Crash Course
Eclipses
The big question in the comments last week was, "BUT WHAT ABOUT ECLIPSES?" Today, Phil breaks 'em down for you.
TED Talks
Colin Powell: Kids need structure
How can you help kids get a good start? In this heartfelt and personal talk, Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State, asks parents, friends and relatives to support children, starting before they even get to primary school,...
TED Talks
TED: How I named, shamed and jailed | Anas Aremeyaw Anas
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. Undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has broken dozens of stories of corruption and organized crime all over...
SciShow
Does the Camera Really Add Ten Pounds?
Your friend just tagged you in 17 photos on Facebook but you swear those photos lie about your weight. Is the camera playing tricks with your eyes?
SciShow
7 Kinds of Makeup Chemistry
You look really pretty, but what are you actually putting all over your face?
Be Smart
Why Do Disney Princesses All Look Like Babies?
I noticed something weird about Disney Princesses lately. Naturally, I had to examine it through the lens of science. The answer led me to new knowledge about human development, the domestication and taming of animals, and why we find...
SciShow
Hemispatial Neglect When Half Your World Disappears
Losing half of the world sounds like a weird, abstract dream state. But for those that develop hemispatial neglect, that’s exactly what happens, without them even realizing it.
TED Talks
Lucy Cooke: Sloths! The strange life of the world's slowest mammal
Sloths have been on this planet for more than 40 million years. What's the secret to their success? In a hilarious talk, zoologist Lucy Cooke takes us inside the strange life of the world's slowest mammal and shows what we can learn from...
SciShow
Spinal Posture & A Legless Lizard: SciShow Talk Show #13
In this episode of the SciShow talk show, Michael and Hank discuss human posture and evolution and Hank shares some personal information, and then Jessi from Animal Wonders shares Leonard, the legless lizard.
SciShow
The Truth About the Charlie Charlie Challenge
We may not be sure who’s behind it, but we can tell you that the Charlie Charlie Challenge doesn’t really work. Because physics.Very, very special thanks to Henry Reich of Minute Physics for helping with the content of this video.
TED Talks
TED: The secret to mastering life's biggest transitions | Bruce Feiler
How do you navigate life's growing number of transitions with meaning, purpose and skill? Writer Bruce Feiler offers a powerful way to handle uncertain, painful and confusing times -- or "lifequakes", as he calls them. Learn how to equip...
TED Talks
Doug Roble: Digital humans that look just like us
In an astonishing talk and tech demo, software researcher Doug Roble debuts "DigiDoug": a real-time, 3-D, digital rendering of his likeness that's accurate down to the scale of pores and wrinkles. Powered by an inertial motion capture...
PBS
What Do Santa and Wrestling Have In Common?
People love Santa. Christmas is the largest holiday in western culture, and Santa Claus is the centerpiece of that holiday (sorry baby Jesus). But even though our understanding of Santa changes as we mature, we still maintain and...
TED Talks
Colin Camerer: When you're making a deal, what's going on in your brain?
When two people are trying to make a deal -- whether they’re competing or cooperating -- what’s really going on inside their brains? Behavioral economist Colin Camerer shows research that reveals how badly we predict what others are...
TED Talks
TED: Why the "wrong side of the tracks" is usually the east side of cities | Stephen DeBerry
What do communities on the social, economic and environmental margins have in common? For one thing, they tend to be on the east sides of cities. In this short talk about a surprising insight, anthropologist and venture capitalist...
TED Talks
TED: Why stay in Chernobyl? Because it's home. | Holly Morris
Chernobyl was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident and, for the past 27 years, the area around the plant has been known as the Exclusion Zone. And yet, a community of about 200 people live there -- almost all of them elderly...
TED Talks
TED: How to read the genome and build a human being | Riccardo Sabatini
Secrets, disease and beauty are all written in the human genome, the complete set of genetic instructions needed to build a human being. Now, as scientist and entrepreneur Riccardo Sabatini shows us, we have the power to read this...
TED Talks
Alastair Parvin: Architecture for the people by the people
Designer Alastair Parvin presents a simple but provocative idea: what if, instead of architects creating buildings for those who can afford to commission them, regular citizens could design and build their own houses? The concept is at...
TED Talks
TED: 4 larger-than-life lessons from soap operas | Kate Adams
Soap operas and telenovelas may be (ahem) overdramatic, but as Kate Adams shows us, their exaggerated stories and characters often cast light on the problems of real life. In this sparkling, funny talk, Adams, a former assistant casting...
TED Talks
TED: You owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse | David Baron
On August 21, 2017, the moon's shadow raced from Oregon to South Carolina in what some consider to be the most awe-inspiring spectacle in all of nature: a total solar eclipse. umbraphile David Baron chases these rare events across the...
TED Talks
Nancy Kanwisher: A neural portrait of the human mind
Brain imaging pioneer Nancy Kanwisher, who uses fMRI scans to see activity in brain regions (often her own), shares what she and her colleagues have learned: The brain is made up of both highly specialized components and general-purpose...
TED Talks
Lee Thomas: How I help people understand vitiligo
TV news anchor Lee Thomas thought his career was over after he was diagnosed with vitiligo, an autoimmune disorder that left large patches of his skin without pigment and led to derision and stares. In a captivating talk, he shares how...
TED Talks
Alan Siegel: Let's simplify legal jargon!
Tax forms, credit agreements, healthcare legislation: They're crammed with gobbledygook, says Alan Siegel, and incomprehensibly long. He calls for a simple, sensible redesign -- and plain English -- to make legal paperwork intelligible...