The primary characteristic that defines black holes is in the name. Black holes are black. The gravitational pull at the event horizon is so powerful that not even light can escape. In this case, black means absence of light. We also...

A decade after Vantablack took the internet by storm, where are we in terms of the blackest black? It turns out Vantablack doesn't hold the record, anymore. So what have scientists done differently?



Hosted by: Savannah Geary...

In 2020, students from the University of Texas proposed sending a fleet of rovers to the Moon that, for a price, would carve words and symbols into the surface for *you*, random human. And that got us thinking, how big would such a...

How do traits get passed down in our DNA? And what do genes have to do with cat fur? In this episode of Crash Course Biology, we’ll untangle the simplest patterns of inheritance, and reassure our redheaded friends—you’re not going anywhere.

Today, rats are often regarded as the most successful invasive species in the world. The most common species of rat scurried onto the scene roughly 1 to 3 million years ago in Asia. There, they craftily survived Earth’s most recent ice...

After witnessing a bird carrying a single golden hair, King Mark of Cornwall declared his future bride must have equally radiant locks. The only royal matching this description was Princess Isolde of Ireland. So the king sent Tristan,...

A spy presses a button on their suit and blinks out of sight. A wizard wraps himself in a cloak and disappears. A star pilot flicks a switch, and their ship vanishes into space. Invisibility is one of the most tantalizing powers in...

Joel Bervell was one of the only Black students in his medical school program. After noticing how misconceptions about race were embedded in health care, he turned to social media to raise awareness about the harmful impact of biases in...

Are These Butterflies The Same?

Have you ever wondered why leaves are green and not red, blue, or even black? We did too!

Jay Bailey says so many ideas never see the light of day because entrepreneurship has a problem of belonging. He shares how a chance encounter kicked off his own journey to becoming an entrepreneur and advocate for Black-owned businesses...

As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, Black Americans were searching for ways to think about how and where they would fit into a post-slavery society. There were several competing schools of thought. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B....

Google's chief diversity officer Melonie D. Parker joins journalist and host of the "TED Tech" podcast Sherrell Dorsey for a conversation on fostering belonging and opportunity in the workplace. Learn more about how companies can...

It’s fair to say that black holes may be the scariest objects in the universe. Happily for us, the nearest is probably many light-years away. Unless of course, Planck relics are a thing - in which case they might be literally everywhere.

So, how do you take a picture of a black hole? The beast in question is the supermassive black hole in the center of this – the M87 elliptical galaxy. It has an estimated mass of several billion times that of the Sun, which gives it an...

How does a bear -- which is a member of the order Carnivora -- evolve into an herbivore? Despite how it looks, nothing about the history of the giant panda is black and white.

There are some startlingly black animals out there, whether they’re in the deep ocean or in the darkest corners of the rainforest. But humans have created some stunningly black substances too, using science and engineering. So who wins,...

In the race to survive, both predators and prey use visual tricks to get ahead. One nearly universal trick is countershading, a color pattern that helps animals erase their own shadows or blend into different backgrounds. It’s worked...

How do zebras get their stripes? How do leopards get their spots? And how do giraffes get their giraffe-shaped thingies, whatever they are called? Would you believe the answer is… math? This is the story of a WWII wartime codebreaker and...

How can cities become resilient to the shocks of climate change? As a leading force behind Detroit's ongoing revitalization, Anika Goss spends a lot of time thinking about this question. Connecting the city's industrial past to its...

Ladybugs are red with black spots, right? Well, not always. There's a lot of genetic and evolutionary reasons that they can be different colors with wacky patterns.

Ovens are great for baking, cooking, and.... discovering quantum mechanics? In this fascinating episode of SciShow, Hank takes you through the science of quantum mechanics, and how ovens played a big part in their discovery.

Brown cats are something of a rarity, but you may have something pretty close.

Do you just hate those little bumps all over your nose? Don’t be a hater, they’re just doing their job! Learn how in this SciShow Quick Question.