Yesterday

When batteries get a facelift, so does renewable energy

For years, renewable energy companies have faced a problem: How to store the mass amounts of energy they produce for later use. Batteries may be just the solution. In California, there's now enough grid-scale battery storage to power millions of homes for a few hours. Battery pow ... Show More

13m 29s

Sep 15

Why you'll probably be misdiagnosed in your lifetime

Nearly every person will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime. That means either a delayed diagnosis, a wrong diagnosis – or no diagnosis at all. That’s according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine from 2015 on diagno ... Show More

13m 25s

Sep 14

Should race affect BMI guidelines? Doctors are split

BMI is a quick, cheap way for doctors to estimate body fat and screen for conditions like heart disease and diabetes. But medicine has long known that BMI is problematic and unnuanced. By using it, groups of people have fallen through the cracks and conditions have been caught la ... Show More

13m 47s

Oct 2021

From silence to cacophony, here's how your brain makes sense of the world

It can be hard enough to answer the question, "what kind of music do you like?" But how about "why do you like it?" That's one of the many questions about the human brain and sound that neuroscientist Nina Kraus set out to answer in her book Of Sound Mind. In this interview with ... Show More

8m 48s

Dec 2022

How our brain makes sense of a noisy world, with Nina Kraus, PhD

Our life experiences shape the way that our brain processes sound, and sound is deeply intertwined with everything from our ability to read to our cognitive health as we age. Dr. Nina Kraus, of Northwestern University, talks about why we undervalue our sense of hearing; why music ... Show More

34m 40s

Jul 2022

How We Hear

How do we hear? What parts of our brain respond to sound? And how can we use vibrations to expand the way we enjoy music? In this episode of How We’re Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin on a sensory journey exploring the world of sound, and how we hear it. We’ ... Show More

33m 38s

Dec 2022

The Power of Sound

Close your eyes and just listen. Even if you aren’t actively thinking about the noises happening around you, your brain is constantly processing sound. That’s because, unlike your eyes, your ears never close. In fact, Northwestern neurobiology professor Nina Kraus, says listening ... Show More

30m 9s

May 2022

Listen Again: Sound And Silence

Original broadcast date: Friday, October 16, 2020. Sound surrounds us, from cacophony even to silence. But depending on how we hear, the world can be a different auditory experience for each of us. This hour, TED speakers explore the science of sound. Guests on the show include N ... Show More

50m 27s

Jun 2022

Relearning Boléro: How our brains rewrite the sounds we hear

In the same way that optical illusions can trick our eyes, auditory illusions can trick our ears. This raises a serious question: what is hearing, and how much of it is actually made up by our brains? In this story from the Unexplainable podcast, we explore how our brains create ... Show More

38m 7s

Feb 2025

Soundtracks of our lives

From our favorite songs to our own voices, we're surrounded by sound all day. But how does all this noise affect our emotions and behavior? This hour, TED speakers explore how sound shapes our lives. Guests include musician and professor of songwriting Scarlet Keys, AI CEO Pierre ... Show More

49m 38s

How do we make sense of the sounds aroun...