The secrets of the world’s most famous symphony - Hanako Sawada

Discover what makes Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony Number Five a musical masterpiece, and uncover the story behind its inception. -- Eight ferocious notes open one of the most explosive pieces of music ever composed. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony Number Five premiered in 1808, and quickly won acclaim. Its central motif and raw emotionality...

18h

You could have a secret twin (but not the way you think) - Kayla Mandel Sheets

Download a free audiobook version of “The Vanishing Half“ and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-ed -- While searching for a kidney donor, Karen Keegan stumbled upon a mystery. After undergoing genetic testing, it turned out that some of her cells had a completely different set of genes from the others. And this second...

5d

Earth's mysterious red glow, explained - Zoe Pierrat

Explore the phenomenon and uses of chlorophyll fluorescence, a small amount of light emitted by plants during photosynthesis. -- In 2009, a satellite circled Earth, scanning and sorting the wavelengths reflecting off the planet’s surface. Researchers noticed something baffling: an unexpected wavelength of unknown origin. They tried looking at...

1w

What makes a language... a language? - Martin Hilpert

Dig into the distinction between a language and a dialect, and uncover the history of standardized languages. -- Outside of China, Mandarin and Cantonese are often referred to as Chinese dialects, despite being even more dissimilar than Spanish and Italian. On the other hand, speakers of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, which are three distinct...

2w

The rise and fall of the Lakota Empire - Pekka Hämäläinen

Trace the rise and fall of the Lakota Empire which, at their height, were the most dominant power in the American West. -- In 1776, a powerful empire was born in North America. The Lakotas had reached the Black Hills, the most sacred place and most coveted buffalo hunting grounds in the western plains. Located in what is now South Dakota, control...

2w

What is MSG, and is it actually bad for you? - Sarah E. Tracy

Dig into the seasoning known as MSG, and find out how this flavoring was developed and if it’s actually bad for your health. -- In 1968, Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok felt ill after dinner at a Chinese restaurant and wrote a letter to a medical journal connecting his symptoms to MSG. His letter would change the world’s relationship with MSG, inspiring...

3w

The infamous overpopulation bet: Simon vs. Ehrlich - Soraya Field Fiorio

Discover an infamous bet between two professors, which sought to predict whether the earth would run out of resources due to a growing human population. -- In 1980, Paul Ehrlich and Julian Simon bet $1,000 on a question with stakes that couldn’t be higher: would the earth run out of resources to sustain a growing human population? They bet $200...

3w

Is this the most successful animal ever? - Nigel Hughes

Discover the creatures known as trilobites, one of Earth’s most successful early animals, and find out what led to their extinction. -- Prevailing for around 270 million years and encompassing more than 20,000 distinct species, trilobites are some of the most successful lifeforms in Earth’s history. When they sprung into existence, they were among...

4w

How we can detect pretty much anything - Hélène Morlon and Anna Papadopoulou

Explore how scientists use environmental DNA (eDNA) in a technique called DNA metabarcoding to find and track species. -- Scientists have been staking out a forest in Montana for an animal that’s notoriously tricky to find. Camera traps haven’t offered definitive evidence, and experts can’t identify its tracks with certainty. But within the past...

4w

Can you outsmart the slippery slope fallacy? - Elizabeth Cox

Dig into the slippery slope fallacy, which assumes that one step will lead to a series of events that lead to an extreme— often bad— scenario. -- It’s 1954. Vietnamese nationalists are on the verge of securing an independent Vietnam under communist leader Ho Chi Minh. U.S. President Eisenhower claims that by virtue of the "falling domino principle,"...

Aug 2021