Be Smart
The Real (Weird) Way We See Numbers
New ReviewWould it surprise you to learn that fish and birds count in pretty much the same way that we do? And that infants can do math? Our animal brains deal with quantities in very specific ways, from quick counts of a few dots to how we...
MinuteEarth
Why Monkeys Can Only Count To Four
There’s an island in the Caribbean where David used to perform magic tricks for monkeys. And it was super cool because it suggested that they have the ability to count! (but only up to four)
MinuteEarth
Memes Go Viral Cuz They're So Sick
When we say a meme goes “viral,” we aren't actually saying it's making people sick. But the math behind a meme’s spread suggests it's actually a pretty spot-on analogy.
MinutePhysics
How To Tell If We're Beating COVID-19
This video is a collaboration with Aatish Bhatia about how to see the COVID-19 tipping point - we present a better way to graph COVID-19 coronavirus cases using a logarithmic scale in "phase space" - plotting the growth rate against the...
MinutePhysics
How to Count Infinity
"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities" - Hazel Grace Lancaster, in "The Fault in Our Stars," by John Green
SciShow
Why Does Everything Decay Into Lead
If you look at a copy of the periodic table, you might notice that basically every element after lead is labelled as radioactive. And the vast majority of those elements wind up decaying into some version of lead eventually. But why is...
SciShow
What Does My Cancer Diagnosis ACTUALLY Mean?
You've probably heard of cancers having stages, but what do all those stages really mean? This video is a 101 to explain cancer diagnosis and decode the jargon for you. And even if you've heard of the numerical stages, you might not know...
SciShow
Ada Lovelace: Great Minds
Ada Lovelace, Daughter of Lord Byron, was somehow the first author of a computer program...even though she lived more than a century before the first modern computer.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Does recycling your plastic actually work? | Shannon Odell
If you've ever looked at the bottom of a disposable bottle or cup, you've probably noticed a recycling symbol. Seeing this, many people assume the item should be put in a recycling bin. Yet many plastics are incapable of being recycled...
TED Talks
TED: The ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Ukraine | Oleksandra Matviichuk
How do we defend people's freedom and dignity against authoritarianism, when the "law of war" doesn't seem to apply anymore? In the face of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, human rights lawyer and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk...
SciShow
Why are Astronomers So Bad at Naming Things?
With star names like 2MASS J05551028+0724255, it might seem like astronomers are not so great at naming things. But if you know the code, these names can actually help you find the star in the sky.
PBS
Are there Undiscovered Elements Beyond The Periodic Table?
Adamantium, bolognium, dilithium. Element Zero, Kryptonite. Mythril, Netherite, Orichalcum, Unobtanium. We love the idea of fictional elements with miraculous properties that science has yet to discover. But is it really possible that...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the cursed dice riddle? | Dan Finkel
Ah, spring. As Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, it's your favorite season. Humans and animals look to you to balance the bounty of the natural world which, like any self-respecting Goddess, you do with a pair of magical dice. But then,...
SciShow
Why Is ChatGPT Bad At Math?
Sometimes, you ask ChatGPT to do a math problem that an arithmetically-inclined grade schooler can do with ease. And sometimes, ChatGPT can confidently state the wrong answer. It's all due to its nature as a large language model, and the...
SciShow
Whale Poop Helps Cool Our Planet
You might not think of a sea creature as helpful in the prevention of climate change, but sperm whales have been doing their part to cool the planet by doing what most animals do best: pooping.
SciShow
The Fibonacci Sequence: Nature's Code
Hank introduces us to the most beautiful numbers in nature - the Fibonacci sequence.
SciShow
The 4 Greatest Mysteries of Physics
There are still some great mysteries of our universe that physicists can't explain. How is that possible? Join us as we break down the 4 greatest mysteries of physics in this episode of SciShow hosted by Michael Aranda!
SciShow
Why It's Good for COVID-19 Models to Be Wrong
As we react to the predictions that epidemiological models make, changing the ways we act and go about our lives, those estimates can appear totally off. But if a model’s predictions end up being wrong, that might mean it's done exactly...