The events of 9/11 left a nation in shock. The devastation that occurred on that day lives in the heart of each American. The country, paralyzed with questions, tried to heal and rationalize the complexity of such an atrocity. One man followed his personal questioning and took actions that led him on a trip he will not soon forget. Journalist Lawrence Wright explored the moral dilemmas he experienced as he researched Al-Qaeda and the road that lead to the 9/11 tragedy. Lawrence Wright is the Pulitzer...

At TED2010, Bill Gates unveils his vision for the world's energy future, describing the need for "miracles" to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he's backing a dramatically different type of nuclear reactor. The necessary goal? Zero carbon emissions globally by...

The inside story on transcending the brain, with David Lynch, Award-winning film director of Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mullholland Drive, Inland Empire; John Hagelin, Ph.D., Quantum physicist featured in “What the bleep do we know?;” And Fred Travis, Ph.D., Director, Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition Maharishi University of Management. Credits: producers:UC Berkeley Educational Technology Services, speaker: David Lynch, speaker: John Hagelin, Ph.D., speaker: Fred Travis,...

Thomas M. Jessell, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, examines the neural circuits that control our movements. Neural circuits give us a glimpse of how brain wiring and circuit activity control specific behaviors, including the movement of our limbs. Consider baseball player Lou Gehrig's remarkable hand-eye coordination, or the purity of cellist Jacqueline du Pré's tone. Yet, both examples also remind us of the fragility of the motor system: Gehrig succumbed to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and du Pré...

In this short 10 minute video, neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know...

Get ready to re-think your ideas of reality. Join UCSD physicist Kim Griest as he takes you on a fascinating excursion, addressing some of the massive efforts and tantalizing bits of evidence which suggest that what goes on in empty space determines the properties of the three-dimensional existence we know and love, and discusses how that reality may be but the wiggling of strings from other...

In this remarkable documentary Distorted Morality, Noam Chomsky offers a riveting but devastating critique of America’s current war on terror arguing, in fact, that it is a logistical impossibility for such a war to be taking place. Professor Chomsky presents his reasoning with astonishing and refreshing clarity, drawing from a wealth of historical knowledge and analysis. “Only those who are entirely ignorant of modern history will be surprised by the course of events, or by the justifications that are...

Lawrence Krauss gives a talk on our current picture of the universe, how it will end, and how it could have come from nothing. Krauss is the author of many bestselling books on Physics and Cosmology, including “The Physics of Star Trek.” If you’ve ever wanted to answer that annoying question, “how could the Universe have formed from nothing”, then watch this video. Lawrence Krauss is funny, informative, and if you watch the entire video (it’s over an hour long, so you might need to pause it a...

In this lecture, Dr. Russell Blaylock explains one of the most important connections between nutrition and our health, how nutrition affects our behavior. Citing a series of important studies, he shows that good nutrition can powerfully enhance our memory, mood, and behavior in a socially desirable way. Like wise he shows us that poor nutrition can lead our youth into a world of violence, crime, depression and suicide. By using an impressive array of studies on both juvenile and adult prisoners, Dr. Blaylock...