TED Talk // David Gruber: Glow-in-the-dark sharks and other stunning sea creatures

I picked this topic because honestly the ocean freaks me out a lot because only like 5% of the ocean has actually been discovered. I don't know what's in the ocean and that's quite unsettling to me. So any opportunity to learn more about the ocean is right up my ally. This topic really stood out to me because of the glow in the dark factor.

David says there are over 200 species of glow in dark fish. That's a fairly new discovery, before discovering the fish it was only thought that algae and certain coral were glow in the dark. One fish talked about was the seahorse, they have glow in the dark eyes. The next fish was the stingray, which lead to the concept that sharks might be glow in the dark too. Only swell sharks off the coast of California were found to be glow in the dark. Sea turtles also glow in the dark!

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_gruber_glow_in_the_dark_sharks_and_other_stunning_sea_creatures#t-674146

TED Talk // Marla Spivak: Why bees are disappearing

I chose this topic because bees are probably my favorite insect. I would like to keep the bees around because life without bees wouldn't be a great as it is right now. They help keep us alive and provide healthy food for us. It would be quite the shame to lose bees.

Maria begins her talk by describing how bees help pollinate and then says that there is a steady decline the the rate of bees dying. Basically if the bees dye we loose a lot of our food sources. She explains that the decline in bee population happened soon after the war when farming techniques changed and pesticides were added into the equation. The pesticides either are administered too much and kill the bees or basically intoxicate the bee making it unable to find it's way back to the hive. She has presented the solution to go back to more naturalist ways of farming to preserve the bees. We truly need the bees, if they all die our lives will never be the same.

https://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing#t-402474

TED Talk // Lucianne Walkowicz: Let's not use Mars as a backup planet

Lucianne begins her TED talk by talking about the Kepler telescope is space that helps us determine what planets are like and how much light they are getting from their suns, which then determines if the planet is habitable. We are so busy looking at the stars that we are ignoring the changes our very own planet is going through. She says though the more you look for planets like earth it makes your truly appreciate earth.

People are always talking about Mars being a 'back up plan' to earth, but as Lucianne says "compared to earth Mars is a pretty terrible place to live". Mars will not be our saving grace if we continue to destroy this planet that provides us with so much. She explains that maybe if we try to live in the places we deem inhabitable on earth, we can save earth.


I think space exploration is great, but we need to keep our planet and not destroy it because we think that maybe we could live on another planet. I personally think we were given one planet and that's all we got. Like what Lucianne said if we can advance and try to live in less desirable places and be more eco friendly maybe things will change. Life on earth could be better if we make it that way.

https://www.ted.com/talks/lucianne_walkowicz_let_s_not_use_mars_as_a_backup_planet#t-338664

TED Talk // Jessica Ladd: The reporting system that sexual assault survivors want

A majority of sexual assault is never reported or reported long after that assault happened, according to Jessica Ladd. Jessica says that less than 10 % will ever report it. Apparently 90% of sexual assault  happens from repeat offenders and only 6% of offenders actually get jail time when reported to the police. So like whats the point in even reporting it? Here's the point to create a better and safer community for everyone.

Jessica interviewed college survivors to see what resources would be most helpful. They came up with a way to report sexual assault online. This website has many feature like one that can prove you are not alone in your situation.

Since I am personally a victim of sexual assault this cause is very near and dear to my heart. I would love to see this become a more global thing. This website would make it so much easier to come out about sexual assault and feel validated and believed. I would have loved to have had this website at the time of my assault.

TED Talk // Aditi Gupta: A taboo-free way to talk about periods

I chose this TED talk because i think that it is ridiculous that natural bodily function is taboo and more often then not labeled as gross. It is so much of a taboo that many girl are ill informed on what a period even is. I personally blame this on the patriarchy because it is mainly men who are promoting the concept of periods being gross and something that women should be ashamed of for having. A period is a very normal thin g and should be treated so a long with body hair.

Fortunately I am lucky enough to live in such a privileged area that i can get affordable and clean items in aiding my period. Aditi explains that in India it can be so taboo to buy sanitary napkins that people usually just use rags, which can lead to infections and rashes. Living in India she was considered impure and couldn't participate in certain activities because she was on her period. Aditi brings up the fact that this could cause psychological damage and hurt the self esteem greatly.

The next topic she brought up was the fact that most people are ill informed about periods. Partly because since it is a taboo schools nor parents are teaching their daughters. So she and her husband created a comic book to better help girls understand their periods. It made a safe environment for young girls to talk and learn about their periods.

https://www.ted.com/talks/aditi_gupta_a_taboo_free_way_to_talk_about_periods#t-469264

TED Talk // Hannah Brencher: Love letters to strangers

Hannah Brencher has created a company that you can send and receive love letters "when you need it most". The idea of this company came from when she was only college she only communicated with her mother through the mail. Once she graduated college she moved to New York and got depressed so instinctively she began writing letters. Letters for strangers and leaving them places like on the subway she posted on blog about this and got an overwhelmingly positive response and created her company shortly after that. This is wonderful and much like a breath of fresh air considering we grew up in technological word according to Hannah. The love letters leave more of an impact than we think some people need the encouragement.

I wrote about this because this is something i'd live to get involved in. I think that if just writing one letter to a stranger could cause the ripple effects that she presented in her TED talk we need to be writing more handwritten letters to strangers. I'd love to help someone feel loved or even save someone's life.

https://www.ted.com/talks/hannah_brencher_love_letters_to_strangers#t-269358

TED Talk // Tavi Gevinson: A teen just trying to figure it out

I liked this TED Talk especially because it's by a successful girl very close in age to me. I mostly picked this talk because it is pertaining to feminism and I enjoy hearing other's views on feminism.

Tevi started with a fashion blog and eventually moved on to have a website for teen girls about feminism and figuring things out. She begins her talk by presenting the fact that there are not mare strong female roles within the media, like movies. She explains that usually the strong female characters we get in movies tend to lead with their sexuality to represent power, but women are so much more than that. She explains them as flat or cardboard characters, which then sets an expectation for real women to be like that. One thing that I love is that she says flaws are key, what makes a strong female character is that they have weaknesses and they are not perfect. There are not many modern shows that represent women in a great way, some older shows like freaks and geeks are good representations of how women should be portrayed. The last thing that I love about this talk is that Tavi says all women should strive to be Stevie Nicks because she is so unapologetically herself and I love that and Stevie Nicks.


https://www.ted.com/talks/tavi_gevinson_a_teen_just_trying_to_figure_it_out#t-186278