TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to build a fictional world - Kate Messner
Why is J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy so compelling? How about The Matrix or Harry Potter? What makes these disparate worlds come alive are clear, consistent rules for how people, societies -- and even the laws of physics --...
Be Smart
Why Does February Have 28 Days?
Why does February only get 28 days when all the other months get 30 or 31? The answer is part superstition, part politics, and parts astronomy. Basically, it's the Romans' fault.
TED Talks
TED: The future of news? Virtual reality | Nonny de la Pena
What if you could experience a story with your entire body, not just with your mind? Nonny de la Pena is working on a new form of journalism that combines traditional reporting with emerging virtual reality technology to put the audience...
TED Talks
Howard Rheingold: The new power of collaboration
Howard Rheingold talks about the coming world of collaboration, participatory media and collective action -- and how Wikipedia is really an outgrowth of our natural human instinct to work as a group.
TED Talks
TED: Don't fail fast -- fail mindfully | Leticia Gasca
We celebrate bold entrepreneurs whose ingenuity led them to success, but what happens to those who fail? Far too often, they bury their stories out of shame or humiliation -- and miss out on a valuable opportunity for growth, says author...
TED Talks
TED: Give yourself permission to be creative | Ethan Hawke
Reflecting on moments that shaped his life, actor Ethan Hawke examines how courageous expression promotes healing and connection with one another -- and invites you to discover your own unabashed creativity. "There is no path till you...
SciShow
The Untold Story of the First Vaccine
Vaccines save millions of lives each year, so we owe a lot to the people that pioneered that medical breakthrough. But the concept of a vaccine had already existed for a long time before it was “discovered,” and the real story is way...
Crash Course
Digestive System, part 2: Crash Course A&P
Nearly 200 years ago, Alexis St. Martin was shot in the stomach. He was saved by local army doctor William Beaumont, but had to live out his remaining years with a gaping hole in the stomach -- allowing Beaumont to learn a lot about how...
TED Talks
Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems
It's a standard assumption in the West: As a society progresses, it eventually becomes a capitalist, multi-party democracy. Right? Eric X. Li, a Chinese investor and political scientist, begs to differ. In this provocative,...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Everything you need to know to read "Frankenstein" - Iseult Gillespie
In 1815, Lord Byron proposed a challenge to a few literary guests he had gathered in his house on Lake Geneva: Who could write the most chilling ghost story? This question sparked an idea in eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley who, over the...
Crash Course
Science Journalism - Crash Course Statistics
We’ve talked a lot in this series about how often you see data and statistics in the news and on social media - which is ALL THE TIME! But how do you know who and what you can trust? Today, we’re going to talk about how we, as consumers,...
TED Talks
TED: The hidden beauty of pollination | Louie Schwartzberg
Pollination: it's vital to life on Earth, but largely unseen by the human eye. Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg shows us the intricate world of pollen and pollinators with gorgeous high-speed images from his film "Wings of Life," inspired by...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What really happens to the plastic you throw away - Emma Bryce
We've all been told that we should recycle plastic bottles and containers. But what actually happens to the plastic if we just throw it away? Emma Bryce traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, shedding light on the...
Crash Course
The 2008 Financial Crisis: Crash Course Economics
Today on Crash Course Economics, Adriene and Jacob talk about the 2008 financial crisis and the US Goverment's response to the troubles. So, all this starts with home mortgages, and the use of mortgages as an investment instrument. For...
TED Talks
TED: The infinite alchemy of storytelling | Zahra Al-Mahdi
TED Fellow Zahra Al-Mahdi was raised by screens -- "storytelling machines" like TV and the internet that shaped her sense of self and reality. Now a multimedia artist and filmmaker, she challenges common historical narratives and brings...
Be Smart
How The Elements Got Their Names
Ever wonder what all those names on the periodic table actually mean? There's a whole lot of fascinating history on Mendeleev's table. Some carry names from antiquity, some are named for people, some are named for places, and some are...
Be Smart
Much A-Do About Hair
All mammals have hair at some point in their lives, but none of them wear it quite like humans. Why does our hair grow where it does, and not grow where it doesn't? How does our hair get its color? And why does it go gray and often fall...
SciShow
The Oldest Crater from a Meteorite…Isn’t a Crater after All?
There's one crater that may be older than any that we know of. Except there's a snag, it might not actually be a crater at all.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The infamous overpopulation bet: Simon vs. Ehrlich | Soraya Field Fiorio
In 1980, Paul Ehrlich and Julian Simon bet $1,000 on a question with stakes that couldn't be higher: would the earth run out of resources to sustain a growing human population? They bet $200 on the price of five metals. If the price of a...
Crash Course
Screenplays: Crash Course Film Production
If you want to make a movie, generally you're going to want to start with a script. In this episode of Crash Course Film Production, Lily Gladstone talks about the basics of screenplays and how to get started thinking about and actually...
TED Talks
William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind
At age 14, in poverty and famine, a Malawian boy built a windmill to power his family's home. Now at 22, William Kamkwamba, who speaks at TED, here, for the second time, shares in his own words the moving tale of invention that changed...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The genes you don't get from your parents (but can't live without) | Devin Shuman
Inside our cells, each of us has a second set of genes completely separate from our 23 pairs of chromosomes. And this isn't just true for humans— it's true of every animal, plant, and fungus on Earth. This second genome belongs to our...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How do we separate the seemingly inseparable? - Iddo Magen
Your cell phone is mainly made of plastics and metals. It's easy to appreciate the process by which those elements add up to something so useful. But there's another story we don't hear about -- how did we get our raw ingredients in the...
SciShow
The Best Ways to Keep Your Mind Young
You might feel like your thinking has been getting a bit slower and foggier as you get older, and that eventually happens to everybody. But how can we keep our minds young?