TED

Sci-fi and fantasy creators often use constructed languages (or conlangs) to help us believe that the characters come from ancient times or distant galaxies. But what happens when a fictional language jumps off the screen and into the real wor…

Sci-fi and fantasy creators often use constructed languages (or conlangs) to help us believe that the characters come from ancient times or distant galaxies. But what happens when a fictional language jumps off the screen and into the real wor…

We’ve all heard the iconic recordings from the Apollo missions. But how exactly does NASA manage to run live audio between Earth and the moon? And how might we chat with astronauts on Mars and beyond? Featuring Astronaut Peggy Whitson, NASA Au…

Technology has the power to transform the way our world sounds. It could even give us entirely new ways to experience our surroundings. In this episode, we explore the sounds of the future, and how can we use the tools we already have to build…

Sound surrounds us, even in the quietest moments. But depending on how we hear, the world can be a different auditory experience for each of us. This episode features four stories from the TED Radio Hour.Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out o…

For hundreds of years, composers have been using a specific four-note melody to evoke death. It’s appeared in dozens of famous movies, and you probably never even realized it. But once you hear it, you’ll start noticing it everywhere. Featurin…

People with perfect or “absolute” pitch hear every single sound as precise musical notes. Is this extraordinary talent a blessing or a curse? In this episode, we dive into the neuroscience, pluses and pitfalls of absolute pitch. Featuring neur…

When you imagine the sound of a dinosaur, you probably think of a scene from the Jurassic Park movies. How do sound designers make these extinct creatures sound so believably alive? And what does modern paleontology tell us about what dinosaur…

In less than two years, Napster became a global sensation… and then record labels and multi-platinum artists brought it crashing down. But in its short lifespan, Napster transformed our ideas about how we consume music, and how much we’re wi…

Musicians like Justin Timberlake, Adele, Björk and Rod Stewart have all had surgery to treat vocal nodes. Nodes are so widely discussed, they’ve almost become a boogeyman in the singing community. But is this condition really as common as peop…

Using artificial intelligence, someone can make an algorithm that sounds just like you. And then they can say… whatever they want you to say. We’re entering a brand new era: One where you can no longer trust your ears. Welcome to the world o…