SciShow
Room Temperature Is A Lie
An entire field of science is dedicated to identifying the perfect indoor temperature. And it's a lot more complicated than simply setting the thermostat to 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit).
SciShow
Our Galaxy May Be 10 Times Bigger Than We Thought
The Milky Way is often described as measuring 100,000 light years across and containing the mass of a trillion Suns. But our home galaxy is actually far bigger, and might be much less massive. Astronomers aren't sure what the exact stats...
SciShow
The Metal Claw Hiding in Your Food
Have you ever seen "calcium disodium EDTA" on an ingredients label and wondered what it's doing in your food? As it turns out, ethylenediamene triacetate is an important preservative that's helping to preserve your food. It's totally...
SciShow
The Rock That's Helping Us Find the Origin of Life
Epidote might just look like a pretty little crystal, but it has a secret. thanks to the high-pressure circumstances where it forms, we can use it to help us uncover the origins of life on our planet, and maybe even find signs of life on...
SciShow
Were Humans Destined to Exist?
This is a snippet of a larger conversation taking place on Crash Course Pods: The Universe. Over 11 episodes, John Green and Katie Mack walk through the entire history of the universe…even the parts that aren’t written yet.
SciShow
Why NASA Put The Moon In A Pool
NASA has been using swimming pools to train astronauts since the 1960s. The largest is the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), which holds roughly 9 olympic pools worth of water and has contained not just mockups of space station and...
SciShow
We Discovered a New Natural Cycle!
So we all know about the carbon cycle, and the water cycle, and maybe even the nitrogen cycle. But new research has figured out there's a salt cycle, too. Problem is, that same research has found that we already broke it. Here's what...
SciShow
How Pandas Got Such a Bad Reputation
Look, we've all heard the rumors that giant pandas are an evolutionary dead end. But we are here to set the record straight and show you that these adorable fluff balls are a lot tougher than they seem.
SciShow
The Rare Disorder That Turns Everyone Else Into Demons
Prosopometamorphopsia is an extremely rare disorder of facial processing that makes other people's faces look demonic or seem to melt. But in the process of treating these people, we can also learn how our brain understands what a face...
SciShow
These Birds’ Nests Are Terrible for a Reason
Some birds' nests are works of art. These are not those. But we'll see why the terrible nesting habits of the cuckoo or jacana or even pigeons are the right thing for their survival.
SciShow
The Surprisingly Useful Physics of Desk Toys
How do Newton's Cradles connect to cancer treatments? Let's unpack the physics of some of our favorite desk toys, from dippy birds to perpetual motion machines, and explore how these scientific principles can be used beyond an office desk.
SciShow
Can an Equation Really Tell Us How Many Aliens Exist?
In 1961, the astronomer Frank Drake wrote down what is now known as the Drake Equation. It's so important to the culture surrounding the search for extraterrestrial life that scientists have carved it into the upcoming Europa Clipper...
SciShow
Why City Birds Love Cigarettes
Urban birds like house finches and house sparrows are great at finding materials to repel pests and parasites from their nests. Unfortunately, one of those materials is used cigarette butts.
SciShow
When Did We Start Getting Cavities?
You would think that without dentists and fluoride mouthwash, early humans would have terrible teeth. But tooth decay depends on access to sugars and starches -- meaning most early humans had decent teeth up until the Agricultural...
SciShow
The World's Oldest Recipes
If you could throw a potluck with all the oldest foods in the world, what would you bring? We asked ourselves that question and prepared a menu of tasty snacks for you to consider, from tamales and noodles to our favorite ancient boozes....
SciShow
This Blood Test Predicts Your Future
There's a lot of interest in knowing your future when you're a kid. But one thing you can know with basically 100% certainty isn't one you'd expect - your risk of developing type one diabetes. So if one simple blood test can tell you if...
SciShow
Scientists Let Bees Land in their Eyes
When it comes to a beverage menu, I don't usually want to see "tears" on the list. But these three animals do, including bees whose favorite drink is human tears!
SciShow
7 Ways Humans Change Color
We're all used to our bodies being more or less the color they always are. But there are a few different medical reason you may be seeing rainbow in the mirror, from benign to medically concerning. Here's just some of the reasons that...
SciShow
This Animal Lays Eggs AND Has Live Young
You might think that an animal either lays eggs or has live young. But these species prove it's a lot more complicated than that.
SciShow
These Animals Actually LIKE Getting Caught
Even when animal traps are humane, it seems pretty obvious that animals wouldn't want to get caught. But sometimes, there are oddballs that love getting trapped. Here's what we know about what can make some animals so darn trap happy.
SciShow
How To Clear Icy Roads, With Science
Icy roads are a huge hazard, and typical methods of de-icing them can be pretty toxic to wildlife. Which is why researchers have been so fixated on finding better alternatives, from brine to pig pee.
SciShow
Pyrotherapy: An Awful Nobel Prize for Infecting People with Malaria
Malaria vs. Neurosyphilis: the story of an unethical experiment, and its mysterious conclusions
TED Talks
TED: The billion-dollar problem in education | Tanishia Lavette Williams
Standardized testing is deeply woven into the fabric of US education, but does it foster genuine learning? Educator Tanishia Lavette Williams sheds light on the racial biases, financial costs and limited effectiveness of this kind of...
TED Talks
TED: The miracle of organ donation — and a breakthrough for the future | Abbas Ardehali
Organ transplants save lives, but they come with challenges: every minute a healthy donated organ is on ice increases risk. And even if things go perfectly, rejection of the organ is still possible. Cardiothoracic surgeon Abbas Ardehali...