access to reproductive health care, transforming our foster care system and more – are being met by some incredible idea-makers,” said Anna Verghese, Executive Director of The Audacious Project. “Each one offers an approach to shift the status quo and the systems they operate in, and will hope to breathe possibility and transformation into these critical issues.”

Each year, The Audacious Project scours the globe for big, bold ideas and collaborates with social entrepreneurs and philanthropists to drive impact on a grand scale. It is an effort that goes beyond funding, pushing for transformative change, systems overhaul and collaboration across multiple sectors. This new cohort will present their big ideas onstage at TED2023, joining an existing portfolio of 39 Audacious projects. Since 2018, more than four billion philanthropic dollars has been catalyzed to support these projects’ visions.

“We started The Audacious Project five years ago as an experiment to see what could happen when we invite changemakers around the world to dream as big as they dare, and then shape their boldest ideas into viable plans,” said Chris Anderson, Head of TED. “It’s absolutely thrilling to see this much money raised for these projects. I’m in awe of the teams behind them — and of the donors who are funding them. Our experiment is gaining traction, and we believe it can achieve even more in the coming years.”

Read more about The Audacious Project and its five years of impact.

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ABOUT THE AUDACIOUS PROJECT

 

Launched in April 2018, The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative that’s catalyzing social impact on a grand scale. Housed at TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, and with support from leading social impact advisor The Bridgespan Group, The Audacious Project convenes funders and social entrepreneurs with the goal of supporting bold solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges. The funding collective is made up of respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy, including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ELMA Philanthropies, Emerson Collective, MacKenzie Scott, Skoll Foundation, Valhalla Foundation and more.

Each year The Audacious Project supports a new cohort. The 2023 grantees are CAMFED, Canopy, Clean Slate Initiative, Global Fishing Watch, Innovative Genomics Institute, Jan Sahas’ Migrants Resilience Collaborative, ReNew2030, Restore Local, Think of Us and Upstream USA.

Transforming: Notes from Session 3 of Countdown Summit

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When looking to make big change, you can’t be shy about it — and Countdown is as much about boldly transforming the systems already in place as it is about creating new ones.

Working to reshape harder-to-abate industries like oil, gas, cement and aviation, the pioneering speakers of Session 3 share tangible solutions and groundbreaking ideas that will get us all to a healthier planet.

The event: Countdown Summit: Session 3, hosted by Future Stewards cofounder Lindsay Levin and TED’s Chris Anderson, at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Speakers: Bjørn Otto Sverdrup, Ryah Whalen, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Shweta Narayan, Hongqiao Liu, Mahendra Singhi, Rachel Kyte, Vera Songwe, Susan Ruffo

Performance: Inviting the audience to clap and sway to their vibrantly playful sound, legendary Scottish indie-pop band Belle and Sebastian give a bright rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” and their own “Song for Sunshine.”

The talks in brief:

Bjørn Otto Sverdrup, Chair of the Executive Committee of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, sustainability expert

Big idea: Bringing the oil and gas industry to a net-zero emissions state is key to curbing climate change.

Why? Responsible for a significant chunk of global carbon emissions, the oil and gas industry needs to make a sharp turn into sustainable territory. Bjørn Otto Sverdrup leads the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, an organization that brings together twelve of the world’s largest oil and gas companies in an effort to spearhead what he calls the 1/4/20 challenge, named after the 20 gigatons of emissions produced annually by the industry. Their goal is for the industry to achieve net-zero emissions — a daunting pivot that demands brazen policy changes, new technologies and a top-down rethink of how we consume energy. But before logistical difficulties can be fully solved, we need a fundamental transformation of how we think and what we believe is possible. “Daring to say ‘net-zero’ changes minds,” says Sverdrup. “It shifts your mindset from defensive to proactive, from incremental change to having your eyes on the end goal.”

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Ryah Whalen, innovator and aviation expert

Big idea: There are three big things that need to be addressed if the flying industry is to get off the ground on climate action.

What are they? Air travel builds bridges and connects us, it takes people to new lives and experiences — but it also comes at a cost to the planet. Ryah Whalen points out that it’s not an easy task to decarbonize flying; planes manufactured today have a lifespan of about 30 years, meaning the planes we create and fly in today will still be in the skies come 2050. If nothing’s done in the industry, air travel stands to create almost a quarter of the world’s emissions yearly moving forward. To reroute from a polluted future, Whalen breaks the problem down into three sections of the industry that need to be addressed to stave off emission growth. First, aircraft design must be coupled with a thorough change of every layer of air traffic management, down to individual pilot behaviors. Second, we need to switch to biofuels and bring their costs down. And finally, sustainable innovations like hybrid-electric aircraft and green hydrogen need to create rapid progress at scale. While challenges lie ahead — notably the billions in investments needed for change — the world and lives are at stake. Individual choices to limit flying can only get us so far. If we want any hope of getting to zero emissions, it will take collective action from all parts of the air travel industry.

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Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, grassroots campaigner 

Big idea: Breathing clean air is every child’s human right, and governments have a duty to protect it.

Why? Linked to premature deaths across the globe, air pollution is an invisible calamity — and unsafe air is especially bad for children. Grassroots campaigner Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah shares the heartrending story of her daughter Ella, whose asthma was triggered to a fatal point by unsafe levels of air pollution, and tragically, was the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as a cause of death on her death certificate. “8.7 million people a year are dying from heart attacks, asthma, cancer and other illnesses,” explains Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, and the fossil fuels causing air pollution are a contributor to this tragic statistic. She urges the world to embrace a solution that already exists: to shift from toxic fuels to clean, electrified, public transport and, most importantly, to mobilize and demand clean air.

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Shweta Narayan, climate and health campaigner

Big idea: As greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants encroach on both our atmosphere and our bodies, ancient wisdom offers humanity hope in this new phase of civilization, where individual well-being and environmental health intersect. 

How? Environmental destruction is the biggest global health issue threatening humanity today — straining infrastructure and power grids, spurring pandemics and causing pollution. Shweta Narayan introduces a new perspective: by viewing climate change and degradation through the lens of the Hippocratic Oath — an ancient set of ethical standards sworn by physicians — every person has a role to play in ecological survival. Narayan encourages us to place “first do no harm” to the planet at the heart of our all of our choices. “It’s impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet,” says Shweta Narayan.

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Hongqiao Liu, journalist and policy expert

Big idea: As the world’s largest carbon emitter (and its second-largest economy), China plays a pivotal role in mitigating climate change. The steps it takes towards becoming net-zero by 2060 are crucial on a global scale. 

How? In 2020, Chinese president Xi Jinping pledged to the UN that China would both peak its emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 — a change that will require action at an unheard-of scale and speed, explains environmental journalist Hongqiao Liu. While it’s still reliant on fossil fuels to drive its economy, China is also a world leader in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. This is already transforming energy consumption — but is it enough? Citing economist Zou Ji, Liu is hopeful for change. In addition to burgeoning green energy production, which may allow China to reach peak emissions years ahead of its goal, the country’s leaders are also now downplaying GDP as a metric of economic health, which could be a crucial step towards sustainable growth — and one which could inspire a paradigm shift around the world.

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Mahendra Singhi, CEO, Dalmia Cement

Big idea: With carbon-capture and neutralizing technology, notoriously hard-to-abate sectors like cement could transform it into carbon-negative industries.

How? Cement is vital to modernizing infrastructure of all kinds in the developing world — but manufacturing it comes at an enormous environmental cost. Producing and transporting a single ton of cement still emits half a ton of CO2, even after decades of efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. At Dalmia Cement, one of the largest producers of cement in India, Mahendra Singhi is determined to transform the industry into a sustainable one. To make cement carbon-negative, the company is targeting the two largest sources of CO2 emissions in the manufacturing pipeline: the fossil fuels used to process and transport the material and clinkerisation, the chemical process that makes cement a usable product. And while adopting renewable energy sources like electric cars and green fuel is relatively straightforward, the more difficult challenge is turning the CO2 produced by the clinkerisation process — which represents up to half of the CO2 emissions associated with cement — into a productive material. Large-scale carbon capture plants might be the ticket to sparing this CO2 from the atmosphere and transforming it into something usable. Though still a nascent technology, Dalmia’s recent feasibility study on the subject “proved that it is technologically and economically viable,” says Singhi. “From 2040, my cement manufacturing process will not emit a gram of CO2.”

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Rachel Kyte, sustainable development diplomat and activist

Big idea: If we want clean cooling systems that don’t contribute to global warming, we must tackle issues of sustainability and fairness at the same time.

How? Global surface temperatures are at an all-time high — but the way we cool down is heating up the planet even more. Most traditional cooling methods are energy inefficient and depend on polluting refrigerants like hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Activist Rachel Kyte, who works to identify paths to cleaner energy systems, outlines four steps to climbing out of this intensely pollutive and disparate system. First, we need to move away from building designs that center on traditional air conditioning — think ultra-white, heat reflective paint and garden-rich rooftops. According to Kyte, the cooling technologies we use need to be at least 50 percent more efficient than today’s most sustainable unit. Next, governments must commit to HFC-free technologies on a global scale. Finally, we need cold chains for perishable medicines, food and other products — for every community on the planet. While some bask in air-conditioned suburban homes, billions of people around the world don’t even have access to the basics. “What is scary is that we are not having enough conversations in enough places and driving enough investments into affordable, non-polluting efficient solutions for cooling for everyone,” says Kyte.

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Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa

Big idea: The peatlands of the Congo Basin are an invaluable resource in the fight against climate change, and protecting them via a responsible development plan should be a global priority.

Why? Recently identified as one of the world’s most efficient carbon sinks, the peatlands of the Central African Congo Basin absorb a sizeable portion of global emissions. But, like many other biodiverse territories, it’s on the verge of being churned into grist for the capitalist mill. Vera Songwe believes that money and resources should flow in the other direction. At a price of $50 per unit of the 30 billion tons of carbon the peatlands soak up, a $1.5 trillion Peatlands Development Fund could be established to transform the economic realities of communities in the region. A budget that size would ensure robust local infrastructure, create jobs  and, most importantly, nudge regional economic development in the direction of preservation instead of exploitation. “This is not just about decarbonization, it is about development with dignity,” says Songwe. “We must collectively ask the markets to recognize and adequately reward Africa’s contribution to slowing climate change by putting a price on carbon.”

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Susan Ruffo, ocean expert

Big idea: The ocean is an unsung hero in the story of climate change, providing readymade solutions to the climate crisis — if we are smart enough to recognize them.

Why? A vital part of our life support system here on earth, the ocean produces half of the earth’s oxygen (that’s one in every two breaths you take). It helps regulate the planet’s temperature and absorbs anywhere from a quarter to a third of the CO2 we put into the atmosphere — making it the world’s largest carbon sink. The ocean does a lot for us already — our first priority should be not messing that up, says Susan Ruffo, Senior Advisor for Ocean and Climate at United Nations Foundation. Beyond that, there’s a thrilling range of ocean-based climate solutions we could tap into — from the carbon-absorbing power of mangroves and salt marshes to dense oysters reefs that could lower the risk of major flood damage — if we start to appreciate the ocean’s role in helping us address the climate crisis.

Mark your calendar: Tune in to the Countdown Global Livestream on October 30, 2021. This virtual event will lay out a credible and realistic pathway to a zero-carbon future. Save the date.

Climate hope: Notes from Session 4 of TEDMonterey

The scale of the climate crisis is so daunting that it can be easy to get dragged down into pessimism. But at Session 4, six speakers — call them unexpected heroes of the future — told a different story of how we might beat this thing. They speak on an exciting range of phenomena and possibilities that could make a huge difference in our effort to draw down gigatons of CO2 and regain a livable environment.

The event: TEDMonterey: Session 4, hosted by TED’s Chris Anderson on Monday, August 2, 2021

Speakers: Ma Jun, Carlos M. Duarte, Maria Gallucci, Susan Graham, Jamie C. Beard

Special guest: Nigel Topping, the UK’s High-Level Climate Action Champion for COP26, chats with Chris Anderson about the prospects of increased climate ambition ahead of the UN climate conference this November and gives an update on Race to Zero, a global campaign to mobilize leadership on this crucial issue.

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Carlos M. Duarte, marine scientist

Big idea: Seagrass is an unsung hero in the fight against climate change. But disease, dredging and the deterioration of our oceans’ water quality threaten to wipe out this vital species — unless we take immediate action to protect it.

How? You’ve likely seen seagrass — it grows along the shore of every continent except Antarctica — but did you recognize this humble plant as a champion of carbon sequestration? According to Carlos M. Duarte, seagrass is responsible for drawing down one-third of the carbon that accumulates in the seafloor each year! Seagrass also filters plastic from our oceans and, during hurricanes and tropical storms, its massive roots and rhizomes reinforce the seafloor and act as the first line of defense for our coastlines. The bad news: a disease in the Atlantic killed off vast colonies of seagrass in the 1930s and, since then, water pollution, dredging, trawling and anchor damages have worsened this plant’s plight. But Duarte and the team at Beneath the Waves are working to save our seagrass. They are mapping seagrass locations across the world’s oceans (using turtles and tiger sharks!), promoting policies to improve water quality, restoring damaged seagrass meadows and planting new ones. With enough action, Duarte believes we can protect plant heroes like seagrass and rebuild marine life by 2050.

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Maria Gallucci, journalist

Big idea: The maritime shipping industry must become climate-friendly — but have no fear, green ammonia is here.

How? Every day, tens of thousands of cargo ships criss-cross the ocean carrying the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the cars we drive. At the same time, they spew fumes and black smoke from heavily polluting fossil fuels into the atmosphere. But Maria Galluci comes ferrying good news: there’s a way to clean up the industry, beyond reverting to pre-industrial sailing ships, that’s green, economically lean and can be made with planet-friendly machines. Green ammonia could be a game-changing way to turn the tides for the shipping industry, as it’s not carbon-based; rather, it’s made up of nitrogen and hydrogen (the molecules that make up air and water). Galluci lays out how this alternative fuel could become an industry-standard reality — from environment-friendly manufacturing processes combined with plunging renewable energy costs to combustion engines and fuel cells. So, what will it take to get an ammonia-powered shipping industry mainstream? She says a rough parallel can be found in the rise of electric cars. Hopefully, one day soon, the incoming freighters will not bring the smell of diesel and carbon emissions, but the scent of a fresh sea breeze.

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Susan Graham, environmentalist, entrepreneur

Big idea: We can use drone technology and ecology-trained AI to restore degraded land and revive complex, biodiverse ecosystems.

How? Land restoration is more than planting trees, says Susan Graham. If we want to revive the more than two billion hectares of degraded land on the planet, we need to embrace complex solutions. According to Graham, drones and AI can help us restore areas damaged by industrial activities, natural disasters and invasive species by planting the right mix of native vegetation. In Australia, for instance, Graham and her team are helping restore the forest ina territory depleted and degraded by coal mining. Plus, this technology can work at enormous scales — meaning we can use it to revive the beauty and complexity of native ecosystems both in a single forest and across the planet.

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Isha Datar, cellular agriculture ecosystem builder

Big idea: Cellular agriculture makes it possible to eat meat without the negative consequences of industrial farming and processing.

How? What if you could eat chicken nuggets without ever killing a chicken? Or a hamburger without killing a cow? It’s possible through cellular agriculture, says Isha Datar, and this new means of meat production will transform our food systems. Here’s how it works: scientists take a biopsy from a living animal (like a chicken), extract the cells and then put them in a liquid medium that provides everything these cells need to grow. Instead of cramped cages stuffed with genetically modified hens, large bioreactors will produce boneless, skinless white meat without byproducts like feathers, beaks and bones. But this process isn’t just better for the birds; it’s better for all of us. Early estimates suggest cultured meat would require 99 percent less land, produce 78 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions and use 82 percent less water than industrial meat farming and production. And meat is only the beginning! We could use this technology to grow vanilla without clear-cutting the rainforest or produce silk without silkworms. As Datar says, this isn’t a new product — this is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a second chance at agriculture.

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Climate Action Tracker, a tracking initiative holding governments accountable for their Paris Agreement commitments

Big idea: The actions governments take in 2021 to reduce emissions will determine if the world is on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, so the time to act is now. Is there a way to hold them accountable for the goals set at the 2015 Paris Agreements?

An answer: In 2015, countries participating in the Paris Agreements agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and bring carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. Climate Action Tracker is a platform designed not only to keep track of our progress towards reaching the Paris benchmarks, but also to pinpoint exactly who isn’t shouldering their fair share of the burden. The platform gives us a status update on what’s working, and what isn’t.

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Ma Jun, environmentalist, scholar

Big idea: By making pollution information public in China, citizens can hold global brands accountable for pollution control. 

How? Transparency is the key to speeding environmental change at scale in China, says Ma Jun. He’s the creator of Blue Map, an app that tracks pollution violations and color codes factories based on their records of environmental contamination: green and blue are good; red and yellow are bad. This data makes it possible, at a glance, for citizens to monitor corporate violations and micro-report these offenses to government agencies. To help China achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, Ma and his team have also developed the Blue Map for Carbon Zero, which color codes cities and provinces based on carbon emissions. And he plans to expand the Blue Map project to include plastic, waste and even biodiversity to motivate more companies and more people to reduce their environmental impact and leave a healthier world for all of us. 

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Jamie C. Beard, technologist, climate activist

Big idea: Geothermal energy could provide us with a clean way to power the globe.

How? What if oil and gas companies could equip us with the infrastructure needed to clean our power grids? Jamie C. Beard advocates for geothermal energy, which requires drilling deep into the earth to access the planet’s natural heat, and explains how recent innovations in drill technology, such as the ability to drill in curves, have made this alternative energy feasible. But to bring geothermal energy to scale, we need to drill all over the world — and drill a lot. Fortunately, the oil and gas industry already has the technology, infrastructure and training to bring geothermal energy online fast. In fact, she says, many geothermal startups are founded by oil and gas veterans. The industry known for its dirty pollution could easily become a pioneer in curbing climate change. “We flip the switch, and we have green drilling,” she says. “This is simply a pivot — from hydrocarbons to heat.”

Notes from Session Zero(!) of TEDMonterey

What’s Session Zero?

It’s the first-ever special teaser session of a TED Conference!

Ten days from now, on August 1, TEDMonterey kicks off in Monterey, California. More than a year of planning for TED’s first in-person conference since 2019 resulted in some forward-thinking, including recording talks from amazing speakers around the world, just in case global travel wasn’t quite where it needed to be by the time of the conference. A bonus virtual session emerges, with ideas spanning the search for life in the universe to visions of our sci-fi future and a powerful project to reckon with painful parts of the past, plus a remarkable take on child development.

The event: TEDMonterey: Session Zero, hosted by TED’s Chris Anderson and Helen Walters, live from the TED World Theater in New York City, on Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Speakers: Clara Sousa-Silva, Kim Stanley Robinson, Chen Qiufan, Stanley Chen, Jim Chuchu and Molly Wright

Clara Sousa-Silva, quantum astrochemist

Big idea: When searching for life on other planets, unusual molecules in the atmosphere, such as phosphine, might be better indicators of alien life than oxygen.

How? For Clara Sousa-Silva, the search for alien life begins in a planet’s atmosphere. She studies the interaction between light and molecules when a planet passes in front of a star, searching for evidence of molecules that could signal the presence of living organisms. But she isn’t looking for common biosignatures like water or oxygen or CFCs (industrial pollutants); she specializes in searching for unusual molecules like phosphine. According to Sousa-Silva, this stinking, poisonous gas is so difficult to make without the presence of life that its fingerprint in the atmosphere means the planet is worth investigating. After recently observing potential signs of phosphine in the clouds of Venus, she’s looking to find out if Earth’s nearest neighbor could actually be home to alien life — or whether this biosignature is a sign of something else altogether.

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Kim Stanley Robinson, sci-fi writer

Big idea: A sci-fi vision of humanity’s triumph over the climate crisis — from the vantage point of the year 2071.

How? Coming to us from 50 years in the future, science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson explains how the 2020s — or the “Terrible 20s,” as they’ll come to be known — marked a turning point in the climate crisis. Robinson envisions how, after two global pandemics and a series of deadly international heatwaves, the world’s nations joined their central banks to form the Network for Greening the Financial System and enacted the “carbon standard.” While it may sound impossible to us in 2021, the carbon standard created new fiat money “precisely in proportion to the amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere.” This dramatic change in fiscal policy made work that helped to heal the planet profitable — like regenerative agriculture, clean energy infrastructure, expansion of mass transit, reforestation and habitat restoration. In hindsight, Robinson says he can see that people in the 2020s met challenges that no other generation had ever faced, but, in his words, “those people really stepped up.” It’s a rousing vision of how humanity might unite in the coming decades and restore the damage done to Earth’s biosphere.

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Chen Qiufan (aka Stanley Chen), speculative fiction writer

Big idea: Science fiction can provide us with a realistic (and optimistic) roadmap of artificial intelligence development over the next 20 years. 

How? Chen Qiufan doesn’t fear a dystopian future. Instead, the science fiction writer believes that developments in artificial intelligence over the next 20 years will make all of our lives better, healthier and safer. Chen and AI expert Kai-Fu Lee spent the past two years researching a realistic roadmap to AI’s progress and evolution. Chen shares some of their predictions for the astonishing advancements in science and technology that we can expect by 2041. Among them: deep-learning programs that synthesize new vaccines within weeks and technologies that revive deceased celebrities like Whitney Houston in digital form. These predictions may sound like fantasy, but as Chen says, “for every future we wish to create, we must first learn to imagine it.”

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Jim Chuchu, filmmaker

Big idea: Museums outside of Africa should return stolen African art and artifacts to museums and cultural institutions on the continent. 

Why? Why do Western museums possess such extensive collections of African art? As TED Fellow and artist Jim Chuchu reminds us, many of these cultural artifacts wound up in cities like London and New York because they were looted by colonial forces — in many cases, they were stolen at gunpoint. Chuchu is working to correct these injustices and restore his people’s collective memory by returning Kenya’s material cultural heritage to the country. With the International Inventories Programme, an organization he co-founded, he’s created a database of cultural objects held outside of Kenya, locating 32,000 items so far. Beyond tracking these precious artifacts, Chuchu also hopes to start a public conversation about the morality of holding stolen African art in foreign institutions. “We’re asking for the return of our objects,” he says, “to help us remember who we are.”

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Molly Wright, student

Big idea: A message to parents and caregivers: from birth onwards, connection is crucial to a child’s healthy brain development, especially before the age of five. Make playtime (like peek-a-boo!) with your kids a priority so they can have the best start in life.

Why? The first five years of a child’s life are when most brain development takes place — and positive, reciprocal interactions with adults play a deciding role in those crucial early years. In a special talk co-produced by TED and Minderoo Foundation as an educational tool for parents and caregivers, seven-year-old Molly Wright explains how playtime activities like peek-a-boo are more than just games — they can change a child’s life (and the world). Joined onstage by one-year-old Ari and his dad, Amarjot, who help illustrate her big ideas about brain science, she highlights the research-backed benefits of play in the first five years of a child’s life, sharing effective strategies on connecting with kids through naming games, vocal attention and copycat activities. Her message to all parents? To help kids reach their full potential, treat every moment as an opportunity to connect.

Evolutions: The talks of TED@BCG 2021

Evolutions don’t happen overnight. After a year of slowing down and shifting priorities due to the pandemic, we can use this moment to find a better way forward. In a day of talks, interviews and performances, nine speakers and performers explored a range of innovative solutions aimed at addressing the climate crisis, cybersecurity, inequality, trust and more.

The event: TED@BCG: Evolutions is the tenth event TED and Boston Consulting Group have co-hosted to spotlight leading thinkers from around the globe and share their solutions for a better world. Hosted by TED’s Head of Partnerships Lisa Choi Owens, with opening remarks from Rich Lesser, CEO of BCG, and Chris Anderson, Head of TED.

Fun fact: TED@BCG events have generated 138 TED Talks, which have been viewed more 143 million times to date.

Music: Performance by neo-soul songstress MALIA.

The talks in brief:

Marcos Aguiar, digital trust advisor

Big idea: Trust plays a massive role in the success of businesses — and should be designed into their ecosystems.

How? Delivering on a promise or behaving in an expected way is key to earning a customer’s loyalty. Whether you’re scrolling through Facebook, hailing cars via Uber or booking a vacation on Airbnb, each business uses unique elements to win over consumers — oftentimes, with trust as their foundation. How can companies design with trust in mind? Sharing findings from a study that analyzed trust in business ecosystems, Marcos Aguiar offers a toolbox to building systemic trust that consists of seven elements: access; contracts with formalized terms and conditions; incentives to cooperate; control, or gentle guidance, that shapes behavior; transparency; intermediation; and mitigation when mishaps occur. While not all companies need every tool, he says, many will benefit greatly from three to six of them, depending on their industry. Aguiar encourages us all to consider the role trust plays in the platforms we use — and how it can improve our lives beyond them, too.

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Anu Puusa, co-op enthusiast

Big idea: Cooperatives — businesses or other enterprises jointly owned, operated and controlled by their members — represent a sustainable model that can achieve long-term social, economic and environmental goals.

How? Cooperatives, also known as co-ops, are the invisible giant of the global economy, says Anu Puusa. Worldwide, there are more than three million co-ops, made up of one billion members, employing 280 million people and selling more than two trillion dollars in goods and services. How exactly do they work? Unlike most businesses, in which certain owners can buy power and influence, a co-op is fully owned by its members, who are also its customers and decision-makers. Each member has one vote, making each member an equal partner and owner in the business — whether the co-op is a farm, grocery store, bank, water supplier or any other organization. Co-ops find that sweet spot between for-profit businesses and the nonprofit world, Puusa says: while they do aim to make money, they also center members’ social and environmental goals and hope to anchor wealth in a community across generations. Because co-ops think in the long term rather than quarter to quarter, creating a sustainable business is the top priority. “Unlike capitalism, the cooperative movement is not broken,” Puusa says. “It just needs better marketing.”

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, biotech pioneer, in conversation with TED technology curator Simone Ross

Big idea: Key partnerships, global cooperation and a willingness to experiment with new ideas made COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution possible.

How? Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of Indian biopharmaceutical giant Biocon, discusses the development of COVID-19 vaccines, pointing to India’s critical role in the global vaccine supply chain and championing equitable health care access. Unlike many governments worldwide, the pharmaceutical industry formed key partnerships at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, which enabled the rapid development of vaccines and facilitated a wide-ranging distribution effort. Small biotech companies, such as BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax were first to create innovative vaccine programs when the virus hit. Importantly, they partnered with established pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson to fund, license and develop the vaccines and tap into the necessary networks and supply chains to distribute them. What’s more, Mazumdar-Shaw says, these “big Pharma” companies then partnered with each other to overcome production and manufacturing limitations and supply the world with millions of doses. From these partnerships, as well as equitable distribution initiatives like Cepi, COVAX and the Gates Foundation, she says, we’ve seen growing support for equitable access to health care.

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Jens Burchardt, climate impact advocate

Big idea: Saving the planet doesn’t have to break the bank. By spending one to two percent more on eco-friendly products, consumers can help shift industries towards massively smaller (or non-existent) carbon footprints.

How? The steel industry is a highly competitive market — and a massive emitter of greenhouse gases. From the outset, the cost of transforming steelmaking into a low-carbon process would seem too high and potentially risky for suppliers. Jens Burchardt brings a fresh perspective to the challenge, walking us through the ins and outs of production in “hard-to-abate” (or energy-intensive) sectors. By tweaking the price consumers pay for products, he says, the world could take a huge step forward in lowering carbon emissions — and it may not be as expensive as we think. Using the example of an average European midsize sedan (which sells for approximately 30,000 euros), Burchardt breaks down the cost of materials — separate from assembly, marketing and other aspects of production — and calculates that it makes up only fifteen percent of the car’s total price. Companies could employ a low-carbon supplier and market their product as eco-friendly — for only 500 extra euros for consumers at the point of sale. For many industries, a greener world may not be as unreachable as once thought.

Nomava Zanazo, emerging markets expert

Big idea: A message to businesses: stop assuming and get to know African consumers before you sell to them.

How? When looking to sell a new product or service in a country’s market, companies seek to understand the consumer base before jumping in, inquiring about aspects like shopping habits and brand loyalty. But when it comes to the African continent, they seem to abandon these considerations and lump assumptions broadly across its hyper-diverse 55 countries. Emerging markets expert (and South African) Nomava Zanazo gives a crash course on the everyday African spender. For example, Africans don’t want the cheapest product lines — but they do value brands and are much tech savvier than they’re given credit for. By debunking these misconceptions and myths, Zanazo encourages businesses to respect the African market and stop underestimating its consumers. Want your business to thrive in Africa? “Do the homework,” she says. “My continent is worth it.”

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Nadya Bartol, cybersecurity leader

Big idea: We must remove the shame around cybersecurity mistakes in order to have safe digital lives.

How? We like to think of ourselves as confident and tech-savvy digital citizens. But many of us have accidentally downloaded a virus, been phished or had our identities stolen. Even software developers sometimes write insecure code without realizing it. These mistakes shouldn’t be hidden but highlighted in order to thwart future cybersecurity attacks, says Nadya Bartol — and we must start by lifting the shame. Much of modern life is computerized, from cars we drive to pacemakers that save lives, and anything digitally interconnected can be hacked. How do we truly stay safe in a digital world? Bartol suggests positive reinforcement and celebrated accountability to foster better, healthier cultures of cybersecurity. Only by being open and honest can we create an environment to learn, grow and protect ourselves in our hyperconnected world.

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Beth Ford, farmer’s advocate, in conversation with TED business curator Corey Hajim

Big idea: US farmers face a wide range of challenges — from spotty broadband access to mounting climate disruptions. But there are also a variety of exciting solutions aimed at building 21st-century resilience. 

How? As the CEO of Land O’Lakes, Beth Ford works to create a future for farmers that’s both environmentally and economically sustainable. Among many initiatives, she’s focused on expanding technology infrastructure, specifically by pushing for greater broadband access in rural areas. Many farming communities have little to no internet access, leaving children without remote learning opportunities and farmers without modern agricultural tech that requires bandwidth to operate. Ford is speaking with governments and other stakeholders in order to make broadband access a priority — and establish it as a basic right nationwide. She’s also helping farmers build out sustainable business practices in the face of climate volatility. Her team’s agronomists, for instance, work with farmers to get acre-by-acre insights into soil health; they’re also helping establish carbon credits, whereby farmers who reduce their carbon emissions can sell those offsets to other industries. It’s a climate-friendly approach that’s also profitable, Ford says — part of a wave of initiatives aimed at making farmers part of the solution.

Adam Grant, organizational psychologist

Big idea: Confident humility allows us to remain flexible and rethink a situation, a critical skill in a rapidly changing world.

How? Most of us love trying on new clothes, eating at new restaurants and picking up new hobbies. But when it comes to our goals, identities and habits, we don’t like change — especially if it means giving up. Adam Grant digs into how we can avoid getting stuck in our same old ways of thinking and instead broaden our thought patterns and ourselves, even if it means choosing a path we didn’t originally envision. From an unlikely career as a diver to a fateful hike in Panama and a newfound hobby performing magic tricks, Grant shares examples from his own life that illustrate the confident humility needed to know “when to grit and when to quit.” Understanding when you’re in over your head or simply recognizing that you’re not on the right path is a crucial part of remaining flexible and dodging debilitating tunnel vision, so you can achieve your bigger goals.

TED launches TED Audio Collective for podcasts

On February 22, 2021, TED launches the TED Audio Collective to house its growing collection of podcasts.

While broadly known for its global conferences and signature TED Talk videos, TED is also one of the top podcast publishers in the world. TED podcasts are downloaded 1.65 million times per day in virtually every country on earth. Our shows have been consistently ranked by Apple Podcasts as “most downloaded” of the year, and TED Talks Daily was the second most popular show globally on Spotify in 2020. Now the TED Audio Collective expands upon that foundation, creating a home for shows co-developed by TED and our speakers as well as shows developed and produced independently by inspiring thinkers and creators.

The podcasts in the TED Audio Collective are for listeners curious about everything from philosophy and psychology to science, technology, business and unexpected pathways in between — all curated through TED’s lens of “ideas worth spreading.” Here’s a sneak peek of exciting new content to expect over the coming months.

New in the TED Audio Collective:

Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter

Dr. Jen Gunter is on a mission to make us experts on the way our bodies work. Body Stuff is an original show developed by TED that aims to demystify the systems of the body while debunking medical myths along the way. Did you know that you don’t actually need eight glasses of water a day? That you can’t “boost” your immune system?

With humor and wit, Dr. Jen Gunter, a celebrated OB/GYN, pain medicine physician and TED speaker, aims to share accurate, evidence-based medical information in a fun and accessible way.

(Season 1 launches May 2021)

Lost Birds with Mona Chalabi

From COVID to electoral politics, people are turning to data to make sense of the world as never before. But how well do we understand what those numbers actually mean? Interpreting data has never been more timely or relevant to fight misinformation and understand the world around us.

In this original, sound-rich series, data scientist Mona Chalabi will take listeners on an inquiry into the central question: How can we use data to make sense of our lived experiences, and what are the limits of that data? Along the way, she will tackle urgent, random and sometimes deeply personal questions: How does Google calculate walking speeds? What happens when cities get louder? When will my heartache end?

(Season 1 launches June 2021)

Conversations with People Who Hate Me 

TED alum Dylan Marron is joining the TED Audio Collective to continue exploring what happens when online feuders step out from behind the keyboard and get to know the human on the other side of the screen.

In an internet era characterized by comment section wars, devastating clapbacks and anonymous vitriol, Dylan Marron connects people who have clashed online — from old friends to complete strangers — to explore why we believe what we believe, how we relate to each other on the internet and just what a phone call can accomplish. Don’t be fooled by the title! It’s actually a loving show that fosters unlikely connections in an age of increasing digital isolation. 

(New episodes launching Fall 2021)

Design Matters 

The iconic Design Matters with Debbie Millman pulls back the curtain on how incredibly creative people design the arc of their lives. It’s the world’s first podcast about design — an inquiry into the broader world of creative culture through wide-ranging conversations with designers, writers, artists, curators, musicians and other luminaries of contemporary thought. Design Matters joined the TED Audio Collective in October 2020 and is produced independently, with TED amplifying the podcast to its global audience. 

(New episodes every Monday. Watch out for upcoming conversations with Adam Grant, Jacqueline Woodson, Nick Cave and many more.)

Plus, new episodes from:

ZigZag 

Hosted by Manoush Zomorodi, ZigZag is a business show about being human. Manoush takes listeners on a journey to discover new ways we can align our business ambitions with systemic change that’s good for our fellow human beings and the world. In March 2021, Manoush will release season six: “The Zig Zag Project.” Over six weeks, she’ll lead a boot camp for listeners who want to make big changes in their work life by finding ways to align their personal values with their professional ambitions.

(Season 6 launches March 2021)

TED Business 

Columbia Business School professor Modupe Akinola hosts TED Business, a show that explores the most powerful and surprising ideas that illuminate the business world. After hearing a TED Talk, listeners get a mini-lesson from Modupe on how to apply the ideas from the talk to their own lives. Because whatever your business conundrum — how to land that new promotion, set smarter goals, undo injustice at work or unlock the next big thing — there’s a TED Talk for that.

(New episodes every Monday)

WorkLife with Adam Grant 

WorkLife with Adam Grant is back with its fourth season! Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes listeners inside the minds of some of the world’s most unusual professionals to explore the science of making work not suck. Season four kicks off with a bonus episode where JJ Abrams interviews Adam Grant about his new book, Think Again. 

• Taken for Granted: TED is also launching a companion series inspired by Adam’s popular long-form interviews with luminaries like Esther Perel. Starting with Brené Brown, Malcolm Gladwell, Jane Goodall and Glennon Doyle, he’ll sit down with his favorite thinkers about the opinions and assumptions we should all be revisiting. 

(Season 4 launches March 2021, and Taken for Granted launches February 2021)

The TED Interview 

In The TED Interview, Head of TED Chris Anderson speaks with some of the world’s most interesting people to dig into the most provocative and powerful ideas of our time. From Bill Gates to Monica Lewinsky, Chris follows his curiosity across myriad topics and disciplines, diving deep with the most compelling thinkers from the TED stage and beyond. Entering the sixth season of the show this year, Chris investigates “The Case for Optimism” and why there’s still reason for tremendous hope in these trying times.

(Season 6 launches April 2021, featuring interviews with climate activist Xiye Bastida, inventor of CRISPR Jennifer Doudna and many more.)

TED Radio Hour

In each episode of TED Radio Hour, host Manoush Zomorodi explores a big idea through a series of TED Talks and original interviews, inspiring us to learn more about the world, our communities and, most importantly, ourselves. TED Radio Hour is a co-production of NPR and TED.

(New episodes every Friday. Watch out for an exciting episode in March called “Through The Looking Glass” about the tools that scientists, physicians and artists use to extend our perception of what we can see and our boundaries of consciousness — featuring TED speakers Emily Levesque, Ariel Waldman, Rick Doblin and more.)

Our Partners: TED Partnerships, working in collaboration with the TED team and podcast hosts, strives to tell partner stories in the form of authentic, story-driven content developed in real-time and aligned with the editorial process — finding and exploring brilliant ideas from all over the world. Past and current partners are wide-ranging and diverse, including Accenture, Bonobos, Unilever, Hilton, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Lexus, Marriott Hotels, Morgan Stanley, Warby Parker, Verizon, Women Will, a Grow with Google program and more. Learn more here. 

Other podcasts in the TED Audio Collective: Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala, Sincerely, X, Checking In with Susan David, TED Talks Daily, TED Health, How to Be a Better Human, TEDx SHORTS, TED en Español and TED in Chinese.

TED announces an exciting new slate of podcasts

TED Travel returns 

Escape with host Saleem Reshamwala and journey across the globe in search of the world’s most surprising and imaginative ideas. TED Travel isn’t a travel show, exactly. It’s a deep dive into the ideas that shape a particular spot on the map, brought to you by the people who live there.

New episodes will take listeners to Lima, Peru, where hip-hop artists are trying to save an endangered language (and restore the nation’s pride along the way); then over to Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island), one of the most remote places on earth, where the pandemic has inspired a complete reimagining of island life; and on a road trip to find a real-life Black utopia in North Carolina — and the possibilities it inspires for future generations.

TED Travel is made possible with support from Marriott Hotels and Women Will, a Grow with Google program.

TED Travel returns with four new episodes beginning October 14.

Design Matters joins the family 

A show about how incredibly creative people design the arc of their lives, the iconic Design Matters with Debbie Millman will join the TED family in October. It’s the world’s first podcast about design: an inquiry into the broader world of creative culture through wide-ranging conversations with designers, writers, artists, curators, musicians and other luminaries of contemporary thought. Design Matters will continue to be produced independently, with TED amplifying the podcast to its global audience. 

Design Matters episodes are available on TED platforms in October.

Sincerely, X is free and available to the public 

Some ideas are too risky to share in the open. Sincerely, X is a space to share those controversial ideas anonymously. Hosted by poet, performer and educator Sarah Kay, this powerful show is a window into stories that usually stay hidden, an honest look at experiences typically too painful or difficult to share.

Previously only on the Luminary app, season two is being made available on all podcast platforms. In the first episode, we hear from a small-town preacher in the Deep South with a radical secret: he doesn’t believe in hell. We’ll also meet a sociopath who reveals what society can learn from her condition; a former cult member who teaches us how to let go of the past; and much more. 

Sincerely, X episodes drop on TED’s platforms October 22, with a new episode every week for 10 weeks.

Also from TED…

TED Business, hosted by Modupe Akinola, associate professor of management at Columbia Business School, will take listeners through some of the most creative and surprising TED Talks that illuminate the business world. Strictly business topics are just the beginning: TED Business will also dig into relevant talks on psychology, science, design, democracy — stretching listeners’ sense of what really matters in business.

Episodes available weekly, starting October 12

TED Health provides a curated selection of the best health-related TED Talks. From smart daily habits to new medical breakthroughs, doctors and researchers share discoveries and ideas about medicine and well-being.

Episodes available weekly, starting October 13

Twenty Thousand Hertz is hosted by Dallas Taylor, creative director of Defacto Sound. The lovingly crafted podcast reveals the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds. In upcoming episodes, modern paleontology shares what dinosaurs really sound like (October 7) and how we might create a sonic utopia in the future (November 11).

New episodes available every other Wednesday

TED Talks Daily, TED’s flagship podcast, will begin publishing talks from Countdown — a global initiative to combat climate change — beginning in mid-October. The first TED Talk to publish will be from Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, followed by talks from climate impact scholar Johan Rockström, electrification advocate Monica Araya and UK parliament member David Lammy. These talks will also be published in a special Countdown podcast to showcase the most exciting ideas about fighting climate change.

Talks from Countdown will begin publishing October 10

TED Radio Hour investigates the biggest questions of our time with the help of the world’s greatest thinkers. Can we preserve our humanity in the digital age? Where does creativity come from? And what’s the secret to living longer? In each episode, host Manoush Zomorodi explores a big idea through a series of TED Talks and original interviews, inspiring us to learn more about the world, our communities and, most importantly, ourselves.

In October, TED Radio Hour will release an exciting episode featuring the cohost of NPR’s All Things Considered Mary Louise Kelly, biophysicist and neuroscientist Jim Hudspeth, writer and “part-time cyborg” Rebecca Knill, musician and acoustic engineer Renzo Vitale and TED’s own Dallas Taylor, the host of Twenty Thousand Hertz.

New episodes available every Friday

Our partners: TED strives to tell partner stories in the form of authentic, story-driven content developed in real time and aligned with the editorial process — finding and exploring brilliant ideas from all over the world. This season’s podcasts are made possible with support from Change Healthcare, Lexus, Marriott Hotels, Women Will, a Grow with Google program, and more.

Conversations on what’s next in tech, government and activism: Week 8 of TED2020

The final week of TED2020 featured conversations with experts on work, tech, government, activism and more, who shared thoughts on how we can build back better after the pandemic. Below, a recap of insights shared throughout the week.

Mary L. Gray, anthropologist

Big idea: AI-driven, service-on-demand companies like TaskRabbit, Amara and Amazon have built a new, invisible workforce.

How? The COVID-19 pandemic has sharply accelerated the world’s online services economy, and it’s amplifying a transition to a distributed workforce. If the thousands of jobs with no benefits, health care or safety net are any indication, society has yet to figure out how to treat the isolated human service provider, says Mary L. Gray. Over the next five years, we’ll need to fill millions of new tech jobs, most of which are built around solving the problems artificial intelligence can’t handle. How will we safeguard the new, abundant and diverse workforce that will fill these jobs, while ensuring that our changing economy is both equitable and sustainable? We often don’t value the people behind the scenes, but Gray believes it’s in society’s best interest to help workers thrive in a chaotic career landscape by providing the social services that companies don’t. “The marketplace alone can’t make the future of AI-enabled service work equitable or sustainable,” Gray says. “That’s up to us.”

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Eric Yuan, CEO, Zoom

Big idea: Although we might be physically separated by distance, we can still create connection.

How? When coronavirus hit, Zoom’s business exploded overnight. Originally built for business meetings and remote work, the software is now used by people all over the world to teach school classes, do yoga with friends and even get married. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan discusses how the company met this new demand and their plans to grow quickly, explaining how Zoom created the most popular video chat software by listening to its users and creating a product to suit their needs. He envisions a Zoom of the future that will be even more user-centric, by providing an experience that rivals face-to-face gatherings with things like digital handshakes and real-time language translations. After the pandemic, Yuan doesn’t think all business and events should be conducted over Zoom. Instead, he predicts a hybrid model where people work from home more often but still go into the office for social interaction and connection. Addressing recent security concerns, he explains that the company will design a simplified security package for first-time users to protect their privacy online. “We are going to keep working as hard as we can to make the world a better place,” he says.

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David Brenner, radiation scientist

Big idea: We can use far-UVC light to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.

How? Far-UVC light is a wavelength of ultraviolet light that kills bacteria and, crucially, is safe to use around humans. Over the past five years, Brenner and colleagues have conducted studies showing that far-UVC light doesn’t penetrate human skin or eyes but does have powerful germicidal capacities, killing coronaviruses at a highly effective rate. (He first laid out that idea for us in his talk from TED2017.) His team is now testing far-UVC light against SARS-CoV-2, paving the way for a potentially game-changing tool in the fight against COVID-19 and future coronavirus pandemics. Here’s how it would work: we’d install far-UVC lights in ceilings (just like normal lights) and keep them on continuously throughout the day — in hospital waiting rooms, subways and other indoor spaces — to maintain a sterilization effect. This doesn’t mean we would stop wearing masks or social distancing, Brenner notes, but we would have a powerful new weapon against the novel coronavirus. The primary challenge now lies in ramping up production of far-UVC products, Brenner says, though he’s hopeful a plethora of them will be available by the end of the year — providing a ray of hope in these pandemic times. “UV is like hitting the RNA of the virus with a sledgehammer,” he says.

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Eric Garcetti, chair of C40 Cities and mayor of City of Los Angeles

Big idea: We need to rebuild our cities to be inclusive, green and sustainable.

How? In this moment of rebuilding, Garcetti shares the tangible ways Los Angeles and other cities around the world are working towards economic and social justice and climate action while battling COVID-19. By focusing on greening infrastructure, transportation and energy production, cities are turning this moment into an opportunity. “If we don’t have a just economy, the social fabric will tear apart … whether that’s based on racial prejudice and racism that’s historic, whether it’s based on economic discrimination caste systems, whether it’s looking at the way that the economy is putting more and more wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer people,” Garcetti says. “We really see an opportunity to bring these together because the big mega industries of tomorrow are green industries.” By setting the responsibility of racial and gender equality on the shoulders of leadership, measuring progress and holding them accountable, he thinks we can create a more inclusive and prosperous future.

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Malala Yousafzai, education activist

Big idea: In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, things won’t be the same. But it’s an important opportunity for change — with Gen Z leading the way.

How? Let’s start with Yousafzai herself: a recent graduate of Oxford University and the youngest person to ever win a Nobel Peace Prize, whose biggest dream and current activism encompasses gender equality. Her activism is grounded in education for girls, with the hope that it transforms the world into a place where women are empowered to positively impact every corner of society. Before COVID-19 and between classes, she traveled on behalf of her organization, the Malala Fund, to help create a platform for girls to speak out and urge leaders to eradicate unfair treatment based on gender. Now she’s concerned about the many girls who will lose their access to education because of the pandemic, and she maintains that we must continue to fight for them as the world changes. She has fears just like everyone else but holds on to hope through examples of Gen Z activists and change-makers taking the lead across the world to fight for a better future for all. A few ways to help now? Support activists and organizations working in your community, organize social media campaigns and start writing letters to your political leaders demanding progress, so that you too can join in fixing what’s broken.

Weaving Community: Notes from Session 1 of TEDSummit 2019

The stage is set for TEDSummit 2019: A Community Beyond Borders! During the opening session, speakers and performers explored themes of competition, political engagement and longing — and celebrated the TED communities (representing 84 countries) gathered in Edinburgh, Scotland to forge TED’s next chapter.

The event: TEDSummit 2019, Session 1: Weaving Community, hosted by Bruno Giussani and Helen Walters

When and where: Sunday, July 21, 2019, 5pm BST, at the Edinburgh Convention Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland

Speakers: Pico Iyer, Jochen Wegner, Hajer Sharief, Mariana Lin, Carole Cadwalladr, Susan Cain with Min Kym

Opening: A warm Scottish welcome from raconteur Mackenzie Dalrymple

Music: Findlay Napier and Gillian Frame performing selections from The Ledger, a series of Scottish folk songs

The talks in brief:

Pico Iyer, novelist and nonfiction author

Big idea: The opposite of winning isn’t losing; it’s failing to see the larger picture.

Why? As a child in England, Iyer believed the point of competition was to win, to vanquish one’s opponent. Now, some 50 years later and a resident of Japan, he’s realized that competition can be “more like an act of love.” A few times a week, he plays ping-pong at his local health club. Games are played as doubles, and partners are changed every five minutes. As a result, nobody ends up winning — or losing — for long. Iyer has found liberation and wisdom in this approach. Just as in a choir, he says, “Your only job is to play your small part perfectly, to hit your notes with feeling and by so doing help to create a beautiful harmony that’s much greater than the sum of its parts.”

Quote of the talk: “Seeming happiness can stand in the way of true joy even more than misery does.”

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Jochen Wegner, journalist and editor of Zeit Online

Big idea: The spectrum of belief is as multifaceted as humanity itself. As social media segments us according to our interests, and as algorithms deliver us increasingly homogenous content that reinforces our beliefs, we become resistant to any ideas — or even facts — that contradict our worldview. The more we sequester ourselves, the more divided we become. How can we learn to bridge our differences?

How? Inspired by research showing that one-on-one conversations are a powerful tool for helping people learn to trust each other, Zeit Online built Germany Talks, a “Tinder for politics” that facilitates “political arguments” and face-to-face meetings between users in an attempt to bridge their points-of-view on issues ranging from immigration to same-sex marriage. With Germany Talks (and now My Country Talks and Europe Talks) Zeit has facilitated conversations between thousands of Europeans from 33 countries.

Quote of the talk: “What matters here is not the numbers, obviously. What matters here is whenever two people meet to talk in person for hours, without anyone else listening, they change — and so do our societies. They change, little by little, discussion by discussion.”

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Hajer Sharief, activist and cofounder of the Together We Build It Foundation

Big Idea: People of all genders, ages, races, beliefs and socioeconomic statuses should participate in politics.

Why? Hajer Sharief’s native Libya is recovering from 40 years of authoritarian rule and civil war. She sheds light on the way politics are involved in every aspect of life: “By not participating in it, you are literally allowing other people to decide what you can eat, wear, if you can have access to healthcare, free education, how much tax you pay, when can you retire, what is your pension,” she says. “Other people are also deciding whether your race is enough to consider you a criminal, or if your religion or nationality are enough to put you on a terrorist list.” When Sharief was growing up, her family held weekly meetings to discuss family issues, abiding by certain rules to ensured everyone was respectful and felt free to voice their thoughts. She recounts a meeting that went badly for her 10-year-old self, resulting in her boycotting them altogether for many years — until an issue came about which forced her to participate again. Rejoining the meetings was a political assertion, and it helped her realize an important lesson: you are never too young to use your voice — but you need to be present for it to work.

Quote of talk: “Politics is not only activism — it’s awareness, it’s keeping ourselves informed, it’s caring for facts. When it’s possible, it is casting a vote. Politics is the tool through which we structure ourselves as groups and societies.”

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Mariana Lin, AI character designer and principal writer for Siri

Big idea: Let’s inject AI personalities with the essence of life: creativity, weirdness, curiosity, fun.

Why? Tech companies are going in two different directions when it comes to creating AI personas: they’re either building systems that are safe, flat, stripped of quirks and humor — or, worse, they’re building ones that are fully customizable, programmed to say just what you want to hear, just how you like to hear it. While this might sound nice at first, we’re losing part of what makes us human in the process: the friction and discomfort of relating with others, the hard work of building trusting relationships. Mariana Lin calls for tech companies to try harder to truly bring AI to life — in all its messy, complicated, uncomfortable glory. For starters, she says, companies can hire a diverse range of writers, creatives, artists and social thinkers to work on AI teams. If the people creating these personalities are as diverse as the people using it — from poets and philosophers to bankers and beekeepers — then the future of AI looks bright.

Quote of the talk: “If we do away with the discomfort of relating with others not exactly like us, with views not exactly like ours — we do away with what makes us human.”

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Carole Cadwalladr, investigative journalist, interviewed by TED curator Bruno Giussani

Big idea: Companies that collect and hoard our information, like Facebook, have become unthinkably powerful global players — perhaps more powerful than governments. It’s time for the public hold them accountable.

How? Tech companies with offices in different countries must obey the laws of those nations. It’s up to leaders to make sure those laws are enforced — and it’s up to citizens to pressure lawmakers to further tighten protections. Despite legal and personal threats from her adversaries, Carole Cadwalladr continues to explore the ways in which corporations and politicians manipulate data to consolidate their power.

Quote to remember: “In Britain, Brexit is this thing which is reported on as this British phenomenon, that’s all about what’s happening in Westminster. The fact that actually we are part of something which is happening globally — this rise of populism and authoritarianism — that’s just completely overlooked. These transatlantic links between what is going on in Trump’s America are very, very closely linked to what is going on in Britain.”

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Susan Cain, quiet revolutionary, with violinist Min Kym

Big idea: Life is steeped in sublime magic that you can tap into, opening a whole world filled with passion and delight.

How? By forgoing constant positivity for a state of mind more exquisite and fleeting — a place where light (joy) and darkness (sorrow) meet, known to us all as longing. Susan Cain weaves her journey in search for the sublime with the splendid sounds of Min Kym on violin, sharing how the feeling of yearning connects us to each other and helps us to better understand what moves us deep down.

Quote of the talk: “Follow your longing where it’s telling you to go, and may it carry you straight to the beating heart of the perfect and beautiful world.”

A first glimpse at the TEDSummit 2019 speaker lineup

With TEDSummit 2019 just two months away, it’s time to unveil the first group of speakers that will take to the stage in Edinburgh, Scotland, from July 21-25.

Three years ago, more than 1,000 members of the TED global community convened in Banff, Canada, for the first-ever TEDSummit. We talked about the fracturing state of the world, the impact of technology and the accelerating urgency of climate change. And we drew wisdom and inspiration from the speakers — and from each other.

These themes are equally pressing today, and we’ll bring them to the stage in novel, more developed ways in Edinburgh. We’ll also address a wide range of additional topics that demand attention — looking not only for analysis but also antidotes and solutions. To catalyze this process, half of the TEDSummit conference program will take place outside the theatre, as experts host an array of Discovery Sessions in the form of hands-on workshops, activities, debates and conversations.

Check out a glimpse of the lineup of speakers who will share their future-focused ideas below. Some are past TED speakers returning to give new talks; others will step onto the red circle for the first time. All will help us understand the world we currently live in.

Here we go! (More will be added in the coming weeks):

Anna Piperal, digital country expert

Bob Langert, corporate changemaker

Carl Honoré, author

Carole Cadwalladr, investigative journalist

Diego Prilusky, immersive media technologist

Eli Pariser, organizer and author

Fay Bound Alberti, historian

George Monbiot, thinker and author

Hajer Sharief, youth inclusion activist

Howard Taylor, children safety advocate

Jochen Wegner, editor and dialogue creator

Kelly Wanser, geoengineering expert

Ma Yansong, architect

Marco Tempest, technology magician

Margaret Heffernan, business thinker

María Neira, global public health official

Mariana Lin, AI personalities writer

Mariana Mazzucato, economist

Marwa Al-Sabouni, architect

Nick Hanauer, capitalism redesigner

Nicola Jones, science writer

Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland

Omid Djalili, comedian

Patrick Chappatte, editorial cartoonist

Pico Iyer, global author

Poet Ali, Philosopher, poet

Rachel Kleinfeld, violence scholar

Raghuram Rajan, former central banker

Rose Mutiso, energy for Africa activist

Sandeep Jauhar, cardiologist

Sara-Jane Dunn, computational biologist

Sheperd Doeleman, black hole scientist

Sonia Livingstone, social psychologist

Susan Cain, quiet revolutionary

Tim Flannery, carbon-negative tech scholar

Tshering Tobgay, former Prime Minister of Bhutan

 

With them, a number of artists will also join us at TEDSummit, including:

Djazia Satour, singer

ELEW, pianist and DJ

KT Tunstall, singer and songwriter

Min Kym, virtuoso violinist

Radio Science Orchestra, space-music orchestra

Yilian Cañizares, singer and songwriter

 

Registration for TEDSummit is open for active members of our various communities: TED conference members, Fellows, past TED speakers, TEDx organizers, Educators, Partners, Translators and more. If you’re part of one of these communities and would like to attend, please visit the TEDSummit website.

TED original podcast The TED Interview kicks off Season 2

TED returns with the second season of The TED Interview, a long-form podcast series that features Chris Anderson, head of TED, in conversation with leading thinkers. The podcast is an opportunity to reconnect with renowned speakers and dive deeper into their ideas within a different global climate. This season’s guests include Bill Gates, Monica Lewinsky, Tim Ferriss, Susan Cain, Yuval Noah Harari, David Brooks, Amanda Palmer, Kai-Fu Lee, Sylvia Earle, Andrew McAfee and Johann Hari. Plus, a bonus episode with Roger McNamee that was recorded live at TED2019.

Listen to the first episode with Bill Gates now on Apple Podcasts.

In its first season, The TED Interview played host to extraordinary conversations — such as the writer Elizabeth Gilbert on the death of her partner, Rayya Elias; Sir Ken Robinson on the education revolution; and Ray Kurzweil on what the future holds for humanity.

Season two builds on this success with new ideas from some of TED’s most compelling speakers. Listeners can look forward to hearing from Bill Gates on the future of technology and philanthropy; musician Amanda Palmer on how the future of creativity means asking for what you want; Susan Cain on introversion and other notable past speakers.

“Ideas are not static — they don’t land perfectly formed in an unchanging world,” said Chris Anderson. “As times change, opinions shift and new research is published, ideas must be iterated on. The TED Interview is a remarkable platform where past speakers can further explain, amplify, illuminate and, in some cases, defend their thinking. Season two listeners can expect a front-row seat as we continue to explore the theory behind some of TED’s most well-known talks.”

The TED Interview launches today and releases new episodes every Wednesday. It is available on Apple Podcasts, the TED Android app or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. Season 2 features 12 episodes, each being roughly an hour long. Collectively the Season Two speakers have garnered over 100 million views through their TED Talks.

The TED Interview is proudly sponsored by Klick Health, the world’s largest independent health agency. They use data, technology and creativity to help patients and healthcare professionals learn about and access life-changing therapies.

TED’s content programming extends beyond its signature TED Talk format with six original podcasts. Overall TED’s podcasts were downloaded over 420 million times in 2018 and have been growing 44% year-over-year since 2016. Among others, The TED Interview joins notable series like Sincerely, X, where powerful ideas are shared anonymously, which recently launched its second season exclusively on the Luminary podcast app.

In Case You Missed It: Highlights from day 2 of TED2019

Here’s what happened on Tuesday of TED2019. A few news-making highlights first:

Jack Dorsey proposed a new way Twitter could work — by following topics and not individual people and brands. Hmm. Also, fun fact: If he had it to do over again, he would not have built the Like button. Watch for Jack Dorsey’s Q&A with Chris Anderson and Whitney Pennington Rodgers on TED.com today.

Digital Domain’s Doug Roble showed, for the first time outside his studio, a jaw-dropping digital animation tool mapped to a live human actor. This avatar-creating wonder tool could revolutionize filmmaking … and also your next video chat.

The Audacious Project unveiled eight ambitious projects to change the world — from a data-backed approach to fighting racist activity, to a sweeping global drive to breed plants that are better for the planet. Between them — and thanks to a good old-fashioned fund drive last night — they raised a collective $283 million, and each project now has enough seed funding to launch. But they’re only halfway to a collective goal of — wait for it — $567m.

And some larger themes emerged …

Changing, fast and slow: In Chris’s indelible image, Twitter is a ship, Jack Dorsey is the captain, and a few of the passengers have come up from steerage to ask if Dorsey might consider, perhaps, turning away from the path of the iceberg. As Chris says: “You’re showing this extraordinary calm, but we’re all standing outside saying, Jack, turn the f*cking wheel.” Jack’s response: “Quickness will not get this job done.” He’s looking for deeper, systemic change (including a few suggested moves that some Twitter users did not love). Rafael Casal had the same question — “How fast should change happen?” — after he touched off a Twitter firestorm around an issue of racial unfairness. He made one brief point on the platform; it gained traction over a weekend; and it got ugly real fast. Now, he asks: Is social media just too quick on the trigger to allow for nuanced discussion of social change? Working at another timescale altogether, Safeena Husain spoke about a deep investment in the far future — by educating young girls today, starting with the 1.4 million girls in India who never go to school. Investing now, today, in the potential of these girls could have a material effect on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, aimed at creating a better world by 2030. Why not start now?

Playing with personas: As Doug Roble demos his jaw-dropping tool to create detailed, real-time digital renderings of a person — in this case, Doug himself, plus an alternate personality named Elbor — a thought arises: Will this next-gen avatar lead to more deepfakes, more fraudulent online personalities? (The likely answer: Yes, but honestly, what won’t?) Meanwhile, from the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Roger Hanlon told us about shape-shifting cephalopods who change their skin color and texture in a blink, to hide, to mate, to blow human minds. Hanlon suggests their smart skin, and their ability to deploy it in sophisticated ways and in a flash, is an alternative form of intelligence, driven by their strange and wonderful and very, very large brains.

Service and meaning: Matt Cutts worked at Google for almost 17 years, and he took what he thought would be a six-month break to join the US government’s digital service. Three-plus years later, he’s still in government, finding deep meaning and satisfaction in solving problems that affect real people’s lives. At TED Unplugged, he makes the case to his fellow technologists that if you want to really make an impact, you should leave Silicon Valley, wave goodbye to those crazy perks and free meals, and enter a world where office furniture isn’t a given — but the impact is. Julius Maada Bio, the president of Sierra Leone, offered his own take on the meaning of service. He first took power in a military coup, but his goal, he says, was always to return the country to democratic rule. His other major goal: “Sierra Leone must be a secure, peaceful and just society where every person can thrive and contribute.” Over the past decades, he’s moved steadily toward that objective. Plant biologist Joanne Chory is committed to an equally large and far-seeing goal: developing plants that capture carbon better and for longer than common crops do now which will help mitigate our planet’s creeping carbon levels. Her vision, her sense of mission and her nothing-can-stop-me persistence are genuinely inspiring.

Curiosity makes us human: Educator Brittany Packnett meditates on confidence, the hidden skill that powers many of our other skills. Confidence is what helps you put plans into action, and what helps you keep moving even after you fail. What builds confidence? One key factor, she says, is curiosity, the desire to push beyond who you are and what you know. Mentalist Derren Brown taps into the curiosity of the audience by guessing our innermost questions (and even one guy’s password). How did he do it? He’ll never tell. Appearing via robot, David Deutsch meditates on another force that moves us: the drive for new “explanatory knowledge.” As humans, we desire to understand things and explain them and change them and make them new. As he says: “From the human perspective, the only alternative to that living hell of static societies is continual creation of new ideas, behaviors, new kinds of objects.”

Watch the first TED Talk released from TED2019: Carole Cadwalladr.

Audacity: 8 big, bold ideas for global change unveiled in Session 4 of TED2019

In the program guide for Session 4 of TED2019, “Audacity,” a group of eight mysterious figures stands silhouetted in black. That’s because the speakers in this session were a total surprise — to those in TED audience and to those tuning in via Twitter Live from around the world. These eight speakers all have big, bold ideas for global change — and they’re representing eight projects that are receiving the support of The Audacious Project in 2019. Over the next three to six years, these ideas have the potential to change broken systems and impact millions of lives in a positive way. And each needs your support. After each idea, find out how you can get involved.

The event: Session 4 of TED2019, hosted by Chris Anderson, Head of TED, and Anna Verghese, Executive Director of the Audacious Project

When and where: Tuesday, April 16, 2019, 5pm, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC

Speakers: Phillip Atiba Goff, Joanne Chory, Claudia Miner, David Baker, Safeena Husain and Julie Cordua, with special videos on ideas from Ellen Agler and Mark Tercek

Music: Emeli Sandé singing three beautiful songs: “You Are Not Alone,” “Extraordinary Being” and “Read All About It Part III”

The talks in brief:

Phillip Atiba Goff, behavioral scientist and president of the Center for Policing Equity

• Big idea: In the US, Black people are two to four times more likely than white people to be targets of police force. The problem, says Phillip Atiba Goff, is that we think of racism as contaminated hearts and minds — when racism is really about behaviors. “When we change the definition of racism from attitudes to behaviors, we transform that problem from impossible to solvable,” says Goff. “Because you can measure behaviors.” Like any other organization, police departments can set goals for more equitable behavior — and hold themselves accountable to reaching them.
• The Audacious project: Goff and his team at the Center for Policing Equity work with police departments and communities, city by city, to collect data on police behavior and set goals to make it more fair. They’re building a CompStat for Justice — a data system that shows police departments where they’re going, who they’re arresting and much more. The data that CPE collects can help police chiefs develop strategies for changing their department’s behaviors, and to date, they’ve seen staggering results. So far, CPE has delivered products to 25 cities, leading to an average of 33 percent fewer force incidents. Over the next five years, the Center for Policing Equity hope to bring their tools to police departments that collectively serve 100 million people across the US, effectively reaching one in three Americans.
• Quote of the talk: “I’ve experienced the fear of seeing an officer unclip their gun, and the panic of realizing someone might mistake my 13-year-old godson as old enough to be a threat. So when a chief — or a pastor or an imam or a mother — calls me after an officer shoots another unarmed Black child, I understand the pain in their voice.” See what you can do for this idea »

Joanne Chory, plant biologist and director of the Plant Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

• Big idea: To most of us, CO₂ is a villain, the greenhouse gas responsible for rising global temperatures. But to Joanne Chory, one of the world’s most prominent plant biologists, CO₂ is simply the thing that plants take in during photosynthesis, and convert into oxygen and sugars. For millions of years, plants have kept Earth’s CO₂ levels in check — and Chory believes they can do it now, even as human beings release more CO₂ into the atmosphere than ever before. Plants could help us fight climate change.
• The Audacious project: Chory’s team at the Salk Institute wants to train plants to sequester carbon better, and for longer. They’re developing the science to create plants with more of a natural polymer called suberin in their roots, as this cork-like substance works as a stable carbon-storage device. They’re also looking to grow plants with deeper, more robust root systems, to really amplify their sequestering ability. Salk will start by creating these traits in model plants, and then will be able to transfer them to major crop plants like corn, soybean and cotton. If these superstar plants could occupy fields around the world, they could hold massive amounts of carbon in the ground, to achieve a 20 to 46 percent reduction of excess CO₂ every year.
• Quote of the talk: “I’ve come to appreciate plants as the amazing machines they are — they literally suck CO₂ out of the air. They’ve been doing it for 500 million years, and they’re really good it!” See what you can do for this idea »

Ellen Agler, public health leader, CEO of the END Fund and author of Under the Big Tree

• Big idea: Parasitic worms have been around for thousands of years, causing disease and limiting human potential. Today, more than 1.5 billion people in the world are at risk for worms, 600 million of them in Africa. And yet worms are very easy to treat — it takes just one to three pills, given once or twice a year. Ellen Agler and her team at the END Fund know that governments across Africa want to gain traction on this problem. By amplifying work already in progress, the END Fund thinks we can be the generation that ends disease from worm infections for good.
• The Audacious Project: Over the next six years, the END Fund will deliver deworming treatment to 100 million people. But that’s really just the start. The END Fund looks at the problem of delivering deworming treatments through a systems lens, bringing together the right partners, lowering the cost of treatment, focusing on prevention, helping with monitoring and evaluation, and treating overlooked people, like young children and women of reproductive age. Every step of the way, the END Fund will support governments and nurture local leadership, creating a roadmap toward local ownership of deworming programs.
• Quote of the video: “If the World Health Organization’s 2020 goals for worm control are met, African economies would see a $35 billion boost in productivity within ten years.” See what you can do for this idea »

Claudia Miner, historian, education entrepreneur and executive director of Waterford’s UPSTART project

• Big idea: Fifty years ago, the United States achieved a watershed moment when it started bringing early education to low-income children through Head Start. Today, however, there are still 2.2 million children in the US — half of all 4-year-olds — who don’t have access to an early education program, because they live too far from one, speak another language or face a financial or logistical hardship. On day one of kindergarten, these children may already be years behind their peers. And they may not ever catch up.
• The Audacious project: At Waterford.org, Claudia Miner and her team have created a kindergarten readiness project called UPSTART that bridges these access gaps. In just 15–20 minutes a day, children without access to in-person early education engage with personalized software that lets them learn at their own pace, from home. This isn’t mindless screen time — UPSTART lessons are educational and engaging, and the program coaches parents to take on the role of their children’s first teacher. UPSTART has a 90 percent completion rate, and a longitudinal study has shown that the gains students make last well into third and fourth grade. UPSTART has been piloted in 15 states so far, and several have opted to fund it because it’s been so effective. Over the next five years, Waterford will pilot UPSTART in all 50 states, serving a quarter of a million children, and make deep inroads toward state funding.
• Quote of the talk: “Our Audacious idea is to make UPSTART available across the country — not to replace anything. We want to serve children who otherwise would not have access to early education.” See what you can do for this idea »

David Baker, professor of biochemistry and director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine

• Big idea: “Proteins carry out all of the essential functions in our bodies,” says David Baker. These miniature machines digest our food, contract our muscles, fire our neurons and so, so much more. But proteins are also tricky. They’re built of long strings of amino acids that “fold up” into specific shapes that allow them to do their job. And because scientists haven’t been able to crack the code of how proteins fold, we’ve only been able to make small modifications to proteins that already exist. Being able to create new proteins would open up incredible possibility.
• The Audacious project: Baker’s research team at the Institute for Protein Design has developed the ability to design new proteins. And they want to launch the protein design revolution. Their goal is to become the Bell Laboratories of this new field, doubling their faculty and attracting top talent to train the next generation of scientists. Specifically, IPD will work toward five grand challenges: (1) universal vaccines for flu, HIV and cancer, (2) advanced medications for chronic pain, (3) protein nano-containers that bring medicines to specific cells, (4) smart protein therapeutics that recognize unhealthy cells, and (5) next-generation nanoengineering for solar energy capture. They stand to change the world of medicine and so much more.
• Quote of the talk: “Humans have only been able to harness the power of proteins by making very small changes to the amino acid sequences of the proteins we’ve found in nature. This is similar to the process that our Stone Age ancestors used to make tools and other implements from the sticks and stones they found around them.” See what you can do for this idea »

Mark Tercek, global environmental leader and CEO of The Nature Conservancy

• Big idea: Island and coastal nations need to protect their waters in order for our oceans, globally, to stay healthy. But these countries hold high debt loads and often aren’t able to prioritize ocean protection over other needs. Mark Tercek and his team at The Nature Conservancy see a way to solve both problems at once. Their idea is to buy a nation’s debt at a discount and restructure it to give them lower debt payments, in exchange for the government’s commitment to protect 30 percent of its coastal areas.
• How: The Nature Conservancy has been a pioneer in debt-for-nature conservation, working since 2001 to negotiate deals like this for the protection of tropical forests. In 2016, they tried this approach in the Seychelles, restructuring $22 million in debt in exchange for the protection of 400,000 square kilometers of ocean — an area the size of Germany. It’s been incredibly successful, but the deal took years to complete. Now The Nature Conservancy plans to build a team that can close these deals much more quickly. Over the next five years, they will negotiate deals in 20 island and coastal nations, and together create more than 4 million square kilometers of marine-protected areas.
• Quote of the video: “If you refinance your house to take advantage of a better interest rate, maybe you use the savings to insulate your attic. That’s what Blue Bonds for Conservation do, for entire coastal countries.” See what you can do for this idea »

Safeena Husain, social entrepreneur and executive director of Educate Girls

• Big idea: Working in India, Safeena Husain has met girls named Aa chuki (“not wanted”), Antim Bala (“the last girl”) because that’s what her family hoped she’d be, and Naraz nath (“angry”) because her community was so angry she was born a girl. It’s not just poverty and cultural norms that bar girls from receiving an education: it’s collective mindsets. Even though girls’ education has been shown to have a long list of positive effects — it impacts nine of the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals –many girls in the world are still barred from receiving an education. India is home to one of the largest populations of out-of-school girls, with more than 4.1 million girls outside the classroom.
• The Audacious project: Husain and her team at Educate Girls work in remote regions in India, going door-to-door to find all out-of-school girls. They do individual counseling with parents, and hold neighborhood and village meetings to change those mindsets. Their Team Balika (“team for the girl”) volunteers use an app to collect data — and their predictive model reveals that just five percent of India’s villages are home to 40 percent of the out-of-school girls. Their plan is to work specifically in these 35,000 villages for amplified impact. By doing this, they will enroll a staggering 1.6 million girls in school in the next five years. And they will work to keep them there.
• Quote of the talk: “I believe that girls’ education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet to help solve some of the world’s most difficult problems.” See what you can do for this idea »

Julia Cordua, social entrepreneur and CEO of Thorn

• Big idea: Thorn works on a problem that isn’t easy to talk about: the sexual abuse of children in images and videos on the internet. This is clearly a human problem. But it’s also, says Julie Cordua, a technology problem. In the late 1980s, child pornography was nearly eliminated — because of tighter laws, it was too risky for abusers to trade it through the mail. But with the advent of the internet, both supply and demand skyrocketed. In 2018, there were 45 million reports of child sexual abuse content in the US alone — twice the number of reports of the year before. “Law enforcement focuses on just their jurisdiction. Companies look at just their platform,” says Cordua. “Whatever they learn along the way is rarely shared.” A unified response is necessary.
• The Audacious project: Thorn is building technology to connect the dots between the law enforcement agencies, NGOs and tech companies who are the responders in this invisible crisis. Their tools collect the hashes of known sexual abuse content — essentially, the digital fingerprint of each file — and catalog it. As they collect more and more hashes of known content, it will allow law enforcement to spot new material quickly, and swing into action to try to find the child being abused. And the system will only get smarter — when a company sees a known hash posted, for example, they can scrub that user’s account and potentially discover hashes for other unknown material. Thorn’s goal is to be able to identify new material in seconds — which will open the door to eliminating this content from the internet altogether.
• Quote of the talk: “The abusers win when we look at one piece of the puzzle at a time. … This Audacious project is a declaration of war against one of humanity’s darkest evils.” See what you can do for this idea »

And with these eight projects revealed, it’s time for the audience to get involved. Each project has a significant gap between what’s been committed to it so far and what’s needed to complete it. Anderson and Verghese called on the audience at the TED Conference and watching online to donate to the projects that most moved them, and pledges started rolling in, scrolling on the screens on stage.

Together, these eight projects will require $567 million in funding. And between presentations to donor groups earlier in the year and pledges made tonight, they have now raised $283,561,215. Each project is at least halfway funded, and will able to launch. Now … to watch them in action.