Crash Course
Russian Revolution and Civil War: Crash Course European History
World War I was very hard on the Russian Empire. So hard, in fact, that it led to the end of the Russian Empire. As the global conflict ground on, Tsar Nicholas II faced increasing unrest at home. Today we'll learn about the Revolutions...
TED Talks
Clay Shirky: Institutions vs. collaboration
In this prescient 2005 talk, Clay Shirky shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning.
MinuteEarth
Should We Contact Uncontacted Peoples
FYI: We try to leave jargon out of our videos, but if you want to learn more about this topic, here are some handy keywords to get your googling started: - isolated peoples: peoples living without significant contact with global...
SciShow
Is Urine Really Sterile?
Despite what you might've seen on some wilderness-survival show, there's increasing evidence that your pee isn't sterile. So don't do anything crazy with it. Sci Show explains!
SciShow
Why Does Nature Make You Feel Better?
It’s not a huge surprise that nature is beneficial to our mental health. But why?
TED Talks
Clay Shirky: How social media can make history
While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing...
SciShow
Preventing Cancer? Scientists Try Combining Three Strategies
What Do Exercise, Omega-3s, and Vitamin D Have in Common? Cancer. In a study published this week in the journal Frontiers in Aging, researchers propose a combination of simple strategies to help prevent the development of invasive...
SciShow Kids
Roar! Meet the Big Cats! Animal Science for Kids
Can you tell a leopard from a jaguar? How are lions different from tigers -- other than those stripes? Jessi introduces you to the four big cats!
TED Talks
Margaret Heffernan: Forget the pecking order at work
Organizations are often run according to "the superchicken model," where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others. And yet, this isn't what drives the most high-achieving teams. Business leader Margaret Heffernan...
SciShow
Kids and Sugar: The Sweet-and-Lowdown
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Parents blaming their kids' active behavior on sugar. But is it true? Hank gives you sweet-and-lowdown on the extent to which sugar can and can't affect behavior, in kids and...
TED Talks
TED: Your invitation to disrupt philanthropy | Sara Lomelin
Philanthropy disruptor Sara Lomelin thinks communities can build power through collective giving and the model of "giving circles": groups of people with shared values who come together to make change, strengthen their social fabric and...
SciShow
Hurricane Walaka Erases Entire Hawaiian Island | SciShow News
Hurricane Walaka wiped out a small Hawaiian island, which could be devastating for some endangered animals, and new research says that we might be wrong about the origins of giant tortoises.
SciShow
Reptiles' Breathing Hack Helped Birds Dominate the Air
When we breathe out, we empty our lungs. But an ancient reptile figured out a more efficient way to breathe, which ultimately helped birds dominate the skies.
SciShow
Why Do Fish School?
You might think that fish ride the undercurrents with all their buds to avoid the hungry mouths of predators - safety in numbers, right? But, it turns out, there’s more to consider when asking why fish swim in schools.
SciShow
Groups That Chant Together, Stay Together
If you've ever been part of a huge crowd, like at a sporting event, you've probably seen people clap, sing, and chant together in sync. How do big groups of individuals all manage to do the same thing at the same time, even when there's...
TED Talks
Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt asks a simple, but difficult question: why do we search for self-transcendence? Why do we attempt to lose ourselves? In a tour through the science of evolution by group selection, he proposes a provocative...
SciShow
How Machines the Size of Molecules Could Change the World
Future advances in engineering may come from chemistry. From molecular motors to salt-shaker-drug-deliverers, the future looks small.
TED Talks
TED: A little-told tale of sex and sensuality | Shereen El Feki
“If you really want to know a people, start by looking inside their bedrooms," says Shereen El Feki, who traveled through the Middle East for five years, talking to people about sex. While those conversations reflected rigid norms and...
SciShow
Slowly Solving the Mystery of Turtle Origins
The origin story of turtles is a mystery that has perplexed many for centuries, but thanks to more recent studies, we might be one step closer to figuring out their lineage.
Crash Course
Equal Protection: Crash Course Government and Politics
Today, Craig is going to talk about the most important part of the Constitution - the Fourteenth Amendment. In particular, we're going to discuss the "equal protection" clause and how it relates to our civil rights. So we've spent the...
Be Smart
Do Animals Mourn Their Dead?
Joe brings in a few friends to look at death in the animal kingdom.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Dark matter: The matter we can't see - James Gillies
The Greeks had a simple and elegant formula for the universe: just earth, fire, wind, and water. Turns out there's more to it than that -- a lot more. Visible matter (and that goes beyond the four Greek elements) comprises only 4% of the...
SciShow
Origins of Intolerance
Hank's news this week informs us on a couple of crazy science experiments, updates us on some earlier topics (dangerous asteroids and ancient phallic rock art), and briefs us on a new study that seeks to find the evolutionary origins of...
SciShow
The Northern Hemisphere’s Very Own Giant Penguins (Sort Of)
Today, penguins are found mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. But fossils have revealed giant lookalikes to these swimming birds further up north, spurring questions of how they evolved and what happened to them.