Amoeba Sisters
Genetic Engineering
Explore an intro to genetic engineering with The Amoeba Sisters. This video provides a general definition, introduces some biotechnology tools that can be used in genetic engineering, and discusses some related vocabulary (such as...
SciShow
How We Get Sick in Space and How to Recover | Compilation
No one likes being sick, but can you imagine catching a bug while hurling through space? Turns out, this is an issue that many space agencies have worked to study and mitigate.
SciShow
Astronauts Need a Better Sunscreen
Space is a dangerous place. One of the many dangers comes in the form of radiation. On Earth, sunscreen helps shield our bodies. But astronauts on the ISS, or eventually on the Moon/Mars/etc., will have to be rocking some suped-up sunblock.
SciShow
Why Hairworms Don’t Have Hair
Hairworms, sometimes called horsehair or Gordian worms, are mind-controlling parasites with a twist. A genetic study found these nematomorph worms are missing 30% of their genome, and we don't understand how they live without genes for...
PBS
Did An Ancient Pathogen Reshape Our Cells?
There is one - and only one - group of mammals that doesn’t have alpha-gal: the catarrhine primates, which are the monkeys of Africa and Asia, the apes, and us.
PBS
The Holographic Universe Explained
The holographic principle emerged from many subtle clues – clues discovered over decades of theoretical exploration of the universe. Over the past several months on Space Time, we’ve seen those close clues, and we’ve built a the...
PBS
Can Viruses Travel Between Planets?
With the global pandemic of Covid 19 still encompassing the world, we are generally not big fans of viruses right now. But we sure are thinking about them a lot. That’s right, even astrophysicists are pondering these bizarre little...
PBS
What’s Your Brain’s Role in Creating Space & Time?
Physics is the business of figuring out the structure of the world. So are our brains. But sometimes physics comes to conclusions that are in direct conflict with concepts fundamental to our minds, such as the realness of space and time....
PBS
Giant Viruses Blur The Line Between Alive and Not
In 2003, microbiologists made a huge discovery. One that would force us to reconsider a lot of what we thought we knew about the evolution of microbial life: giant viruses.
PBS
The Pandemic That Lasted 15 Million Years
Our DNA holds evidence of a huge, ancient pandemic, one that touched many different species, spanned the globe, and lasted for more than 15 million years.
PBS
How Blood Evolved (Many Times)
Blood is one of the most revolutionary features in our evolutionary history. Over hundreds of millions of years, the way in which blood does its job has changed over and over again. As a result, we animals have our familiar red blood....
Be Smart
How Much Of You Is ACTUALLY Alive?
You’re alive right now… at least I’m pretty sure you are. But you’re not TOTALLY alive. Bits of you are always breaking down, being thrown out, and being replaced. Even right now, parts of you are dying. Some of your cells even died...
TED Talks
TED: The world's rarest diseases — and how they impact everyone | Anna Greka
Physician-scientist Anna Greka investigates the world's rarest genetic diseases, decoding the secrets of our cells through "molecular detective work." She explains how her team is using new, advanced technology to solve decades-old...
SciShow
A Needle So Tiny It Injects Into A Single Cell
It may be possible to create a needle so small it can inject a vaccine into a single cell. But it's not the product of a medical device company. It's part of something we often think of as making us sick.
SciShow
Does COVID Mess With Your DNA?
As more and more are infected with COVID-19, there's a growing group of people who have what's called Long COVID, meaning they still have symptoms for weeks or months after getting sick. While we still don't know for sure the cause of...
SciShow
Does the Food Chain Stop At Jellyfish?
Jellyfish aren't the most nutritious animals in the ocean. Yet sea turtles and many other organisms get their nutrition from almost nothing else. Here's why they don't totally starve to death.
SciShow
How Does Chickenpox Turn Into Shingles?
You might know that chickenpox and shingles are both caused by the same virus, varicella zoster. Here's why the symptoms, and even the vaccines, are different the second time around.
SciShow
Why HPV Is Cancer In One Convenient Package
HPV isn't the only virus that causes cancer, but it's one of the best at it. Here's what we've learned about this supervillain of a pathogen, and how to stop it.
SciShow
Can We Treat Alzheimer's With Period Blood?
From diabetes to Alzheimer's, there's a lot that we hope to be able to treat using stem cell therapies. But the stem cells we use tend to be hard to come by. But it turns out there's a new source of stem cells that has researchers...
SciShow
Fentanyl is Very Deadly… Here's Why
Fentanyl has become a primary cause of the opioid overdose epidemic in the past decade. But what is it about this drug that's so dangerous? There's more to the story than meets the eye. If you’re ever in the position where you think...
SciShow
Can Sponges “Think” Using Light?
Sponges might not look like particularly complex animals, but they've had billions of years to evolve their own special systems. And one of those systems might involve sending messages through their body in the form of light.
SciShow
Why Do People Like the Smell of Gasoline?
Why do we love the smell of something like gasoline that provides no clear evolutionary adaptation for us? Here are the psychological and chemical reasons that some researchers have suggested.
SciShow
How PET Scans See Cancer
When someone gets a PET scan to detect tumors and how far a cancer has spread, that machine is actually detecting sugar. Because cancer has a sweet tooth, and this phenomenon, called the Warburg effect, may help us develop new cancer...
SciShow
Can Gray Hair Be Reversed?
Researchers have identified the processes that cause gray hair and have done experiments to reverse it. And believe it or not, we've had some of these options for decades.