In 4 minutes, atmospheric chemist Rachel Pike provides a glimpse of the massive scientific effort behind the bold headlines on climate change, with her team -- one of thousands who contributed -- taking a risky flight over the rainforest in pursuit of data on a key molecule.

Beijing based photographer Stefen Chow invites us to look beyond the flat surface of the photograph through his aerial explorations of playgrounds, otherworldly depictions of mountain heights and the faces of the famous and powerful among us. Our human eyes see the world as perfectly textured and layered, the near and the distant equally focused. However, when this same world is interpreted beneath a paintbrush or through a camera lens, we expect some of this perfection be sacrificed or changed either by design or necessity. Not so for Beijing based photographer Stefen Chow. Stefen’s award-winning photographs draw us in with nearly impossible clarity, his delicate balance of light and shadow allowing us to almost see beyond the flat surface. Stefen’s work includes aerial explorations of playgrounds, otherworldly depictions of mountain heights and the faces of the famous and powerful among us. He has also gone deeper into his subjects, exploring ways to understand poverty through his“The Poverty Line”global visual project. Stefen’s gift to us is to allow us to see beyond our own eyes, inviting us to peer beyond the surfaces of our world, and each other. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx