Trees are dead inside. It's true: the xylem tissue that supports their trunks technically isn't alive. Archaeologists hate that because this problem, the old wood problem, can cause carbon dating to be off by hundreds of...

Why does losing weight often feel like an uphill battle? Physician Katherine Saunders unpacks how our bodies are wired to store fat, revealing that obesity isn’t simply a lack of willpower — it’s a complex, chronic disease rooted in...

Parallel Universes - Many Worlds

What was the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics given for? Capturing a single photon of light!

About 99.9% of your typical human body is made of just 11 elements from the periodic table. But hiding in that remaining 0.1% are some elements that do some very important jobs to keep you alive and healthy. Including some elements you...

Natural history is full of living things that were long thought to have gone extinct only to show up again, alive and well. Paleontologists have a word for these kinds of organisms: They call them Lazarus taxa.

In an ode to the Persian language, author Leili Anvar unfurls the work of 13th-century mystic poet Rumi and reflects on how poetry gives meaning to our lives.

You’re alive right now… at least I’m pretty sure you are. But you’re not TOTALLY alive. Bits of you are always breaking down, being thrown out, and being replaced. Even right now, parts of you are dying. Some of your cells even died...

By overcounting how much carbon their forests suck up, and undercounting how much carbon their industries release, countries undercount their total carbon emissions.

Scientists have been trying to pull blood out of the body and put it back in again since the early 1800s, but bypass machines haven't been easy to get right.

Hank serves up a buffet of news items that includes an approximate date for the end of everything, scientific proof that when it comes to sex bigger IS better, and a look behind how the London Olympics are going green. Bon appetit!

A cockroach and jewel wasp are locked in battle. The wasp latches onto the cockroach and inserts her stinger into the cockroach's brain, where her venom blocks its fight-or-flight response. Now, the cockroach is essentially a zombie, and...

Book: Empire Falls

The NewsHour's Malcolm Brabant was there, and the cameras were rolling, as the Doctors Without Borders rescue ship he was on came across a horrific scene: More than 20 migrants dead on an unseaworthy ship that was taking them from...

The origin of life is one of the most important mysteries in all of science. When did life begin? How did life first evolve from chemistry? Where did life get started? In some primordial soup or somewhere else? Let's journey back to the...

Scientists are working on creating organisms with designer genomes -- and someday, we might end up with bacteria manufacturing our jet fuel.

In this video Paul Andersen shows conceptual thinking in a mini-lesson on scale mechanisms within complex systems.

T
ERMS:
Cause and effect relationships - one event that gives rise to ano
ther event
Complex systems - a...

As we wrap up Crash Course Philosophy, we’re using the things we’ve learned to explore big issues like the value of life. Today, we’re discussing abortions in cases of fetal abnormality, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. We will consider...

Hank serves up a buffet of news items that includes an approximate date for the end of everything, scientific proof that when it comes to sex bigger IS better, and a look behind how the London Olympics are going green. Bon appetit!

If you could travel back in time, and you killed your grandfather, would you be killing your future self? What do physics, complexity theory, and computer science have to say about this famous murderous time-travel paradox?

To solve the climate crisis, we need to make tropical forests worth more alive than dead, says environmental economist Nat Keohane. Highlighting the urgent need to stop deforestation and the carbon pollution it brings, he details the...

Koalas are pretty darn cute, but...they aren’t the brightest bulb on the continent. They will only eat eucalyptus leaves off the branch. On a plate, a koala won’t recognize their one and only food. Yet, somehow, koalas are still alive....

"We're all going to die -- and poems can help us live with that." In a charming and funny talk, literary critic Stephen Burt takes us on a lyrical journey with some of his favorite poets, all the way down to a line break and back up to...

Scientists have been trying to pull blood out of the body and put it back in again since the early 1800s, but bypass machines haven't been easy to get right.