MinuteEarth
Eclipses Used To Be Terrifying
Because eclipses are powerful and frightening events, ancient cultures went to great lengths to understand eclipses, leading to remarkably accurate predictions and helping invent the science of astronomy.
MinuteEarth
Ancient Humans Made Millions Of These - We Don’t Know Why
The Acheulean handaxe was the most common tool of early humans, but we still don’t know what the heck they used it for.
MinuteEarth
Which Will Kill You First?
The body can get a whole lot colder - but not a whole lot hotter - before we die. Why is that?
MinuteEarth
Why Is There So Much Land In The North?
Most of Earth’s land is currently in the northern hemisphere because we happen to exist in a time where uneven heating in the mantle has pushed many continental plates northward.
Be Smart
Sand Dunes Shouldn’t Exist (Here’s Why They Do)
How can sand, blown by the wind, form such intricate and beautiful patterns as ripples and dunes? The answer is a surprising secret of self-organization. In this video, we travel to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado to climb the...
Be Smart
These Death-Eating Scavengers Are Real Life-Savers | IN OUR NATURE
Seemingly distant ecosystems, even half a world apart, are connected in surprising ways. In this special limited series, Emily Graslie and Trace Dominguez join me as we explore the universal rules of life that tie together Earth’s living...
Be Smart
Why No One Can Agree What’s REALLY the Tallest Mountain
What's the tallest mountain on Earth? It might seem like an easy question to answer, but in reality it's one that brings up more NEW questions than answers. It turns out that the way we measure mountains rests on a lot of approximations,...
MinuteEarth
Why Continents Are High
Lots of geological forces need to come together for continents to form, but they all require one ingredient: water.
MinuteEarth
How Do Abortion Pills Work?
You may have heard of "abortion pills" - here's what these medications are and what they do (and don't do).
MinuteEarth
What Happens When A Volcano Meets a Glacier?
Volcanoes might seem like an unstoppable force of nature - but there is at least one OTHER force on Earth that seems to be able to keep them down.
MinuteEarth
Why Weather Forecasts Suck
There are two types of rain, and one of them is almost impossible to forecast.
MinuteEarth
When 90dB is LOUDER than 120dB
We often use decibels, a measure of sound pressure, to describe how loud something is - but loudness is caused by how we perceive sounds, and the two often don't line up.
MinuteEarth
We Have No Idea Why
Most animals on earth are bioluminescent, but almost all of them live in the ocean - and scientists aren’t sure why.
MinuteEarth
The Plant You Don’t Have To Water
Some plants can drink water from the air - and that has some weird effects on the forests where they live.
MinuteEarth
Mushroom Wars
Two mushroom guilds with vastly different strategies are locked in competition for forest dominance.
MinuteEarth
There’s No Such Thing As “Warm-” Or “Cold-” Blooded
The concept of warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals is outdated because there are actually tons of different animal thermoregulation strategies.
MinuteEarth
How We Learned That Water Isn't An Element
For thousands of years, water was thought to be an element. That is, until some of the greatest chemists in the world managed to crack it open.
MinuteEarth
What if We Replaced Nuclear With Potatoes
Energy use can be confusing – I mean, how do you compare gasoline in your car to electricity piped to your house? That's why we made these things spud-tacularly simple.
MinuteEarth
Which Is Worse: Underpopulation Or Overpopulation?
The human population of the world will soon peak – and then decrease – thanks to a combination of two quickly changing economic and educational trends.
MinuteEarth
Why It's Impossible To Win a Nuclear War
Nuclear war is a terrifying existential threat, but we shouldn't only fear the blasts because the ensuing smoke is the real killer.
MinuteEarth
The 3 Reasons This Tree Has Lived 5000 Years
Methuselah’s environment lacks nutrients, water, and oxygen. In other words, it’s the perfect place to grow very very old.
MinuteEarth
When Was The Worst Time In History To Die?
By combining historical demography and epidemiology, we can (sort of) determine how people throughout history have died.