Modern turtle shells are almost as diverse as the turtles themselves. Sea turtles have flatter, lighter shells for gliding through the water. Land-dwelling tortoises have domed shells that can slip free of predators' jaws. Leatherback turtles have shells without the ring of bone around the edge. So how did the shell evolve? Judy Cebra-Thomas explores the ancestry of the turtle. [Directed by Cabong Studios, narrated by Bethany Cutmore-Scott, music by Matheus Wittmann].

In May 1940, with the German army ready to occupy Paris, Noor Inayat Khan was faced with a difficult choice: stand on the sidelines or join the Allied forces fighting the Nazis. After witnessing the devastation across Europe, she travelled to England to learn the art of espionage. Shrabani Basu details how a pacifist turned spy helped build the resistance that toppled a fascist regime. [Directed by Franz Palomares, narrated by Bethany Cutmore-Scott, music by Stephen LaRosa].

At a Maryland country fair in 2017, farmers reported feverish hogs with inflamed eyes and running snouts. While farmers worried about the pigs, the department of health was concerned about a group of sick fairgoers. Soon, 40 of these attendees would be diagnosed with swine flu. How can pathogens from one species infect another, and what makes this jump so dangerous? Ben Longdon explains. [Directed by Cabong Studios, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Matheus Wittmann].

Quantum computers could eventually outstrip the computational limits of classical computers. They rely on the behavior of atomic and subatomic particles, whose quantum states are incredibly fragile and easily destroyed— which is why this technology remains largely theoretical. How would quantum computers work, and are they really possible? Chiara Decaroli investigates. [Directed by Artrake Studio, narrated by Christina Greer].

It was a normal Tuesday at the superconductor, until a bug in the system caused your team to be trapped in 11 separate dimensions. Fortunately, there's a half-finished experimental teleportation robot that may be able to get you all home... if you can figure out how to work it. Can you work out the robot's design quirks and get your team back home safely? Dan Finkel shows how. [Directed by Artrake Studio, narrated by Addison Anderson].

Drawing on her research into early childhood development, psychologist Sara Valencia Botto investigates when (and how) children begin to change their behaviors in the presence of others -- and explores what it means for the values we communicate in daily interactions. (Watch for cute footage of sneaky toddlers.)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has gotten more than his fair share of attention from his acting career. But as social media exploded over the past decade, he got addicted like the rest of us -- trying to gain followers and likes only to be left feeling inadequate and less creative. In a refreshingly honest talk, he explores how the attention-driven model of big tech companies impacts our creativity -- and shares a more powerful feeling than getting attention: paying attention.

Desperate to escape his tyrannical father and the family curse he feels doomed to repeat, Haruki Murakami's teenage protagonist renames himself "Kafka" after his favorite author and runs away from home. So begins "Kafka on the Shore"— an epic literary puzzle filled with time travel, hidden histories and magical underworlds. Iseult Gillespie dives into Murakami's mind-bending and whimsical novel. [Directed by Cabong Studios, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Matheus Wittmann].

For the past 20 years, photographer and TED Fellow Jon Lowenstein has documented the migrant journey from Latin America to the United States, one of the largest transnational migrations in world history. Sharing photos from his decade-long project "Shadow Lives USA," Lowenstein takes us into the inner worlds of the families escaping poverty and violence in Central America -- and pieces together the complex reasons people leave their homes in search of a better life.

In a forward-looking talk, author Bina Venkataraman answers a pivotal question of our time: How can we secure our future and do right by future generations? She parses the mistakes we make when imagining the future of our lives, businesses and communities, revealing how we can reclaim our innate foresight. What emerges is a surprising case for hope -- and a path to becoming the "good ancestors" we long to be.