MinuteEarth
Why You Can't Build A Clone Army... (Yet)
Because of the way genetic reprogramming works, it’s hard to make one clone based on an adult cell, and it’s almost impossible to make a second-generation one.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How long will human impacts last? - David Biello
Imagine aliens land on Earth a million years from now. What will these curious searchers find of us? They will find what geologists, scientists, and other experts are increasingly calling the Anthropocene, or new age of mankind. David...
MinuteEarth
Is There A Better Way To Power Airplanes?
It’s hard to replace jet fuel because the alternatives aren’t energetic enough, are too dangerous, or aren’t yet being made at scale.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Do we really need pesticides? - Fernan Perez-Galvez
Annually, we shower over 5 billion pounds of pesticides across the Earth to control insects, unwanted weeds, funguses, rodents, and bacteria that may threaten our food supply. But is it worth it, knowing what we do about the associated...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How do nuclear power plants work? - M. V. Ramana and Sajan Saini
Our ability to mine great amounts of energy from uranium nuclei has led some to bill nuclear power as a plentiful, utopian source of electricity. But rather than dominate the global electricity market, nuclear power has declined from a...
MinuteEarth
The Super Secrets of Sewage
In 2020, many cities started monitoring wastewater for viruses, and there are a lot of non-virus reasons to keep doing it.
Bozeman Science
Biogeochemical Cycles
In this video Paul Andersen explains how biogeochemical cycles move required nutrients through the abiotic and biotic spheres on our planet. Matter on the Earth is conserved so producers must receive required nutrients through the water...
Bozeman Science
Air Pollution
In this video Paul Andersen explains how air pollution is any chemicals in the atmosphere that negatively affect human health. Primary pollutants (like CO, VOCs, NOx, SO2, PM, and Lead) as well as secondary pollutants (like Ozone, nitric...
MinuteEarth
Extreme Weather | MinuteEarth Explains
In this collection of classic MinuteEarth videos, we take a look at some of the most extreme weather on Earth and its consequences.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Climate change: Earth's giant game of Tetris - Joss Fong
There's a game of Tetris happening on a global scale: The playing space is planet Earth, and all those pesky, stacking blocks represent carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas that is piling up ever more rapidly as we burn the fossil fuels...
MinuteEarth
The Fastest-Growing Plant In The World
Bamboo is the world’s fastest growing plant thanks to the cell elongation process it shares with all grasses and its unique cell wall layering adaptation, allowing it to shoot up to 100 ft (30m) in just 8 weeks.
Bozeman Science
Stratospheric Ozone
In this video Paul Andersen explains how stratospheric ozone protects humans from ultraviolet light. He explains how stratospheric ozone is formed when diatomic oxygen absorbs an ultraviolet photon and is split into two free oxygen...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why wildfires are necessary - Jim Schulz
Our early ancestors relied on lightning to cause forest fires, from which they could collect coals and burning sticks to help them cook food and clear land. Yet, it wasn't just humans who benefited from these natural phenomena. Even as...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: When is water safe to drink? - Mia Nacamulli
Water is refreshing, hydrating, and invaluable to your survival. But clean water remains a precious and often scarce commodity - there are nearly 800 million people who still don't have regular access to it. Why is that? And how can you...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: From the top of the food chain down: Rewilding our world - George Monbiot
Our planet was once populated by megafauna, big top-of-the-food-chain predators that played their part in balancing our ecosystems. When those megafauna disappear, the result is a "trophic cascade," where every part of the ecosystem...
MinuteEarth
The Best Worst Energy Source
Although coal is such an amazing energy source that we've kept using it despite the harm it causes, today we may be better poised to stop using it than at any previous time in history.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Fresh water scarcity: An introduction to the problem - Christiana Z. Peppard
Fresh water is essential for life -- and there's not nearly enough of it for the world right now. Why is that, and what could we do? Christiana Z. Peppard lays out the big questions of our global water problem. And no, shorter showers...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Where did Earth's water come from? - Zachary Metz
Water covers over 70% of the Earth, cycling from the oceans and rivers to the clouds and back again. It even makes up about 60% of our bodies. But in the rest of the solar system, liquid water is almost impossible to find. So how did our...
MinuteEarth
Why Biodiversity Is Good For The Economy
Research suggests that more diverse ecosystems are better for the bottom line.
Bozeman Science
Nuclear Energy
In this video Paul Andersen explains how nuclear energy is released during fission of radioactive uranium. Light water reactors, nuclear waste, and nuclear accidents are also discussed along with the future of nuclear energy.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Can 100% renewable energy power the world? - Federico Rosei and Renzo Rosei
Every year, the world uses 35 billion barrels of oil. This massive scale of fossil fuel dependence pollutes the earth, and it won't last forever. On the other hand, we have abundant sun, water and wind, which are all renewable energy...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Are we running out of clean water? - Balsher Singh Sidhu
Despite water covering 71% of the planet’s surface, more than half the world’s population endures extreme water scarcity for at least one month a year. Current estimates predict that by 2040, up to 20 more countries could be experiencing...
MinuteEarth
Why Doesn't All Thunder Sound The Same?
We've all experienced thunder, but what ARE all those claps, booms, and rumbles?
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The amazing ways plants defend themselves - Valentin Hammoudi
Plants are constantly under attack. They face threats ranging from microscopic fungi to small herbivores like caterpillars, up to large herbivores like elephants. But plants are ready, with a whole series of internal and external...