TED Talks
TED: How we're harnessing nature's hidden superpowers | Oded Shoseyov
What do you get when you combine the strongest materials from the plant world with the most elastic ones from the insect kingdom? Super-performing materials that might transform ... everything. Nanobiotechnologist Oded Shoseyov walks us...
SciShow
Calendars, Codes & Virgins: 3 Myths About the Maya
Hank talks about the Maya, and helps dispel some myths about their historic civilization, revealing how, ultimately, they were just like us: smart, flawed, and awesome.
TED Talks
TED: 3 myths about racism that keep the US from progress | Candis Watts Smith
Racism morphs, spreading and hiding behind numerous half-truths and full-blown falsities about where it lives and who embodies it. In this actionable talk, political scientist Candis Watts Smith debunks three widely accepted myths about...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy? | Laura Wright
Set in a small town in India, "The God of Small Things" revolves around fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, who are separated for 23 years after the fateful hours in which their cousin drowns, their mother's affair is revealed, and her...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Pazit Cahlon and Alex Gendler: What "Machiavellian" really means
From Shakespeare's plays to modern TV dramas, the unscrupulous schemer for whom the ends always justify the means has become a familiar character type we love to hate. For centuries, we've had a single word to describe such characters:...
Crash Course
Why Early Globalization Matters: Crash Course Big History
Globalization has been in process for centuries, and has had a huge effect on Big History, and on Collective Learning. This week, Emily is investigating early globalization through three things that moved around the world and shaped...
TED Talks
TED: 12 truths I learned from life and writing | Anne Lamott
A few days before she turned 61, writer Anne Lamott decided to write down everything she knew for sure. She dives into the nuances of being a human who lives in a confusing, beautiful, emotional world, offering her characteristic...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Infinity according to Jorge Luis Borges | Ilan Stavans
What would it be like to have a limitless memory? Can the meaning of life be found in an infinite library? Is time a labyrinth or a single moment? Jorge Luis Borges explored these questions of infinity in his many works. His body of...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Jabberwocky: One of literature's best bits of nonsense | Lewis Carroll
As Alice wanders through the dreamscape of Looking-Glass Land in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There," she happens across a book written in an unintelligible language. Inside, she discovers an epic poem...
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
You Read More Slowly As You Get Older — Here's Why
Researchers have noticed a decline in reading ability starting in your 40s. And learning more about why this happens might help us tell the difference between healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
Crash Course
Catholic Counter-Reformation: Crash Course European History
When the Protestant Reformation broke out in Western Europe, the Catholic Church got the message, at least a little bit. Pope Paul III called a council to look into reforming some aspects of the Catholic Church and try to stem the tide...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The hidden treasures of Timbuktu | Elizabeth Cox
On the edge of the vast Sahara desert, citizens snuck out of the city of Timbuktu and took to the wilderness. They buried chests in the desert sand, hid them in caves, and sealed them in secret rooms. Inside these chests was a treasure...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to write the perfect crime, according to Agatha Christie | Jamie Bernthal
With almost 100 mystery novels, each one a cleverly constructed puzzle box of clues, misdirection, and human drama, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her eccentric detectives, clever clues, and simplified suspects...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to make a sad story funny | Jodie Houlston-Lau
It may seem counterintuitive, but comedy is often key to a serious story. As a writer, you need your audience to experience a range of emotions, no matter what your genre. Comic relief is a tried-and-true way of creating the varied...
SciShow Kids
How To Build a Sheet Fort!
Want to learn how to make a super secret hide-out? Jessi shows you how a bedsheet, some books -- and a little bit of science -- can be used to make an awesome fort!
TED Talks
David Macaulay: An illustrated journey through Rome
David Macaulay relives the winding and sometimes surreal journey toward the completion of Rome Antics, his illustrated homage to the historic city.
Crash Course
The Underground Economy: Crash Course Econ
What is an underground economy? Whether you call it a black market, a grey market, or just the shop down the street, its about connecting people with goods outside of official channels. Some stuff happens in the underground economy...
TED Talks
Steven Pinker: Human nature and the blank slate
Steven Pinker's book The Blank Slate argues that all humans are born with some innate traits. Here, Pinker talks about his thesis, and why some people found it incredibly upsetting.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How to speed up chemical reactions (and get a date) - Aaron Sams
The complex systems of high school dating and chemical reactions may have more in common than you think. Explore five rules for speeding up chemical reactions in the lab that might just land you a date to a dance!
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The meaning of life according to Simone de Beauvoir - Iseult Gillespie
At the age of 21, Simone de Beauvoir became the youngest person to take the philosophy exams at France’s most esteemed university. But as soon as she mastered the rules of philosophy, she wanted to break them. Her desire to explore the...
TED Talks
Lisa Bu: How books can open your mind
What happens when a dream you've held since childhood ... doesn't come true? As Lisa Bu adjusted to a new life in the United States, she turned to books to expand her mind and create a new path for herself. She shares her unique approach...
TED Talks
Aliens built the pyramids and other absurdities of pseudo-archaeology | Sarah Kurnick
Aliens have invaded ancient history: they've cropped up in humanity's past through popular television and movies, displacing facts with absurd yet commonplace beliefs like "aliens built the pyramids." Archaeologist Sarah Kurnick...