Day 4 of TED2025 was a jaw-dropping tour of everything from the “girl internet” to what homes could look like in outer space. Learn more about how babies’ minds work, why voting by phone might be the reboot democracy needs and a future where roads can mend their own cracks.Internet, politics and power. Digital strategist and activist Deja Foxx welcomes us to the “girl internet” — the new ecosystem of platforms, built by and for women, that prioritize safety, ownership and respect. These platforms, including Lore, Sunroom and Diem, offer a powerful alternative to traditional tech spaces and point towards an internet grounded in equity and empowerment. Also working in the realm of digital strategy, Bradley Tusk introduces Mobile Voting, a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative working to make voting easier — by letting you vote on your phone. He makes the case that secure, accessible phone voting could dramatically increase turnout and restore function, representation and trust in democracy.
Tapping into the brain and body’s natural ability to heal. Dean Ornish is a pioneer of lifestyle medicine, which shows that a healthy lifestyle — eating well, moving more, stressing less, loving more — can often begin to reverse many common chronic diseases. He describes his latest groundbreaking clinical trials, indicating that patients with early Alzheimer’s who adopted lifestyle changes showed significant improvement or stabilization of the disease — something no drug has achieved. In a related vein, interventional neuropsychiatrist Nolan Williams shares his research into the medical potential of plant-derived psychedelics. The research is in very early days, but the compound he works on shows promise to treat addiction, PTSD and depression. The message? Healing is possible when we treat the whole person, not just the symptoms.
Ideas from nature to address big challenges. Materials scientist Mark Miodownik envisions a future of “animate materials” that can self-repair, self-recycle and even self-grow, potentially revolutionizing our infrastructure and reducing waste. Taking inspiration from nature’s ability to heal and adapt, he showcases innovations like self-healing concrete and roads that can mend their own cracks. Taking natural cues in a different direction, produce protector Jenny Du tackles food waste by mimicking nature’s own preservation methods. Her company, Apeel Sciences, has developed a plant-based coating that extends the shelf life of produce without refrigeration or plastic packaging, reducing food waste and opening up possibilities for a more diverse and accessible global food supply.
