Could we use the energy from light and sound to detect disease? TED Fellow Lei Li shares the exciting promise of photoacoustic imaging: an affordable, painless and accurate method of converting light into sound in order to create high-resolution images of what's going on inside our bodies. From early detection of breast cancer to steering medicine-delivering micro-robots, learn how this cutting-edge technology could open up a new world of possibility when it comes to seeing, tracking and diagnosing disease.
In an engaging, insightful conversation, criminal justice reformer Nick Turner breaks down the ways the US criminal legal system perpetuates centuries-old racial and economic inequality. He joins TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers to outline why the best way to actually deliver justice and safety is to shrink the system and recognize the humanity of those caught in it.
Consent can be a tricky topic to talk about in sex education curriculums, but it doesn't have to be. In this hilarious and relatable talk, sex educator and TED Fellow Kaz offers a fresh look at teaching young people about the core principles of consent -- and shows how demystifying this topic leads to healthier and more satisfying relationships for people of all ages.
Buildings are bad news for the climate -- the indoor spaces we spend most of our lives in emit 40 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. Rethinking how to create and occupy the spaces we inhabit, Katie McGinty, chief sustainability officer at Johnson Controls, walks us through smart, efficient and eco-friendly ways to decarbonize buildings -- and the benefits to both business and the planet.
"The way we cool things down is heating the planet even more," says sustainable development expert Rachel Kyte -- and the solutions go well beyond just fixing air-conditioning. She identifies four major areas with transformative solutions -- from roofs painted with bright white paint to solar control glass to more efficient cold chains for vaccines -- that can be implemented in fair and sustainable ways. Learn more about what a community designed for cool could look like.
Short-sightedness may be the greatest threat to humanity, says conceptual artist Katie Paterson, whose work engages with deep time -- an idea that describes the history of the Earth over a time span of millions of years. In this lively talk, she takes us through her art -- a telephone line connected to a melting glacier, maps of dying stars – and presents her latest project: the Future Library, a forested room holding unread manuscripts from famous authors, not to be published or read until the year 2114.
American democracy cannot be great until it is good, says lawyer, Harvard professor and former governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick. A self-identified patriot, Patrick stands behind the fundamental values and civic ideals that he believes make the US unique -- and outlines how the country has strayed from those same edicts. Calling for a collective patriotism free from cynicism and fatalism, Patrick underlines the urgency to reset national aspirations in order to save democracy.
With many women of color considering exiting the workforce due to unfair conditions, it's time to reshape systems in order to put an end to this massive loss of talent. Exposing the harmful repercussions of racist, toxic organizational cultures, soul coach Rha Goddess and corporate inclusion visionary Deepa Purushothaman share four pathways to reimagine work so women of color are centered as leaders. Instead of aspiring to a "seat at the table", they urge us to remake the whole table -- and stop fighting for "one broke-ass chair."
