TED Talks
TED: The molecular love story that could help power the world | Olivia Breese
The key to revolutionizing the world's energy landscape may lie in an unlikely love story, says energy innovator Olivia Breese. She details the fateful marriage of a green electron and a water molecule -- a powerful source of...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What's happening to Earth's core? | Shannon Odell
A hydrogen atom is traveling high within the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere. This particular atom first entered the exosphere millions of years ago, but today it overcomes Earth's gravitational pull and escapes, joining the...
SciShow
Your Fridge Isn’t Green, but It Could Be
Refrigeration and air conditioning are among the largest sources of carbon, and the refrigerants we use are greenhouse gases, too. But green refrigerants are on the way, from elastocaloric cooling to a method a bit like salting an icy road.
SciShow
You Suck at Skipping Rocks
Most of us are stoked if we can get a stone to skip more than 3 or 4 times. The world record holder at skipping stones has 88 skips. Here's why science says that number is way too low.
SciShow
The Sun Is Green
The Sun is green, actually. We'll go into why the blackbody effect means the Sun emits more green visible light than any other color, and why evolution and color perception mean it's ok to see it as yellow, anyway.
SciShow
Why Aliens Might Love Their Frozen Home
In the hunt for life beyond Earth, scientists shouldn't skip over frozen planets. In some cases, ice might actually help life evolve!
SciShow
Launching Rockets Mid-Air
If you picture a rocket launch, do you imagine it taking off from a hot air balloon? In this episode, we'll learn how using balloons to launch sounding rockets advanced our understanding of planet Earth, radiation, and how to keep...
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.
SciShow
Whale Poop Helps Cool Our Planet
You might not think of a sea creature as helpful in the prevention of climate change, but sperm whales have been doing their part to cool the planet by doing what most animals do best: pooping.
SciShow
The Strange Effects of Diamond Dust
Bright pillars of light... clouds of glowing dust... shimmering discs floating around the sun... signs of extraterrestrial activity, or is there a more rational and scientific explanation for this phenomenon?
SciShow
The Carbon Impact of the World’s Largest Mass Migration
Thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and their research and technology partner MBARI for partnering with us on this episode of SciShow. They worked together on an exhibition, “Into The Deep: Exploring Our Undiscovered Ocean,” to give...
SciShow
Monsoons: Nature’s Air Purifiers
Monsoons are more than torrential rains. They come in wet and dry varieties, but both involve a lot of wind. And it turns out, those winds can help the Earth clean up some of the pollution mess humanity makes.
SciShow
Microbes Might Survive on Mars | SciShow News
We’re all excited about the Mars rover Perseverance this week, but scientists are also working on some other exciting things!
SciShow
If Tomatoes Could Talk, Here’s What They’d Say | SciShow News
We’d pictured the plant-fruit relationship as one-way, but new research reports that sometimes the fruit can talk back! And while cow burps are a widely cited contributor to climate change, it turns out that wild pigs might also be...
SciShow
Hypercanes: The Next Big Disaster Movie?
Do you ever think of what could cause the next big extinction? How about a super massive tropical storm that sweeps over continents? Hey, it could happen! Check out this SciShow Dose to see how a hypercane would be possible.
SciShow
How Old Are You? Well, Your Liver Is 3
This week, a group of researchers use nuclear fallout to figure out how old liver cells are, while another gets one step closer to predicting volcanic eruptions.
SciShow
How Continent-Sized Dust Storms Form
In the future, we may see more continent-sized dust storms like the one nicknamed Godzilla, which crossed the Atlantic ocean in 2020. And since then, researchers have been looking into what caused such a colossal storm. If we can predict...
SciShow
Cloudy With A Chance Of Aliens: How We Look for Extraterrestrial Life
What do astronomers look for when they study exoplanets for signs of alien life? Hank explains how space telescopes are already yielding tantalizing clues of what other worlds might hold -- including water! -- and how the next generation...
SciShow
Can Climate Change Make Lightning… Supercharged?
The oceans absorb a lot of CO2, leading to a variety of effects like ocean acidification. But you might not expect one of those effects: stronger lightning strikes.
SciShow
Astronomy’s Unsung Hero is a Plain Ol’ Aluminum Ball
In 1965, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory saw their Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 (LCS-1) launched into Earth orbit. It was an empty aluminum sphere and couldn't do any science of its own. But the world's most boring disco ball has played a huge...
SciShow
Anatomy of a Super Storm
On the weekend of April 29th and 30th this year, a series of thunderstorms slammed the southern and midwestern US. SciShow News takes a look at those deadly storms using the latest, high-resolution data from the NOAA's GOES-16 weather...
SciShow
If There's Acid Rain, Is There Basic Rain?
You've probably heard of acid rain: rain that's more acidic than normal because of pollution in the atmosphere. But, if rain can become more acidic, shouldn't it also be able to become more basic?
SciShow
3 Strange-Looking Kinds of Clouds
What do you see in clouds? Bunnies? Zombies? The face of Nic Cage? There are some kinds of clouds that, while rare, make even weirder shapes -- like pancakes, rolling cylinders, and shimmery rainbows
SciShow
This Robot Filled the Deep Ocean Gap in the Carbon Cycle
Carbon is fundamental to life on Earth. And it goes through a complex cycle, from up in the atmosphere, to the depths of the ocean. But down there, the carbon trail gets harder to follow. Or at least, it was that way until this little...