Astrophysicist and TED Fellow Sarah Rugheimer searches for aliens -- but not the cartoony green kind. She's looking for extraterrestrial microbes by studying how these single-celled organisms emit gases, which could reveal evidence of...

With a recent announcement from the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, the doors to space research have been opened for many new countries.

SciShow explains the science of detecting exoplanets -- planets in orbit around distant stars -- and how a new observatory being built in California may open up whole new worlds to us, literally!

SciShow Space gives you the latest news from around the universe, including the discovery of a new class of exoplanet dubbed a "mega-Earth," and a tour of SpaceX's new crewed vehicle, the Dragon V2.

Cassini is about to take its final dive into the rings of Saturn, and scientists are still debating the status of water on our moon.

The solar system is enormous, and includes the Kuiper Belt and the Scattered Disc, both of which turn out to be really weird in some pretty awesome ways.

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...

Most of the time, it’s not great when an expensive spacecraft slams into an extraterrestrial body. But now and then mission control intentionally crashes a spacecraft for science!

(NOTE: This talk was given in 2010, and this field of science has developed quickly since then. Read "Criticisms & updates" below for more details.) Astronomer Dimitar Sasselov and his colleagues search for Earth-like planets that may,...

Marine biologist Tierney Thys asks us to step into the water to visit the world of the Mola mola, or giant ocean sunfish. Basking, eating jellyfish and getting massages, this behemoth offers clues to life in the open sea.

Humanity now has incredible power to shape nature and the Earth: the power to destroy and the power to repair, says sustainability champion and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. In this action-oriented talk, Steiner shows how this power...

There's a helicopter on Mars, but you don't have to go that far to make one in your own home!

Exactly when and where did life on Earth begin? Scientists have long thought that it emerged three billion years ago in the ocean -- until astrobiologist Tara Djokic and her team made an unexpected discovery in the western Australian...

The InSight lander is finally launching and headed to Mars, and Hubble has revealed some hot supernova info.

Author George Dyson spins the story of Project Orion, a massive, nuclear-powered spacecraft that could have taken us to Saturn in five years. His insider’s perspective and a secret cache of documents bring an Atomic Age dream to life.

We’ve sent thousands of things into space over the years! Many of them just orbit the Earth, and some are flying out past the edges of the Solar System. In this episode, we present our favorite currently active space probes!

Today Emily Graslie of The Brain Scoop gives us the news about a couple of near- misses for our planet and an update on where astronomers think habitable life might be found in other star systems.

Despite computers barely being a thing when she was born, Valerie Thomas knew that she was cut out for the tech world, pushed until she got there, and contributed to some hugely important technologies that many of us could not live without.

Why You Should Care About Nukes

Humans produce 300 million tons of new plastic each year -- yet, despite our best efforts, less than 10 percent of it ends up being recycled. Is there a better way to deal with all this waste? Morgan Vague describes her research with...

Paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged looks for the roots of humanity in Ethiopia's badlands. Here he talks about finding the oldest skeleton of a humanoid child -- and how Africa holds the clues to our humanity.

Anonymous companies protect corrupt individuals – from notorious drug cartel leaders to nefarious arms dealers – behind a shroud of mystery that makes it almost impossible to find and hold them responsible. But anti-corruption activist...

This week in space. Scientists have discovered a black hole that could possibly everything we know about black holes, and also, evidence that planets, yes planets, could form around super massive black holes.

Two scientists have proposed that Planet Nine could actually be a black hole, and a handful of telescopes observed a distant black hole absolutely destroying a star!