Thanks to some amazing scientific insights, we know a lot about the interior of our planet - even though we’ve never even made it through the crust.

In which Hank celebrates the landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover which you know was pretty freaking cool. So here are the Top Five Coolest Things about the Mars Curiosity Rover!

Hot off the presses, this week has been cool! Researchers have discovered the first room-temperature superconductor, and another group has created a type of paint that actually stays cooler than the environment around it!

In 1967, Homer Loutzenheuser flipped a switch and connected the power grids of the United States, forming one interconnected machine. Today, the US power grid is the world's largest machine, containing more than 7,300...

Majd Mashharawi was walking through her war-torn neighborhood in Gaza when an idea flashed in her mind: What if she could take the rubble and transform it into building materials? See how she designed a brick made out of ashes that's...

As oil and gas companies continue to make record profits off of the same forces driving climate chaos, war and soaring energy bills, it's become clear that boom times for the fossil fuel industry are bad times for the rest of us, says...

Today we're talking the heart and heart throbs -- both literal and those of the televised variety. Hank explains how your heart's pacemaker cells use leaky membranes to generate their own action potentials, and how the resulting...

No matter how we make electricity, it takes up space. Coal requires mines, and plants to convert it into electricity. Nuclear power takes uranium mines, facilities to refine it, a reactor, and a place to store the spent fuel safely....

Nuclear power: the energy crisis has even die-hard environmentalists reconsidering it. In this first-ever TED debate, Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson square off over the pros and cons. A discussion that'll make you think -- and might...

ow do magnets work? Why do they attract and repel at long distances? Is it magic? No... it's quantum mechanics, and a bit more, as we explain in this, the longest MinutePhysics video ever.

Electronic music is older than you may think. Enter the theremin - a device that turns your body into part of a capacitor, and allows you to play music without even touching an instrument!

Have you ever seen static electricity cause a spark of light? What is that spark? What about lightning, the Northern Lights, or the tail of a comet? All of those things and many others _ in fact, 99.9% of the universe -- are made of...

Biochar is a kind of charcoal that removes CO2 from the atmosphere, helping yield healthy crops and even producing abundant renewable energy in the form of electricity as it's made. This exciting climate change fighter is ready for...

In which John Green continues to teach you about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. You'll learn about romantic vs Romantic, the latter of which is a literary movement. John will also look at a few different critical readings of Frankenstein,...

We’ve long thought that electric eels hunt individually…until we discovered a lake where one species hunt, and zap, in packs!

Bill Gross, the founder of Idealab, talks about his life as an inventor, starting with his high-school company selling solar energy plans and kits. Learn here about a groundbreaking system for solar cells -- and some questions we haven't...

What do you and a sack of batteries have in common? Today, Hank explains. -- Table of Contents: Ion Channels Regulate Electrochemistry to Create Action Potential 4:51 Resting State 3:22 Depolarization 6:09 Repolarization 7:35...

We need more solutions for our energy needs, and one idea is straight out of science fiction: Solar panels, in space.

Nearly 350 species of fish have specialized anatomical structures that generate and detect electrical signals. Underwater, where light is scarce, electrical signals offer ways to communicate, navigate, find, and sometimes stun prey. But...

Dihydrogen monoxide (better know as water) is the key to nearly everything. It falls from the sky, makes up 60% of our bodies, and just about every chemical process related to life takes place with it or in it. Without it, none of the...

By dissecting a cockroach ... yes, live on stage ... TED Fellow and neuroscientist Greg Gage shows how brains receive and deliver electric impulses -- and how legs can respond. (Launching a series on Awesome Nature) "The Cockroach...

There's an energy revolution happening in villages and towns across Africa -- off-grid solar energy is becoming a viable alternative to traditional electricity systems. In a bold talk about a true leapfrog moment, Amar Inamdar introduces...

We know we're not supposed to put metal in the microwave, but why? We don't microwave silverware but what about Hot Pocket wrappers? They have metal on the inside. How does that work? Let Michael Aranda explain.

In this video Paul Andersen explains how energy can be harnessed was water moves through a turbine. Three types of systems are discussed in the video; run-of-the-water, impoundment, and tidal. Several advantages and disadvantages of dams...