Eye vs. camera - Michael Mauser

Your eyes don’t always capture the world exactly as a video camera would. But the eyes are remarkably efficient organs, the result of hundreds of millions of years of coevolution with our brains. Michael Mauser outlines the similarities and differences between your eye and a video camera.

Title: Eye vs. camera - Michael Mauser
Published on Apr 6, 2015
Uploaded by: TED-Ed

Would you opt for a life with no pain?

Imagine if you could plug your brain into a machine that would bring you ultimate pleasure for the rest of your life. The only catch? You have to permanently leave reality behind. Hayley Levitt and Bethany Rickwald explore Robert Nozick’s thought experiment that he called the Experience Machine.

Title: Would you opt for a life with no pain? - Hayley Levitt and Bethany
Published on Nov 17, 2015
Uploaded by: TED-Ed

Can you solve the temple riddle?

Your expedition finally stands at the heart of the ancient temple. But as you study the inscriptions in the darkness, two wisps of green smoke burst forth. The walls begin to shake. The giant sandglass begins flowing with less than an hour before it empties, and a rumbling tells you that you don’t want to be around when that happens. Can you use math to escape the temple? Dennis E. Shasha shows how.

Title: Can you solve the temple riddle? - Dennis E. Shasha
Published on Feb 1, 2016
Uploaded by: TED-Ed

Why neutrinos matter

Elementary particles are the smallest known building blocks in the universe—and the neutrino is one of the smallest of the small. These tiny neutrinos can tell us about the furthest reaches and most extreme environments of the universe ... but only if we can catch them. Sílvia Bravo Gallart details how the IceCube telescope in Antarctica is working to do just that.

Title: Why neutrinos matter - Sílvia Bravo Gallart
Published on Apr 28, 2015
Uploaded by: TED-Ed

The secret ingredient in our food chain

When you picture the lowest levels of the food chain, you might imagine herbivores happily munching on lush, living green plants. But this idyllic image leaves out a huge (and slightly less appetizing) source of nourishment: dead stuff. John C. Moore details the "brown food chain," explaining how such unlikely delicacies as pond scum and animal poop contribute enormous amounts of energy to our ecosystems.

Title: Dead stuff: The secret ingredient in our food chain - John C. Moore
Published on Mar 20, 2014
Uploaded by: TED-Ed