TED Talks
Interstellar Discoveries and the Quest for Cosmic Humility
Astrophysicist Avi Loeb contrasts the ancient awe that Moses felt when witnessing the burning bush with modern humanity's overconfidence since Nietzsche's declaration that "God is dead." He argues that the rise of science and technology...
TED Talks
An Astrophysicist on a Mission to Uncover the Secrets of Space
In the past decade, astronomers have discovered interstellar objects, including a 2014 meteor that collided with Earth and 'Oumuamua in 2017. These objects, moving too fast to be bound by the Sun's gravity, have sparked questions about...
TED Talks
Beyond the Stars: Embracing Curiosity and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Astrophysicist Avi Loeb believes we are likely not alone in the universe. He criticizes the approach of simply waiting for contact through radio signals, suggesting instead that we should actively search for evidence of other life. He...
PBS
New book details U.S. government’s UFO investigations and search for alien life
Since the 1940s, unidentified flying objects have been a part of our nation’s cultural phenomena. But for the U.S. government, UFOs have been a mystery and something the military has been investigating for decades. Amna Nawaz discussed...
SciShow
The Future of the Search for Life
Astronomers have found more than 5,000 planets in the last three decades, but that’s not nearly as exciting as potentially coming across the first extraterrestrial creatures. And we may finally be in a position to make that discovery.
PBS
Venus May Have Life!
If you rank the most habitable places in our solar system Venus lands pretty low, with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead and sulphuric acid rain. And yet it may have just jumped to the front of the pack. In fact, we may have...
PBS
How to Find ALIEN Dyson Spheres
On our search for alien lifeforms we scan for primitive biosignatures, and wait and hope for their errant signals to happen by the Earth. But that may not be the best way. Any energy-hungry civilization more advanced than our own may...
PBS
Could LIGO Find MASSIVE Alien Spaceships?
Whenever we open a new window on the universe, we discover things that no one expected. Our newfound ability to measure ripples in the fabric of spacetime—gravitational waves—is a very new window, and so far we’ve seen a lot of wild...
PBS
What If Humanity Is Among The First Spacefaring Civilizations?
Half of the universe is filled with expansionist alien civilizations, and it’s only a matter of time before they’ll reach us. OK, that sounded a little sensationalist. But it’s also the conclusion of a recent astrophysics paper. Let’s...
Be Smart
Is This Why We Haven’t Found Alien Civilizations? | STELLAR
Looking up at the stars makes you wonder: what and who is out there? And why haven’t we seen any other intelligent civilizations given the vast size and age of the universe? They’re complicated questions and although we haven’t met any...
Be Smart
Is There Life on Earth?
If we lived light years from Earth, how would we know there’s life here? Let’s take a look at the search for extraterrestrial life on habitable exoplanets, and discover what biosignatures would show someone else that we’re here.
TED Talks
TED: The marvels and mysteries revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope | Heidi Hammel and Nadia Drake
From favorite moons to the search for alien life, astronomer Heidi Hammel discusses the latest in astronomy and the breakthrough innovations behind her work with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. In conversation with science journalist...
MinutePhysics
How to Tell Matter From Antimatter | CP Violation & The Ozma Problem
This video was made with the support of the Heising Simons Foundation. This video is about the Ozma problem of distinguishing the chirality (ie left-handedness or right-handedness) of matter using weak interaction processes like beta...
SciShow
Maybe Life Doesn't Need Water, After All
Scientists have been searching for alien life by honing in on the existence of liquid water, but we might be overlooking some types of life out there that doesn't need water at all.
Crash Course
Everything, The Universe ...And Life
Here it is, folks: the end. In our final episode of Crash Course Astronomy, Phil gives the course a send off with a look at some of his favorite topics and the big questions that Astronomy allows us to ask.
Crash Course
Aliens: Crash Course Film Criticism
James Cameron rocketed onto the action film scene with 1984's "The Terminator" and followed that up with a highly anticipated sequel to the 1979 film, "Alien." His film, "Aliens," would go on to not only be a financial success, but a...
SciShow Kids
Are Aliens Real?
Have you ever wondered if aliens exist? You're not alone! Learn about what alien life needs to survive in the universe!
SciShow
How Intergalactic Particles Are Attacking Your Laptop
In the early 1980s IBM engineers had a hard time to to figure out inexplicable computer module failures in Denver, Colorado. When they finally cracked the puzzle, the cause turned out to be otherworldly.
PBS
Will We Ever Find Alien Life?
The silence of the galaxy and the resulting Fermi Paradox has perplexed us for nearly 50 years. But our most recent surveys of the Milky Way finally allow us to draw scientific conclusions about the depressingly persistent absence of...
SciShow
Weird! Signal' Mystery Solved!
Where did astronomers finally conclude that the 'Weird! Signal' was coming from? What has Elon Musk been up to with SpaceX and the Falcon Heavy rocket?
SciShow
A Song of Ice and New Species
Hank shares losses and finds this week, including a huge amount of Antarctic ice that’s lost for good, and 10 cool new species that are last year’s top finds.
PBS
Space Used to Be Orange!!
As long as we've been around, YES. But the universe gets much more exciting, AND much BRIGHTER, as we start winding our clocks back to the early days of the universe. Near the beginning of the universe, when space was rapidly expanding,...
SciShow
Would Aliens Be Able to See Earth?
Scientists have worked out how likely it is that distant planets can see earth, and we are learning new ways to study the magnetic fields of galaxies.
PBS
How to Signal Aliens
Everyone has their own opinion as to whether or not aliens exist. But let's assume they do for a second and we wanted to let them know we're here!!!! How should we signal our species' existence through the expanse of space? There are a...