Once upon a time, there was a lake that was so radioactive, that standing on its shore for more than an hour would almost definitely kill you. Join Olivia to learn how it got that bad in the first place, and what was done to fix it!

You've probably heard of acid rain: rain that's more acidic than normal because of pollution in the atmosphere. But, if rain can become more acidic, shouldn't it also be able to become more basic?

Humans are great at creating, and solving, problems. Hank talks with Gina McCarthy about the biggest public health problem we face today: climate change. Gina McCarthy is the Director of C-CHANGE (Center for Climate, Health and the...

We all have that coworker who insists that the houseplants on their desks are improving the office air quality, but is there any truth to that? Hosted by: Olivia Gordon

Light pollution -- it's not just the bane of light sleepers and frustrated astronomers. It also is tinkering with the biological cycles of all kinds of living things, including us! SciShow takes you behind the glare to understand the...

Hank interviews Administrator Gina McCarthy of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. They discuss getting people to care about climate change, the EPA's goals going into the United Nations Climate Change Conference, and the...

The name "E. coli" is enough to strike terror into the stomachs of anyone who has experienced food poisoning. But some strains of this bacteria don't actually make you sick, and have turned out to be useful tools for bioengineers.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the final part of its sixth assessment report. In it, they steer away from the gloom and doom and remind us of a future that's still remarkably possible.

Pirate fishing, oil spills and other undetected crimes are destroying ocean ecosystems -- but we can't stop what we can't see. Harnessing the power of satellite data and AI to catch maritime offenders in the act, ocean conservation...

Confronting climate change makes for better cities and a better quality of life, says Heidi Sørensen, director of the climate agency for the city of Oslo, Norway. From construction sites without noise pollution to fully electric...

To restrain global warming, we know we need to drastically reduce pollution. The very next step after that: using both natural and technological solutions to trap as much excess carbon dioxide from the air as possible. Enter Orca, the...

Buildings are bad news for the climate -- but they don't have to be. While our structures are currently responsible for a third of global energy consumption and emissions, a future where they create more energy than they consume is...

By 2050, it's estimated that over 65% of the world will be living in cities. We may think of nature as being unconnected to our urban spaces, but trees have always been an essential part of successful cities. Humanity has been uncovering...

What if we could "grow" clothes from microbes, furniture from living organisms and buildings with exteriors like tree bark? TED Fellow Suzanne Lee shares exciting developments from the field of biofabrication and shows how it could help...

Why are we so deadlocked on climate, and what would it take to overcome the seemingly insurmountable barriers to progress? Policy entrepreneur TED Halstead proposes a transformative solution based on the conservative principles of free...

Natsai Audrey Chieza is a designer on a mission -- to reduce pollution in the fashion industry while creating amazing new things to wear. In her lab, she noticed that the bacteria Streptomyces coelicolor makes a striking red-purple...

Humans are great at creating, and solving, problems. Hank talks with Gina McCarthy about the biggest public health problem we face today: climate change. Gina McCarthy is the Director of C-CHANGE (Center for Climate, Health and the...

Fresh food free of chemicals and pesticides is hard to come by in China: in 2016, the Chinese government revealed half a million food safety violations in just nine months. In the absence of safe, sustainable food sources, TED Fellow...

We don’t know what causes non-hereditary Parkinson's disease, but researchers have recently identified a gene that might help shed some light on those cases. And another paper suggests that the impact we're having on the frequency of...

An average teaspoon of ocean water contains five million bacteria and fifty million viruses -- and yet we are just starting to discover how these "invisible engineers" control our ocean's chemistry. At TEDxMonterey, Melissa Garren sheds...

Will we do whatever it takes to fight climate change? Back in 2008, following the global financial crisis, governments across the world adopted a "whatever it takes" commitment to monetary recovery, issuing $250 billion worth of...

* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. In an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental...

What if we took out more greenhouse gases than we put into the atmosphere? This hypothetical scenario, known as "drawdown," is our only hope of averting climate disaster, says strategist Chad Frischmann. In a forward-thinking talk, he...

We all share one planet -- we breathe the same air, drink the same water and depend on the same oceans, forests and biodiversity. economist Naoko Ishii is on a mission to protect these shared resources, known as the global commons, that...