SciShow
How the Ocean Floor Got Filled with Riches
Deep below the surface, the ocean floor is full of riches. There’s gold, iron, and lots of other rare, precious metals. What kind of geochemical processes can leave loot all over the seafloor?
SciShow
3 Unexpected Dangers of Space Travel
We all know space travel is pretty dangerous, but here are a few more things that you probably wouldn't have thought to look out for!
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What's a smartphone made of? - Kim Preshoff
As of 2018, there are around 2.5 billion smartphone users in the world. If we broke open all the newest phones and split them into their component parts, that would produce around 85,000 kg of gold, 875,000 of silver, and 40,000,000 of...
Crash Course Kids
What's My Property
What exactly can we tell about an unknown substance by it's properties. We already know that a substance is matter that’s made of one kind of atom or molecule, and that has specific properties and that some substances are elements, which...
TED Talks
Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy
What's the key to using alternative energy, like solar and wind? Storage -- so we can have power on tap even when the sun's not out and the wind's not blowing. In this accessible, inspiring talk, Donald Sadoway takes to the blackboard to...
SciShow
Mining Asteroids for Space Treasure!
In the quest to build colonies in space, one major hurdle to overcome getting materials for construction to the places they'll be needed. One of the most promising techniques for solving this problem involves some extraordinary space...
MinuteEarth
The Plant That’s Full Of Metal
The amount of metal some special plants are able to take up from the soil would be toxic enough to an average plant to kill it several times over.
SciShow
Dark Matter is Slowing Down the Milky Way
The effects of dark matter on galaxies is a mystifying and difficult thing to study, but the Milky Way's galactic bar might present an exciting way to quantify how much of it exists!
TED Talks
TED: Mining minerals from seawater | Damian Palin
The world needs clean water, and more and more, we're pulling it from the oceans, desalinating it, and drinking it. But what to do with the salty brine left behind? In this intriguing short talk, TED Fellow Damian Palin proposes an idea:...
SciShow
Making a Realistic Simulation of the Sun
We’ve created simulations to recreate the difference in time it takes for the Sun’s equator and poles to complete rotations, and the way we’ve solved is a bit surprising. And it looks like the Milky Way may not be great at mixing metals,...
SciShow
We Still Can't Find the First Stars in the Universe | SciShow News
Astronomers looking farther back in time than ever before are giving us a better idea of what the early universe must have been like, and we've identified another of the mysterious ultraluminous X-ray pulsars.
SciShow
Can You Burn Metal?
You know metal can get really hot, and you probably know that it can melt. But can it burn? Hank shows you how you can burn a hunk of metal like you're some kinda superhero (just be careful, please), and he explains how, in chemistry,...
Bozeman Science
Ionic Solids
In this video Paul Andersen explains how ionic solids form a lattice between cations and anions. According the Coulomb's Law the lattice energy increases as the ions carry a larger charge and are smaller. Some of the properties of ionic...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What is metallic glass? - Ashwini Bharathula
Steel and plastic are essential to much of our infrastructure and technology. Steel is strong and hard, but difficult to shape intricately. Plastic can take on just about any form, but it's weak and soft. Wouldn't it be nice if there...
SciShow
Do You Need a Copper Pot?
Some chefs swear by copper pots and pans, but they are much more expensive than other materials. Are they worth it? Well, it all comes down to electrons!
SciShow
Why Haven't We Built a Better Battery?
Improving batteries is a tough problem, but it’s also an important one because in many ways the future of our planet also depends on the future of batteries. Luckily, scientists are on the case, figuring out ways to give this essential...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Magical metals, how shape memory alloys work - Ainissa Ramirez
From robots to braces to the Mars Rover, see how a special kind of metal called shape memory alloys advance technology in everyday ways that we don't always realize.
Crash Course
Alchemy: History of Science
In fantasy stories, charlatans in fancy robes promise to turn lead into gold. But real alchemists weren’t just mystical misers. They were skilled experimentalists, backed by theories of matter. And they played a huge role in the...
SciShow
The Science of Flint's Water Crisis
The water crisis in Flint, Michigan is a prime example of science being ignored, unknown, or even misused. Here's the chemistry behind how so many things went wrong.
Crash Course
Metals & Ceramics: Crash Course Engineering #19
Today we’ll explore more about two of the three main types of materials that we use as engineers: metals and ceramics. We’ll discuss properties of metals, alloys, ceramics, clay, cement, and glass-ceramic materials. We’ll also look at...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The infamous overpopulation bet: Simon vs. Ehrlich | Soraya Field Fiorio
In 1980, Paul Ehrlich and Julian Simon bet $1,000 on a question with stakes that couldn't be higher: would the earth run out of resources to sustain a growing human population? They bet $200 on the price of five metals. If the price of a...
Crash Course
The Polymer Explosion Crash Course Engineering 20
We're continuing our look at engineering materials with third main type of material that you'll encounter as an engineer: polymers. They're made of long, repeating chains of smaller molecules known as monomers and today we'll explore...
SciShow
Why Can't You Bring Mercury Thermometers on Planes?
Mercury thermometers are handy and useful, but they could be extremely dangerous to bring on planes.