Jane Poynter tells her story of living two years and 20 minutes in Biosphere 2 -- an experience that provoked her to explore how we might sustain life in the harshest of environments.

While the Earth's oceans are known as five separate entities, there is really only one ocean. So, how big is it? As of 2013, it takes up 71% of the Earth, houses 99% of the biosphere, and contains some of Earth's grandest geological features. Scott Gass reminds us of the influence humans have on the ocean and the influence it has on us. [Directe...

What kinds of stories move us to act? To answer this question, creative technologist Heidi Boisvert is measuring how people's brains and bodies unconsciously respond to different media. She shows how she's using this data to determine the specific narrative ingredients that inspire empathy and justice -- and spark large-scale social change.

As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of all creatures that we learn more about our biosphere -- and build a networked encyclopedia of all the world's knowledge about life.

Coming to us from 50 years in the future, legendary sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson tells the "history" of how humanity ended the climate crisis and restored the damage done to Earth's biosphere. A rousing vision of how we might unite to overcome the greatest challenge of our time.

Biodiversity warrior Cary Fowler wants to save the world from agricultural collapse, one seed at a time.

Kartick Satyanarayan works tirelessly to save India’s wild animals from illegal captivity and poaching -- most notably rescuing hundreds of “dancing” bears.

In this eye-opening talk, conservationist Ocean Ramsey explains why sharks -- highly intelligent marvels of evolution -- are actually an essential part of the ocean's ecosystem.

TED Senior Fellow Eric Berlow studies ecology and networks, exposing the interconnectedness of our ecosystems with climate change, government, corporations and more.

Biologist E.O. Wilson explored the world of ants and other tiny creatures -- and wrote movingly about the way all creatures, great and small, are interdependent.

For thousands of years, the Amazon rainforest has provided food, water and spiritual connection for its Indigenous inhabitants and the world. But the endless extraction of its natural resources by oil companies and others is destroying the lives of those who live there, says Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo, and threatening the overall stability ...

Mars is humanity's next destination. We keep talking about it, but what would it really be like to live there?

After weathering two years in Biosphere 2, Jane Poynter is trying to create technologies that allow us to live in hostile environments -- like outer space.

How deep into the Earth can we go and still find life? Marine microbiologist Karen Lloyd introduces us to deep-subsurface microbes: tiny organisms that live buried meters deep in ocean mud and have been on Earth since way before animals. Learn more about these mysterious microbes, which refuse to grow in the lab and seem to have a fundamentally ...

Ocean expert Nancy Rabalais tracks the ominously named "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico -- where there isn't enough oxygen in the water to support life. The Gulf has the second largest dead zone in the world; on top of killing fish and crustaceans, it's also killing fisheries in these waters. Rabalais tells us about what's causing it -- and how...

Heidi Boisvert harnesses the power of popular culture, emerging technology and neuroscience to ignite culture change.

Ski to the North Pole. Row across the Pacific. Swim on Mt. Everest(!). These adventurers have pushed themselves to the limits of human endurance, and in these talks they share what they've learned about themselves and the planet.

Imagine a life living among the stars, traversing the universe, interacting with aliens ...

Emma Marris is a writer focusing on environmental science, policy and culture, with an approach that she paints as being "more interested in finding and describing solutions than delineating problems, and more interested in joy than despair."

Per Espen Stoknes weaves together psychology and economics in imaginative ways, often revolving around our human relationships to the natural world and to each other.

Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater installations offer views of another world, where the artistic efforts of man meet the vivifying power of nature.

Andrés Ruzo investigates the Earth's heat and the mystery of a boiling river in the Peruvian rainforest.

Paul Greenberg researches and writes about fish, aquaculture and the future of the ocean.

What if our bodies could help grow new life after we die, instead of being embalmed and buried or turned to ash? Join Katrina Spade as she discusses "recomposition" -- a system that uses the natural decomposition process to turn our deceased into life-giving soil, honoring both the earth and the departed.

Air pollution knows no borders -- even in your own body, says public health expert María Neira. In this startling talk, she describes how the microscopic particles and chemicals you breathe affect all your major organs (including your brain) and calls on both the public and those in power to take action to stop the sources of pollution.

Dr. Laura Robinson's scientific mission is to document and understand the processes that govern climate.

The biggest obstacle to dealing with climate disruptions lies between your ears, says psychologist and economist Per Espen Stoknes. He's spent years studying the defenses we use to avoid thinking about the demise of our planet -- and figuring out a new way of talking about global warming that keeps us from shutting down. Step away from the dooms...

Our oceans are unexplored and undersampled -- today, we still know more about other planets than our own. How can we get to a better understanding of this vast, important ecosystem? Explorer Sebastien de Halleux shares how a new fleet of wind- and solar-powered drones is collecting data at sea in unprecedented detail, revealing insights into thi...

Estamos pescando más rápido que la capacidad de los peces de repoblar los mares, convirtiendo a nuestros océanos en zonas muertas. Pero el ecologista marino Enric Sala tiene un plan radical para salvar a los océanos y al mismo tiempo potenciar la industria pesquera. Él propone crear una reserva marina gigante que cubriría dos tercios de la super...

Billions of years ago, simple organic compounds assembled into more complex coalitions that could grow and reproduce. At the time, Earth had widespread volcanic activity and a hostile atmosphere that made it almost devoid of a suitable environment for living things. So where did life begin? Luka Wright searches for the cradle of life that gave r...