TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise and fall of the Maya Empire’s most powerful city | Geoffrey E. Braswell
During the 8th century CE, warfare and failing agriculture forced Maya people to move north, to hotter, drier Yucatán. Because of its freshwater access, Chichen Itza became the most powerful Maya city, with nearly 50,000 citizens at its...
TED Talks
TED: The vital data you flush down the toilet | Newsha Ghaeli
Everybody pees and poops — and we know that urine and stool contain a rich source of information on our health, says data detective Newsha Ghaeli. Exploring the growing field of wastewater epidemiology, she shows how studying sewage can...
MinuteEarth
Why We Haven’t Learned More In 101 Years Of Trying
Almost everything we know about the reproductive practices of European eels comes from a genius study conducted more than 100 years ago.
TED Talks
TED: Why helping people makes you happy | Asha Curran
We underestimate the power of our own generous actions, says Asha Curran, CEO of the global generosity movement GivingTuesday. Sharing stories of people making a difference through simple acts of kindness, she shows how generosity, even...
PBS
Was This Dinosaur a Cannibal?
Paleontologists have spent the better part of two decades debating whether Coelophysis ate its own kind. It turns out, the evidence that scientists have had to study in order to answer that question includes some of the strangest and...
PBS
Why Sour May Be The Oldest Taste
While sour taste's original purpose was to warn vertebrates of danger, in a few animal groups, including us, its role has reversed. The taste of danger became something it was dangerous for us to avoid.
TED Talks
TED: Birds aren't real? How a conspiracy takes flight | Peter McIndoe
Peter McIndoe isn't a fan of birds. In fact, he has a theory about them that might shock you. Listen along to this eye-opening talk as it takes a turn and makes a larger point about conspiracies, truth and belonging in divisive times.
TED Talks
TED: Why are we making pizza boxes out of endangered trees? | Nicole Rycroft
If we're going to solve the climate crisis, we need to talk about supply chains, says biodiversity champion and 2023 Audacious Project grantee Nicole Rycroft. Her organization, Canopy, partners with key industry leaders to overhaul their...
SciShow
Hospitals are Hotspots for Antibiotic-resistant Germs
While antibiotics have saved millions of lives, misusing them can speed up how fast bacteria evolve to resist them. And it turns out that one of the biggest hotspots for these antibiotic-resistant bacteria…is hospitals.
SciShow
The Data Explosion | The History of the Internet, Part 3
Nearly twenty years after the dot-com bubble burst, the internet is an essential piece of the modern world, with the public side mostly commanded by a few powerful companies.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The most important century in human history | TED-Ed
Is it possible that this century is the most important one in human history? The 21st century has already proven to be a period of rapid growth. We're on the cusp of developing new technologies that could entirely change the way people...
TED Talks
TED: Why are we so bad at reporting good news? | Angus Hervey
Why is good news so rare? In a special broadcast from the TED stage, journalist Angus Hervey sheds light on some of the incredible progress humanity has made across environmental protection, public health and more in the last year,...
TED Talks
TED: The outlaws of the ocean -- and how we're reeling them in | Tony Long
Pirate fishing, oil spills and other undetected crimes are destroying ocean ecosystems -- but we can't stop what we can't see. Harnessing the power of satellite data and AI to catch maritime offenders in the act, ocean conservation...
TED Talks
TED: How bad data traps people in the US justice system | Clementine Jacoby
Right now, hundreds of thousands of people are "stuck" in the US criminal justice system. They've completed all of their requirements for release, but nobody knows it because the system is run on old databases that don't talk to each...
TED Talks
TED: The massive machines cleaning Earth's atmosphere | Jan Wurzbacher
To restrain global warming, we know we need to drastically reduce pollution. The very next step after that: using both natural and technological solutions to trap as much excess carbon dioxide from the air as possible. Enter Orca, the...
SciShow
How Alchemy Led to Modern-Day Chemistry & Medicine
At the heart of alchemy was the quest to turn ordinary metals into gold. Despite the hopelessness of that goal, alchemists still made a lot of discoveries that formed the foundation of modern chemistry and medicine.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Could a breathalyzer detect cancer? - Julian Burschka
How is it that a breathalyzer can measure the alcohol content in someone’s blood, hours after they had their last drink, based on their breath alone? And could we use this same technology to detect disease by analyzing a person’s breath,...
TED Talks
Julie Cordua: How we can eliminate child sexual abuse material from the internet
Social entrepreneur Julie Cordua works on a problem that isn't easy to talk about: the sexual abuse of children in images and videos on the internet. At Thorn, she's building technology to connect the dots between the tech industry, law...
TED Talks
TED: To save the climate, we have to reimagine capitalism | Rebecca Henderson
Business is screwed if we don't fix climate change, says economist Rebecca Henderson. In this bold talk, she describes how unchecked capitalism destabilizes the environment and harms human health -- and makes the case for companies to...
SciShow
Why Astronomy Hasn't Really Changed Since the 1900s
The way modern researchers study the sky hasn’t really changed in the last few centuries. For the most part, astronomers still study things by analyzing their light.
TED Talks
Taylor Wilson: Yup, I built a nuclear fusion reactor
Taylor Wilson believes nuclear fusion is a solution to our future energy needs, and that kids can change the world. And he knows something about both of those: When he was 14, he built a working fusion reactor in his parents' garage. Now...
TED Talks
Ariana Curtis: Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary
Who deserves to be in a museum? For too long, the answer has been "the extraordinary" -- those aspirational historymakers who inspire us with their successes. But those stories are limiting, says museum curator Ariana Curtis. In a...
PBS
How Much Information is in the Universe?
Billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars, each with .... rather a lot of particles in them. And then there's dark matter, black holes, planets, and the particles and radiation in between the stars and galaxies. But.... is the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of the moon goddess | Cynthia Fay Davis
The sun god was in love with the moon goddess, Ix Chel. But the goddess' grandfather was very possessive, and would not let the sun god anywhere near his beloved granddaughter. Desperate to be together, they escaped and were ready to...