There are a lot of nuclear weapons on Earth, so many that we often say it's enough to "destroy the world several times over." But could we? Well, that depends on what you mean. Also...no matter what you mean, probably not. The Earth is...

Learn how some animals have adapted to survive in some of the hottest and driest environments in the world, by covering themselves in mucus and calling it good.

It seems silly to ask if plants can count, but even the New York Times has called Venus flytraps 'Plants That Can Count.' Is counting a thing plants can do?

Historian Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor leads a thoughtful and history-backed examination of one of the most divisive words in the English language: the N-word. Drawing from personal experience, she explains how reflecting on our points of...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how the conservation of mass was replaced with the conservation of mass-energy when it was determined that they are equivalent. This famous equation not only show the mass-energy equivalence but can...

As the saying goes, less is more. The same goes for words. Listen as Politico and Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei shares what he's learned leading two media companies -- and how to radically rethink the way you write to keep people's...

Oxygen is crucial for life as we know it, but before it could build up in our atmosphere, earth had to slow down.

Even though we're all probably very experienced poopers, sometimes we need a little help.

The formula for the cross product can feel like a mystery, or some kind of crazy coincidence. But it isn't. There is a fundamental connection between the cross product and determinants.

The global pandemic led to a drop in outdoor air pollution, but it also led to an increase in indoor air pollution - and our exposure to it.

Everyone is obsessed with the Olympics right now, watching these geniuses push the boundaries of their field. Wait, did we say GENIUSES? Yes! We normally associate the word "genius" with intellectual accomplishments, but athletes are...

Paul Andersen explains the importance of modeling in science and engineering. Models are used by scientists to explain phenomenon. Unlike mental models, conceptual models can be shared by all scientists to improve our understanding of...

Scientists can’t directly observe dark matter, and they still don’t know what it is… so why are they so confident it exists?

In this ode to design renegades, Alice Rawsthorn highlights the work of unlikely heroes, from Blackbeard to Florence Nightingale. Drawing a line from these bold thinkers to some early modern visionaries like Buckminster Fuller, Rawsthorn...

Our favorite fast radio burst, FRB 121102, brings us one step closer to understanding its source, and astronomers have a new theoretical upper limit for star masses.

Joe brings in a few friends to look at death in the animal kingdom.

Tesla's Autopilot system is the most advanced available right now, but it has limitations, and some of those limitations might be us.

Today, Craig is going to finish up our discussion of the First Amendment with freedom of the press. Like an individual's right to free speech, the press has a right, and arguably responsibility, to tell the public what the government is...

Google can find something for you on the other side of the world in less than a second. Why does your personal computer take so much longer?

From populist demagogues, we will learn the indispensability of democracy, says novelist elif Shafak. "From isolationists, we will learn the need for global solidarity. And from tribalists, we will learn the beauty of cosmopolitanism." A...

This week, researchers reveal the single most important influence on music since 1960. Also, turns out that sleepwalking and sleep terrors are genetically linked.

Pelagic red crabs are actually lobsters - and that’s not even the weirdest thing about them! They sometimes wash up on shore in droves, signaling large scale climate events like El Niños and serving as a warning to marine biologists of...

When Quasars were first discovered the amount of light pouring out of such a tiny dot in space seemed impossible. A hysterical flurry of hypothesizing followed: swarms of neutron stars, alien civilizations harnessing their entire...

To fight climate change, we need to clean up the global electricity system by replacing fossil fuel power plants with clean generation -- right? Climate author Solomon Goldstein-Rose thinks we need to do much more than that. Replacement...