Be Smart
What is the Most Average Thing?
We may not know it, but averages affect our lives every day. Designers and manufacturers use averages to make our houses, cars, shoes and airline seats safer and more comfortable(ish). But calculating averages is way more complicated...
Be Smart
How Did X Become the Unknown (and so much else)?
X is everywhere and it’s probably thanks to math. But why is x the symbol for the unknown?
MinutePhysics
Confessions of a Youtuber
One Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in one minute!
SciShow
How The Islamic Golden Age of Science Changed History As We Know It
The Islamic Golden Age of Science is largely to thank for our scientific developments today. Around 750-1250 CE, the Islamic empire made incredible scientific advancements that changed the course of history! Join Michael Aranda for a...
PBS
Many college students struggle to pass remedial math. Do they need to?
Colleges created remedial education classes to ensure students were sufficiently prepared for more advanced material. But increasingly, there’s a sense that remedial courses are hurting the prospects of the students they are intended to...
PBS
Thinking about math in terms of literacy - not levels
Algebra is a core subject for U.S. high school students. But should it be? Author Andrew Hacker believes we should reconsider how math is taught: only 5 percent of the American workforce actually uses math beyond arithmetic, though...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Einstein's miracle year - Larry Lagerstrom
As the year 1905 began, Albert Einstein faced life as a "failed" academic. Yet within the next twelve months, he would publish four extraordinary papers, each on a different topic, that were destined to radically transform our...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The myth of Arachne and Athena - Iseult Gillespie
From sailors who were turned into pigs, nymphs that sprouted into trees, and a gaze that converted the beholder to stone, Greek mythology brims with shape-shifters. The powerful Gods usually changed their own forms at will - but for...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the giant iron riddle? - Alex Gendler
The family of giants you work for is throwing a fancy dinner party, but there’s a problem — the elder giant’s favorite shirt is wrinkled! To fix it, you’ll need to power up the giant iron. It needs two batteries to work, but the baby...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the penniless pilgrim riddle? - Daniel Finkel
After months of travel, you've arrived at Duonia, home to the famous temple that's the destination of your pilgrimage. The walk from the welcome center to the temple isn't a long one ... but there's a problem. Can you outsmart the city's...
TED Talks
Terry Moore: Why is 'x' the unknown?
Why is 'x' the symbol for an unknown? In this short and funny talk, Terry Moore gives the surprising answer.
PBS
Proving Brouwer's Fixed Point Theorem
There is a proof for Brouwer's Fixed Point Theorem that uses a bridge - or portal - between geometry and algebra.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Can you solve the egg drop riddle? - Yossi Elran
The city has just opened its one-of-a-kind Faberge Egg Museum, with a single egg displayed on each floor of a 100-story building -- and the world's most notorious jewel thief already has her eyes on the prize. Can you help the thief...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the rogue AI riddle? - Dan Finkel
A hostile artificial intelligence called NIM has taken over the world's computers. You're the only person skilled enough to shut it down, and you'll only have one chance. Can you survive and shut off the artificial intelligence? Dan...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Group theory 101: How to play a Rubik's Cube like a piano - Michael Staff
Mathematics explains the workings of the universe, from particle physics to engineering and economics. Math is even closely related to music, and their common ground has something to do with a Rubik's Cube puzzle. Michael Staff explains...
Crash Course
The Medieval Islamicate World: Crash Course History of Science
The religion of Islam significantly influenced knowledge-making in the greater Mediterranean and western Asian world. Islamicate scholars—meaning people influenced by Islamic civilization, regardless of their religious views—gave us...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Can you solve the dark coin riddle? - Lisa Winer
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...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the prisoner boxes riddle? - Yossi Elran
Your favorite band is great at playing musicbut not so great at being organized. They keep misplacing their instruments on tour, and it's driving their manager mad. Can you solve the brain-numbing riddle their manager assigns them and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How folding paper can get you to the moon - Adrian Paenza
Can folding a piece of paper 45 times get you to the moon? By seeing what happens when folding just one piece of paper, we see the unbelievable potential of exponential growth. This lesson will leave you wanting to grab a piece of paper...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: A brief history of banned numbers - Alessandra King
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and authorities have often agreed. From outlawed religious tracts and revolutionary manifestos to censored and burned books, we know the potential power of words to overturn the social order....
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The coin flip conundrum - Po-Shen Loh
When you flip a coin to make a decision, there's an equal chance of getting heads and tails. But what if you flip the coin repeatedly, so that one option would win as soon as two heads showed up in a row, and another would win as soon as...
SciShow
Why Was the Islamic Golden Age of Science… Golden?
Around 750-1250 CE, the Islamic empire made incredible scientific advancements that still influence many fields of research today. What we know about some of the great minds of that time, as well as what we’ve learned from modern...