SciShow
What Do 'Smart Pills' Really Do to Your Brain?
Nootropics are a group of chemicals that supposedly make you “smarter” without any side-effects. But don’t rush into it yet! It might be still too experimental to test it out.
TED Talks
Andrew Marantz: Inside the bizarre world of internet trolls and propagandists
Journalist Andrew Marantz spent three years embedded in the world of internet trolls and social media propagandists, seeking out the people who are propelling fringe talking points into the heart of conversation online and trying to...
TED Talks
Thomas Piketty: New thoughts on capital in the twenty-first century
French economist Thomas Piketty caused a sensation in early 2014 with his book on a simple, brutal formula explaining economic inequality: r > g (meaning that return on capital is generally higher than economic growth). Here, he talks...
SciShow
How Studying Venus Saved Earth
Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, seemed too good to be true when they were first created, and before long astronomers studying Venus' atmosphere discovered what could go wrong with this "miracle molecule."
Crash Course
The Modern Revolution Crash Course Big History 8
In which Hank and John Green teach you a Crash Course on the modern revolution, and the upside of the progress that humanity has made in the last 500 years or so. And while there are two sides to every history, and many of these changes...
Crash Course
Why is there Social Stratification?: Crash Course Sociology
As we get into our unit on stratification, we inevitably return to our old friends, the three sociological paradigms. How to structural functionalism, social conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism each think about stratification?...
TED Talks
TED: Let's put birth control back on the agenda | Melinda Gates
Contraception. The topic has become controversial in recent years. But should it be? Melinda Gates believes that many of the world's social change issues depend on ensuring that women are able to control their rate of having kids. In...
TED Talks
TED: Why Libya's revolution didn't work -- and what might | Zahra' Langhi
In Libya, Zahra' Langhi was part of the "days of rage" movement that helped topple the dictator Gaddafi. But -- then what? In their first elections, Libyans tried an innovative slate of candidates, the "zipper ballot," that ensured equal...
SciShow
Weird Places Mexico's Giant Crystal Cave
SciShow explores a place that’s as beautiful as it is dangerous: Mexico’s Giant Crystal Cave, where chemistry has created the world’s largest crystals -- but in an environment so hostile that you’d only survive a few minutes if you saw...
SciShow
Cosmic Cocktails Oxygen and Alcohol in Space!
Scientists studying Comets 67P and Lovejoy have discovered oxygen, alcohol, and the building block of sugar. Sounds like a regular Friday night on earth, but it’s the first time we’ve found any of these things on a comet.
TED Talks
Phillip Atiba Goff: How we can make racism a solvable problem -- and improve policing
When we define racism as behaviors instead of feelings, we can measure it -- and transform it from an impossible problem into a solvable one, says justice scientist Phillip Atiba Goff. In an actionable talk, he shares his work at the...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The past, present and future of the bubonic plague - Sharon N. DeWitte
The bubonic plague, which killed around 1/5 of the world's population in the 14th century, is still around today -- but it now claims only a few thousand lives each year. How did that number shrink so drastically? Sharon N. DeWitte...
TED Talks
TED: The next generation of African architects and designers | Christian Benimana
Christian Benimana wants to build a network of architects who can help Africa's booming cities flourish in sustainable, equitable ways -- balancing growth with values that are uniquely African. From Nigeria to Burkina Faso and beyond, he...
TED Talks
How a geospatial nervous system could help us design a better future | Jack Dangermond
What if we could better understand the world's biggest challenges simply by looking at a map? Jack Dangermond, a pioneer in geographic information system (GIS) technology that powers the digital maps people around the world use every...
SciShow
Why Being Introverted Doesn’t Make You Antisocial | Antisocial Personality Disorder
Introverts can often feel antisocial, but they are not always the same thing. In fact, psychologists found that they have great differences in their brain’s structure and function.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The true cost of gold | Lyla Latif
In 2020, Mali produced over 71 tons of gold— an amount worth billions of dollars. But Mali saw only $850 million dollars from that gold. And this situation isn't unique: a number of other gold-rich countries in Africa aren't seeing the...
TED Talks
TED: 9 myths about psychology, debunked | Ben Ambridge
How much of what you think about psychology is actually wrong? In this whistle-stop tour of disproved ideas, Ben Ambridge shares nine popular ideas about psychology that have been proven wrong -- and uncovers a few surprising truths...
TED Talks
TED: 5 needs that any COVID-19 response should meet | Kwame Owusu-Kesse
Crisis interventions often focus on a single aspect of a big, complicated problem, failing to address the broader social and economic context. Kwame Owusu-Kesse describes how the Harlem Children's Zone is taking a more holistic approach...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The tale of the doctor who defied Death
A husband and wife were in despair. The woman had just given birth to their 13th child, and the growing family was quickly running out of food and money. Wandering into the woods, the father encountered a skeletal figure with sunken eyes...
SciShow
Weird Places The Bay of Fundy
SciShow takes you on a tour of Canada’s Bay of Fundy, home of the largest tidal range in the world.
TED Talks
Jennifer Zhu Scott: Why you should get paid for your data
The world's most valuable tech companies profit from the personal data you generate. So why aren't you getting paid for it? In this eye-opening talk, entrepreneur and technologist Jennifer Zhu Scott makes the case for private data...
TED Talks
Clay Shirky: How social media can make history
While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing...
TED Talks
Jean-Baptiste Michel: The mathematics of history
What can mathematics say about history? According to TED Fellow Jean-Baptiste Michel, quite a lot. From changes to language to the deadliness of wars, he shows how digitized history is just starting to reveal deep underlying patterns.
SciShow
What Do Different Brainwaves Mean?
The neurons in your brain don't just fire off randomly,they fire in various patterns called neural oscillations. But what do these different brainwaves mean?