PBS
The Arrow of Time and How to Reverse It
Ever wish you could travel backward in time and do things differently? Good news: the laws of physics seem to say traveling backward in time is the same as traveling forwards. So why do we seem to be stuck in this inexorable flow towards...
PBS
How the Higgs Mechanism Give Things Mass
Fermilab physicists really care about the mass of the W boson. They spent nearly a decade recording collisions in the Tevatron collider and another decade analysing the data. This culminated in the April 7 announcement that this obscure...
PBS
Could We Decode Alien Physics?
How hard can it really be to decode alien physics and engineering? It’s gotta map to our own physics - I mean, we live in the same universe. We start by noticing that the alien technology seems to use good ol’ fashioned electronics, even...
PBS
The Equation That Explains (Nearly) Everything!
The Standard Model of particle physics is arguably the most successful theory in the history of physics. It predicts the results of experiments with a numerical precision unmatched by any other branch of science, and it does so almost...
PBS
Our Antimatter, Mirrored, Time-Reversed Universe
The foundations of quantum theory rests on its symmetries. For example, it should be impossible to distinguish our universe from one that is that is the perfect mirror opposite in charge, handedness, and the direction of time. But one by...
PBS
The Truth About Beauty in Physics
The great physicist Hermann Weyl once said: "My work always tried to unite the true with the beautiful, but when I had to choose one or the other, I usually chose the beautiful." But is this actually good advice for doing physics?
Amoeba Sisters
Animals: Tour of 9 Phyla
Join the Amoeba Sisters in exploring some general animal characteristics, major vocabulary used in classifying animals (such as symmetry, protostome vs deuterostome, cephalization, and coelom), and take a general tour of 9 major animal...
SciShow
Your Head Might Be On Sideways
In your brain the right side controls the left half of your body and vice versa. We still aren't sure why this is, but some scientists have come up with a pretty bizarre explanation: that some ancient vertebrate ancestor was born with...
SciShow
Why Sexy Is Sexy
Hank delves into the scientific reasons behind why we are attracted to the people we're attracted to. It's complicated.
SciShow
The 3 Coolest Things Built By Bugs
Long before there were strip malls, skyscrapers, and combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bells, nature had its own architects: all kinds of creatures create all kinds of structures for living, raising offspring, or maybe just the occasional...
SciShow
Why the Weak Nuclear Force Ruins Everything
The weak force has been causing trouble for a century, ruining everything physicists thought was true. But it might actually be responsible for your very existence.
PBS
Noether's Theorem and The Symmetries of Reality
Conservation laws are among the most important tools in physics. They feel as fundamental as you can get. And yet they're wrong - or at least they're only right sometimes. These laws are consequences of a much deeper, more fundamental...
TED Talks
Greg Lynn: Organic algorithms in architecture
Greg Lynn talks about the mathematical roots of architecture -- and how calculus and digital tools allow modern designers to move beyond the traditional building forms. A glorious church in Queens (and a titanium tea set) illustrate his...
PBS
Why is the Earth Round and the Milky Way Flat?
Our universe is not a very diverse place when it comes to shapes. Large celestial bodies become spheres, galaxies become discs, and there is little room for variation. Why is this? Well it turns out physics has some pretty strict rules...
TED Talks
Charles Fleischer: All things are Moleeds
In a presentation that can only be described as epic, comedian Charles Fleischer delivers a hysterical send-up of a time-honored TED theme: the map. Geometry, numbers, charts and stamp art also factor in (somehow), as he weaves together...
SciShow
Why Sexy Is Sexy
Hank delves into the scientific reasons behind why we are attracted to the people we're attracted to. It's complicated.
PBS
Quantum Invariance & The Origin of The Standard Model
Our laws of physics are equations of motion, along with some associated constants. We've talked about the symmetries of these equations, and how they lead us to conserved quantities. But this is just the tip of the theoretical iceberg -...
PBS
Quantum Physics in a Mirror Universe
When you look in mirror, and see what you think is a perfect reflection, you might be looking at universe whose laws are fundamentally different.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why are human bodies asymmetrical? - Leo Q. Wan
Symmetry is everywhere in nature. And we usually associate it with beauty: a perfectly shaped leaf or a butterfly with intricate patterns mirrored on each wing. But it turns out that asymmetry is pretty important, too - and more common...
TED Talks
TED: What's next in 3D printing | Avi Reichental
Just like his beloved grandfather, Avi Reichental is a maker of things. The difference is, now he can use 3D printers to make almost anything, out of almost any material. Reichental tours us through the possibilities of 3D printing, for...
Crash Course
Polar & Non-Polar Molecules: Crash Course Chemistry
Molecules come in infinite varieties, so in order to help the complicated chemical world make a little more sense, we classify and categorize them. One of the most important of those classifications is whether a molecule is polar or...
Be Smart
How Your Body Knows Left From Right
This is part 3 of 3 in my series about how our bodies evolved to look like they do.
SciShow
Why You Think You Look Better in Selfies
You might have had the experience of heading out for the night, feeling good, snapping a few selfies with friends that memorialize for all time how great your hair is looking. But the next day, you’re tagged in someone else’s photos and…...
TED Talks
Marcus du Sautoy: Symmetry, reality's riddle
The world turns on symmetry -- from the spin of subatomic particles to the dizzying beauty of an arabesque. But there's more to it than meets the eye. Here, Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy offers a glimpse of the invisible numbers...