SciShow
Why Does the Ocean Smell Like That?
What gives the ocean its distinct, sometimes pungent smell? It turns out the answer is more than just dead fish or salt: it’s the scent of tons of phytoplankton being munched on!
TED Talks
Peter Ward: A theory of Earth's mass extinctions
Asteroid strikes get all the coverage, but "Medea Hypothesis" author Peter Ward argues that most of Earth's mass extinctions were caused by lowly bacteria. The culprit, a poison called hydrogen sulfide, may have an interesting...
SciShow
Why Some Frozen Lakes Catch Fire
Did you know that, despite their serene, picturesque appearance, some frozen lakes can catch fire? Why are climate scientists studying the explosive gas bubbles trapped in lake ice?
SciShow
The Gulf of California's Upside-Down Mirror Pools | Weird Places
For upside-down mirrors, super hot volcanic chimneys, and neon rocks with living microorganisms, look no further than the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California.
TED Talks
TED: A forgotten Space Age technology could change how we grow food | Lisa Dyson
We're heading for a world population of 10 billion people -- but what will we all eat? Lisa Dyson rediscovered an idea developed by NASA in the 1960s for deep-space travel, and it could be a key to reinventing how we grow food.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Human sperm vs. the sperm whale - Aatish Bhatia
Traveling is extremely arduous for microscopic sperm -- think of a human trying to swim in a pool made ofother humans. We can compare the journey of a sperm to that of a sperm whale by calculating the Reynolds number, a prediction of how...
SciShow
The Strange Case of the Missing Sunscreen Gene
If you've ever spent too much time in the sun and forgotten to put on sunscreen, you know how painful a sunburn can be. But for some animals, forgetting the sunscreen wouldn't be a problem because they can just produce their own!
SciShow
It’s Probably Not Aliens on Venus… But It Could Be | SciShow News
Is there life on Venus? If there is, it would have to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen! New evidence means the possibility of life there is in question, but it could also mean a few other things.
SciShow
Why You Might Want Someone Else's Poop Inside You
Donating your blood could save someone's life. And so could donating your poop.
SciShow
These 'Fossilized Brains' Might Not Be Brains At All
A new study calls the claims of fossilized brains into question, and another finds ichthyosaurs might have been bigger than our current champions, the blue whales.
SciShow
Why Mars Rovers Don't Study Water
Rovers like Curiosity search for life on Mars using rock and soil samples, but why don't they examine liquid or frozen water?
TED Talks
Jaap de Roode: How butterflies self-medicate
Just like us, the monarch butterfly sometimes gets sick thanks to a nasty parasite. But biologist Jaap de Roode noticed something interesting about the butterflies he was studying — infected female butterflies would choose to lay their...
TED Talks
Heather Barnett: What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime
Inspired by biological design and self-organizing systems, artist Heather Barnett co-creates with physarum polycephalum, a eukaryotic microorganism that lives in cool, moist areas. What can people learn from the semi-intelligent slime...
SciShow
The Strange, Smelly Science of Decomposing Bodies
How is it we know so much of decomposition? The smelly truth? - Body Farms! Michael Aranda explains what happens after you die and how eventually you turn back into dust.
SciShow
Spotted One of the Fastest Pulsars Ever Seen SciShow News.mp4
Astronomers have found a new celestial object, and it's moving really, really fast!
SciShow
What to Do With All This Space Poo?
There are so many things we can do with poo! Waste is the enemy in matters of space exploration, but there are plenty of ways to use that waste to help make a mission successful.
MinuteEarth
Why Don't More Animals Eat Wood?
Wood is abundant and full of energy, but outside of some insects, almost no animals eat it because the stuff it's made of is hard to break down
TED Talks
TED: When I die, recompose me | Katrina Spade
What if our bodies could help grow new life after we die, instead of being embalmed and buried or turned to ash? Join Katrina Spade as she discusses "recomposition" -- a system that uses the natural decomposition process to turn our...
SciShow
What Happens to Your Body If You Die on Mars?
It's not the happiest subject, but when someone dies in space, or on another planet, what will happen to the body?
TED Talks
TED: 3 moons and a planet that could have alien life | James Green
Is there life beyond earth? Join NASA's director of planetary science James Green for a survey of the places in our solar system that are most likely to harbor alien life.
SciShow
Why Can't Monkeys Talk Like Us?
For decades scientists believed that monkeys could not speak human language due to an anatomical difference in vocal tracts. Today, we're not so sure that this is the limiting factor after all.
MinuteEarth
The Extinction Happening Inside You
Our modern lifestyle and diet are leading to the extinction of parts of our microbiome, but we can use what we've learned from dealing with nearly-extinct macrobiota, like bald eagles, to understand the consequences and find solutions.
SciShow
Do Bacterial Cells Store Memories?
Some bacteria seem to be using a type of memory to help them alter future behaviors, based on their past experiences.
SciShow
Studying Poop to Save Species
Poop kind of stinks, but the stuff inside of poop can tell us a lot about the natural world.