Beyond our galaxy, there is much more to be discovered. Learn how we explore the universe with talks that are definitely out of this world.

Get a bird's eye view of Earth's mesmerizing beauty, from the sky and outer space.

The answer is satellites, stars, planets, asteroids and maybe even aliens.

Tune into TED Fellow and multidisciplinary artist Paul Rucker's eerie, textured cello piece "Giving Space: Reflecting on the Past Few Years."

Singer Amanda Palmer pays tribute to the inimitable David Bowie with a cover of "Space Oddity." She's joined onstage by Jherek Bischoff, TED Fellow Usman Riaz and, no, your eyes are not deceiving you, none other than former Vice President Al Gore.

Sure, we're looking beyond the planet to other worlds we may one day inhabit -- but a lot of this technology we've developed can be used for the good of the Earth, too.

Astronauts aboard the space station Mir made a frightening discovery: several species of Earth-derived fungi were found growing throughout the shuttle, blanketing air conditioners and corroding control panels, putting both the station’s integrity and their lives at risk. How had the fungi survived the journey to space? Shannon Odell shares why f...

Legendary sculptor Antony Gormley riffs on space and the human form. His works explore the interior space we feel within our own bodies -- and the exterior space we feel around us, knowing that we are just dots in space and time.

In this short talk, TED Fellow Sarah Parcak introduces the field of "space archaeology" -- using satellite images to search for clues to the lost sites of past civilizations.

Mars is humanity's next destination. We keep talking about it, but what would it really be like to live there?

As manager of the Rosetta mission, Fred Jansen is in charge of the project that could be instrumental in uncovering clues to the origins of life on Earth.

Appreciate your space in new ways with these fun, insightful talks that will help guide you in redesigning the place you call home.

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik and, with it, an international space race. The United States and the Soviet Union rushed to declare dominance of space for 18 years, until the two countries agreed to a more collaborative model. The real winner? Science. Jeff Steers describes the history -- and the benefits -- o...

Examine how the shape and angles of your surroundings can deeply influence the way you interact with the space and people around you.

Imagine a scientist who has teleported to space. His spacesuit’s pressurized air protects his bodily fluids from vaporization, its oxygen tank keeps him breathing, and the insulation prevents him from freezing. But although these features thwart an immediate tragedy, space is still an incredibly dangerous place. So, what does a prolonged stay in...

Who's liable if a passenger is injured on the first spacecraft to take tourists off-planet? For that matter, what's the legal definition of a spacecraft? Professor of space law Frans von der Dunk deploys lawyer jokes and policy critiques to illustrate how the world is woefully unprepared for the legal implications of space travel.

"Most of what we send into outer space never comes back," says astrodynamicist and TED Fellow Moriba Jah. In this forward-thinking talk, Jah describes the space highways orbiting earth and how they're mostly populated by space junk. Learn more about his quest to develop and scale the world's first crowdsourced space traffic monitoring system -- ...

Stressed about what you want to study? Let these guide you down a path of inspiration and passion in fields from mathematics to space archaeology.

"We will start inhabiting outer space," says Angelo Vermeulen, crew commander of a NASA-funded Mars simulation. "It might take 50 years or it might take 500 years, but it's going to happen." In this charming talk, the TED Senior Fellow describes some of his official work to make sure humans are prepared for life in deep space ... and shares a fa...

At Planet, Will Marshall leads overall strategy for commercializing new geospatial data and analytics that are disrupting agriculture, mapping, energy, the environment and other vertical markets.

If you were to orbit the Earth, you'd experience the feeling of free fall, not unlike what your stomach feels before a big dive on a roller coaster. With a little help from Sir Isaac Newton, Matt J. Carlson explains the basic forces acting on an astronaut and why you probably shouldn't try this one at home. [Directed by Josh Harris, narrated by ...

Sending rockets into space requires sacrificing expensive equipment, burning massive amounts of fuel, and risking potential catastrophe. So in the space race of the 21st century, some engineers are abandoning rockets for something more exciting: elevators. What would it take to build such a structure? Fabio Pacucci explores the physics behind mo...

Why would a spacefaring organization like NASA be looking down at the ocean's microscopic ecosystem? Bridget Seegers of NASA's Ocean Ecology Lab explains why, delving into the ways plankton serve as a barometer for Earth's health while influencing everything from human health to our food supply.

For those times when living a life far beyond our planet looks a little too appealing.

We're in the dawn of a new space revolution, says engineer Peter Beck: the revolution of the small. In a talk packed with insights into the state of the space industry, Beck shares his work building rockets capable of delivering small payloads to space rapidly and reliably -- helping us search for extraterrestrial life, learn more about the sola...

TED Fellow Miho Janvier studies the the Sun -- in particular the origin of phenomena called "solar storms" which can impact planets in the solar system.

A thoughtful walk-through on what it takes to design spaces for quiet moments of reflection.

Tweeting (and covering Bowie) from the International Space Station last year, Colonel Chris Hadfield reminded the world how much we love space.

In the spectacular large-scale projects he's famous for (such as "Waterfalls" in New York harbor), Olafur Eliasson creates art from a palette of space, distance, color and light. This idea-packed talk begins with an experiment in the nature of perception.

Dan Berkenstock and his team at Skybox Imaging are rethinking how to take photographs from space.