OCW
Meet the slow loris, the only venomous primate in existence
Deep in the jungles of southeast Asia lurks a deadly creature with sharp teeth and a venomous bite. But it’s not a snake. It’s a slow loris, the only venomous primate, and one of only a few venomous mammals. Despite their wide-eyed looks, their story is much fiercer than many might imagine. Step..
TED
The human cell is wildly complex. Can AI decode it?
Silvana Konermann and the team at Arc Institute are trying to crack one of science's most difficult problems: why complex diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer remain so stubbornly unsolvable, even as research advances. Her solution is a universal “virtual cell” — an AI model trained ..
TED
Why does catnip make cats go crazy?
Of the many bewildering behaviors cats display, one of the strangest is their obsession with a specific species of plant. After just one whiff, even the most stoic cat can start pawing, drooling, biting, and wriggling in a state of pure feline euphoria. So, why do cats go crazy for catnip? Jaap de R..
TED
Why Iceland's lava is so hard to control
In December 2023, Icelandic citizens experienced their worst nightmare: a volcanic fissure opened and began spewing lava fountains 100 meters tall. While the molten rock narrowly avoided a small town, Iceland wasn’t willing to leave anyone's fate to chance again and began preparing for future..
TED
A cheat sheet for accelerating clean energy
After the Fukushima disaster shut down Japan's nuclear reactors, the coal industry rushed in to fill the energy gap. As climate advocate Kimiko Hirata watched dozens of new coal plant proposals quietly surface across the country — each one locking in decades of future emissions — she resolv..
TED
How do snakes swallow animals so much bigger than they are?
Since slithering onto the scene some 150 million years ago, evolving length and limbless-ness out of their ancestral lizard forms, snakes have diversified rapidly. Their noodly bodies and flexible heads granted them access to novel places and prey. And today, there are nearly 4,000 snake species, sp..
TED
