On behalf of The Huffington Post and TED, we are delighted to invite you on a year-end journey of ideas that can help shape the world in 2012. Starting today, we will be counting down 18 of 2011's most impactful TEDTalks.
When my students are thrown into a super-heated crucible with a recipe for immediate and complete failure, they don't boil over or give up. They turn lead into gold. Why can't we adults do the same?
Just as YouTube serves as the world's archive of the human experience, so too can it serve as the world's biggest and most thrilling classroom.
Just as the 19th century abolished slavery and the 20th century established human rights, so too the 21st century is the one in which we can end torture.
Something Egyptians have proven to be true is that the power of the people is much stronger than the people in power.
To many people, the idea of growing replacement body parts in the lab sounds like modern-day science fiction. In truth, it's quickly becoming science fact.
There is a growing desire around the world to fundamentally remix this relationship with machines and specialization -- to increase access, engagement, and understanding.
Soon when you switch on the light in the morning, that light will beam the latest news to your smartphone. From the breakfast table, you will be able to send emails through the table light.
Even if letting ourselves be seen and opening ourselves up to judgment or disappointment feels terrifying, the alternatives are worse.
There's a shift in how information is flowing online -- and it's invisible. But if we don't pay attention to it, it could become a real problem.
Even as people worry about "The End of Men," we have to acknowledge that men still run the world. Our revolution has stalled.
We should all take notice of the scores of Palestinians and Israelis currently working at the grassroots to resolve the conflict and end the occupation.
We are showing people that we can have everything we need, and that our lives and planet will be happier, healthier and more beautiful using less stuff and space.
As a culture we have been far too willing to gamble with things that are precious and irreplaceable.
It is at the emergent digital intersection between corporate and political power where the most subtle and insidious threat to democracy lies.