Earth’s magnetic field protects us from deadly space radiation. What if it were drastically weakened, as a precursor to flipping upside down? I mean, it has before … many, many times..

Spaceship Earth has a literal deflector...

Could it be that all the electrons in the universe are simply one, single electron moving back and forth through time?

DO A BARREL ROLL! Or at least, try…? The iconic move from Star Fox seems so easy, just press a button and BOOM. The ship rolls. But HOW? Barrel rolls in atmosphere are easy to execute with the use of ailerons, but in space, it's a...

Often people make decisions that are not "rational" from a purely economical point of view - meaning that they don't necessarily lead to the best result. Why is that? Are we just bad at dealing with numbers and odds? Or is there a...

A quick explanation of e^(pi i) in terms of motion and differential equations

A geometry/probability question on the Putnam, a famously hard test, about a random tetrahedron in a sphere. This offers an opportunity not just for a lesson about the problem, but about problem-solving tactics in general.

How couting in binary can solve the famous tower's of hanoi problem.

All around the world, millions of people are flipping a switch, plugging in, and pressing an 'on' button every second. So how much electricity does humanity use? And how much will we need in the future? Discover how much energy it takes...

In the early 1980s IBM engineers had a hard time to to figure out inexplicable computer module failures in Denver, Colorado. When they finally cracked the puzzle, the cause turned out to be otherworldly.

Maybe you've noticed that clouds come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Did you know you can use clues from the clouds to help you figure out what the weather might be like where you live? Jessi and Squeaks have made up a game to help...

Quantum mechanics may not seem like it has anything to do with human psychology, but some psychologists are starting to borrow concepts from the field to help make human behavior more predictable.

A quick explanation of e^(pi i) in terms of motion and differential equations

If you’re someone who is constantly coughing up mucus, you might not actually have allergies. There’s a possibility that your organs are flipped and you don’t even know it!

Fish are smarter than you think! Scientists have explored triggerfish's ability to learn some clever hunting tactics.

If most people got on a skateboard, they would roll forward slowly for a few feet, then fall down and break their wrists. But there are a proud few who can do some pretty amazing tricks on a board, and they use physics to pull them off....

Anand Agarawala presents BumpTop, a user interface that takes the usual desktop metaphor to a glorious, 3-D extreme, transforming file navigation into a freewheeling playground of crumpled documents and clipping-covered "walls."

After much debate, the realm has decided dragon jousting may not be the best way to choose its leaders, and has begun transitioning to democracy. Your company was hired to survey the citizens of the land and predict which candidate will...

To understand finance, search algorithms and even evolution you need to understand Random Walks.

Hank debunks several apocalypse theories that predict Earth's demise in 2012.

Space is where things happen. Time is when things happen. And sometimes, in order to really look at the universe, you need to take those two concepts and mash them together. In this first lesson of a three-part series on space-time,...

Paul Andersen reflects on the flipped classroom

As a world-renowned treasure hunter, you have been searching for the legendary dungeon containing the stash of ancient Stygian coins. The wizard who owns the castle has even allowed you to have them, on one condition-you must solve his...

The past is different from the future. Why?

Hank helps us understand the difference between the colloquial meaning of randomness, and the scientific meaning, which is also known as stochasticity. We will learn how, in fact, randomness is surprisingly predictable.