SciShow
This Toxic Liquid Telescope from the 1850s Is Finally Useful
Sometimes looking into a pool of a toxic liquid holds the secrets of the universe–or maybe just this one time.
SciShow
This is How We’ll “See” the Universe’s First Second
In June 2023, scientists around the world announced the first official detection of the gravitational wave background — a cacophonous symphony of gravitational waves coming from every direction in space. Buried within that cosmic noise,...
SciShow
The Ocean’s Turning Green (That’s Bad)
Computer models of climate change have long predicted that the ocean would turn green as a result of warming. But the change can't be seen by the human eye, so scientists weren't sure how they'd measure this effect... until it turned out...
SciShow
The Particle So Extreme Scientists Called it OMG
In 1991, a subatomic particle smashed into Earth's atmosphere traveling faster than anything humans can replicate. It's the most energetic particle detected to date, and maybe even the fastest (except light itself). Astronomers call it...
SciShow
Don’t Look At the Sun! …Unless | Compilation
It’s common knowledge that you should never look directly at the sun. But, like, what about during an eclipse? Surely you can look then?
SciShow
How to Make a Dark Matter Planet
Dark Matter is the most abundant form of matter in the known universe, so what's keeping it from forming into planets?
SciShow
A Big Bang Beginner’s Guide | Compilation
While there's still a lot that astrophysicists don't know about the Big Bang, there are some things we do know. So today, let's get caught up on the Big Bang basics.
SciShow
Life on an 8-Hour Planet
Even if we find an earth-sized exoplanet, how can we be so sure that we're looking at earth 2.0? It might come down to how fast it's spinning.
SciShow
How Blocking the Sun Makes Mars Hotter
If we’re going to send people to Mars someday, we’re going to need to be very conscious of the challenges presented in this endeavor. And at the top of that list is the ferocious nature of dust on the barren planet.
SciShow
The Spiders That Turn Stars into Planets
Neutron stars, are some of the most extreme phenomenon in the universe. It's doubly so for a subset known as pulsars. Some are spinning so fast, and are so massive, that astronomers aren't entirely sure how they got to be that way. One...
PBS
Cosmic Microwave Background Challenge | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios
If a photon leaves the train station shortly after the Big Bang ...
PBS
Planet X Discovered?? + Challenge Winners!
Some funky orbits near the Kuiper Belt are hinting towards a brand new planet, the elusive ‘Planet X.’ Our friends Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin of Caltech are working hard to finally spot the potential gas giant through powerful...
PBS
How Stars Destroy Each Other
Our galaxy is full of dysfunctional stellar relationships. With more than half of all stars existing in binary orbits, it’s inevitable that many stellar remnants will end up in parasitic spirals with their partners. Today we’re going to...
PBS
NEW DISCOVERY About Supermassive Black Holes Explained!
Astrophysicists have discovered a black hole that for millions of years has been blasting vast particle beams in opposite directions across the sky. And has recently swiveled to point its one of these jets directly at us. Is this an...
PBS
Is Interstellar Travel Impossible?
Space is pretty deadly. But is it so deadly that we’re effectively imprisoned in our solar system forever? Many have said so, but a few have actually figured it out.
PBS
How Black Holes Spin Space Time
If there’s one thing cooler than a black hole it’s a rotating black hole. Why? Because we can use them as futuristic power generators, galactic-scale bombs, and portals to other universes. Black holes are self-sustaining holes in the...
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
Was the Milky Way a Quasar?
The Milky Way galaxy is relatively calm by the destructive standards of the rest of the Universe, and compared to its own very violent past. But just recently we discovered that its violent past was much more recent than we thought - and...
PBS
Building Black Holes in a Lab
Black holes are about the worst subjects for direct study in the universe. But at this stage, it’s all we can do to convince ourselves of their existence. Actually studying the physics of real black holes is much, much harder. I mean, we...
PBS
Is Time Travel Impossible?
Time travel stories are cool because both the past and future are somehow more interesting that the present and because everyone wants a redo. But so far it appears we’re doomed to live consumed by regret in the eternal, boring present....
PBS
Is the Proxima System Our Best Hope For Another Earth?
At just four light years away, Proxima Centauri is our closest solar neighbor. The recent discovery of the new exoplanet Proxima D, has reopened the discussion of whether the proxima system is our best chance at reaching another Earth....
PBS
What If (Tiny) Black Holes Are Everywhere?
It’s fair to say that black holes may be the scariest objects in the universe. Happily for us, the nearest is probably many light-years away. Unless of course, Planck relics are a thing - in which case they might be literally everywhere.
PBS
Science of the James Webb Telescope Explained!
You’ve probably heard about the James Webb Space Telescope and seen some cool pictures. But why should astronomers have all the fun? How do we get to use this new toy ourselves?
PBS
The Boundary Between Black Holes & Neutron Stars
When we detected the very first gravitational wave, a new window was opened to the mysteries of the universe. We knew we’d see things previously thought impossible. And we just did - an object on the boundary between neutron stars and...