A freshly-mopped floor is slippery, but a wet shirt is super-clingy... so what's the deal? Why can water make some things slick and other things sticky?

As soon as Pharaoh Khufu ascended the throne circa 2575 BCE, work on his eternal resting place began. The structure's architect, Hemiunu, determined he would need 20 years to finish the royal tomb. But what he could not predict was that...

It seems obvious that animals need oxygen to live, but deep in the Mediterranean Sea there is a very small animal that might be doing just fine without any oxygen at all.

Erik Johansson creates realistic photos of impossible scenes -- capturing ideas, not moments. In this witty how-to, the Photoshop wizard describes the principles he uses to make these fantastical scenarios come to life, while keeping...

More and more people worldwide are living in countries not considered their own. Writer Pico Iyer -- who himself has three or four “origins” -- meditates on the meaning of home, the joy of traveling and the serenity of standing still.

As America becomes more and more multicultural, Rich Benjamin noticed a phenomenon: Some communities were actually getting less diverse. So he got out a map, found the whitest towns in the USA -- and moved in. In this funny, honest,...

* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences.

"The hood is good," says Jon Gray of the Bronx, New York-based creative collective Ghetto Gastro. Working at...

Diane Benscoter spent five years as a "Moonie." She shares an insider's perspective on the mind of a cult member, and proposes a new way to think about today's most troubling conflicts and extremist movements.

Abortion is extremely common. In America, for example, one in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime, yet the strong emotions sparked by the topic -- and the highly politicized rhetoric around it -- leave little room for...

You're a biologist on a mission to keep the rare honeybee Apis Trifecta from going extinct. The last 60 bees of the species are in your terrarium. You've already constructed wire frames of the appropriate size and shape. Now you need to...

You might not want to sign up for the Enceladus Ice Hockey League... And some researchers have an idea that might make the Big Bang model more accurate!

Stemming from the days of bubonic plague in Medieval Europe, quarantines were originally used to prevent potentially plague-infested ships from disembarking at a port city. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain how the length of the...

Alberto Cairo's clinics in Afghanistan used to close down during active fighting. Now, they stay open. In this powerful talk, Cairo tells the moving story of why -- and how he found humanity and dignity in the midst of war.

For almost three decades, John Francis has been a planetwalker, traveling the globe by foot and sail with a message of environmental respect and responsibility (for 17 of those years without speaking). A funny, thoughtful talk with...

After weeks of discussion of human reproduction, today we arrive at the main event: THE SEX. Hank explains the four phases of the human sexual response, how a sperm finds and fertilizes an egg, creating a zygote, and how different types...

As spring approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, we anticipate the fluttering butterflies and the capering baby lambs, and we can also expect to see some birds hammered out of their minds in the trees, and perhaps on the ground. In most...

You may have seen rock sculptures seemingly defying physics in your newsfeed, but what's actually happening?

A new healing gel helped mice regrow brain tissue after a stroke, and scientists suspect someone out there is producing a bunch of ozone-destroying CFCs in defiance of an international agreement!

Ever wonder what those little earthworms are up to? Learn why worms are wonderful with Jessi and Squeaks!

Patients in comas might look like they’re sleeping, but there are pretty fascinating things happening inside of their heads.

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,...

To figure out if an idea is as good as we think it is, we have to talk to our customers. We’ve said it over and over again. We have to ask them what they like, dislike, want, or need, and we want honest feedback about our product or...

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that our climate is changing, Earth is getting warmer, sea levels are rising, and it's primarily because of humans putting lots of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Whether you already trust in the...

Without the internet, how would you have coped with the pandemic -- from work and school, to maintaining your closest relationships? In the digital age, reliance on the internet is so common and seems ubiquitous, yet billions of people...