TED Talks
Sinan Aral: How we can protect truth in the age of misinformation
Fake news can sway elections, tank economies and sow discord in everyday life. Data scientist Sinan Aral demystifies how and why it spreads so quickly -- citing one of the largest studies on misinformation -- and identifies five...
Crash Course
How YouTube Knows What You Should Watch
Today we’re going to talk about recommender systems which form the backbone of so much of the content we see online from video recommendations on YouTube and Netflix to ads we see on Facebook, Twitter, and well, everywhere else. We’ll...
TED Talks
TED: The global food waste scandal | Tristram Stuart
Western countries throw out nearly half of their food, not because it’s inedible -- but because it doesn’t look appealing. Tristram Stuart delves into the shocking data of wasted food, calling for a more responsible use of global resources.
Crash Course
Big Data Problems - Crash Course Statistics
There is a lot of excitement around the field of Big Data, but today we want to take a moment to look at some of the problems it creates. From questions of bias and transparency to privacy and security concerns, there is still a lot to...
SciShow
The Ghostly Particles That May Have Unbalanced the Universe
Almost all matter in the universe should have been annihilated shortly after the Big Bang, but looking around, we see galaxies, stars, planets, and, you know... us. So obviously that didn't happen, and the why of it may have something to...
Crash Course
Theories of Global Stratification: Crash Course Sociology
Today we’ll discuss two theories of global stratification. First, we’ll go over modernization theory and Walt Rostow’s Four Stages of Modernization. Next, we’ll explain dependency theory, the legacy of colonialism, and Immanuel...
TED Talks
Hans Rosling: The magic washing machine
What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. With newly designed graphics from Gapminder, Rosling shows us the magic that pops up when economic growth and electricity...
SciShow
Does Mars Need The Cloud?
Earlier this year, scientists pitched a mission to bring 'the cloud' to Mars. While this proposal may seem expensive and risky, it's a legitimate idea that could fundamentally change how we plan space missions!
TED Talks
Stephen Lawler: Tour Microsoft's Virtual Earth
Microsoft's Stephen Lawler gives a whirlwind tour of Virtual Earth, moving up, down and through its hyper-real cityscapes with dazzlingly fluidity, a remarkable feat that requires staggering amounts of data to bring into focus.
TED Talks
Seth Shostak: ET is (probably) out there -- get ready
SETI researcher Seth Shostak bets that we will find extraterrestrial life in the next twenty-four years, or he'll buy you a cup of coffee. He explains why new technologies and the laws of probability make the breakthrough so likely --...
TED Talks
Talithia Williams: Own your body's data
The new breed of high-tech self-monitors (measuring heartrate, sleep, steps per day) might seem targeted at competitive athletes. But Talithia Williams, a statistician, makes a compelling case that all of us should be measuring and...
TED Talks
César Hidalgo: A bold idea to replace politicians
César Hidalgo has a radical suggestion for fixing our broken political system: automate it! In this provocative talk, he outlines a bold idea to bypass politicians by empowering citizens to create personalized AI representatives that...
TED Talks
TED: What Wikipedia teaches us about balancing truth and beliefs | Katherine Maher
Even with public trust at an all-time low, Wikipedia continues to maintain people's confidence. How do they do it? Former CEO of Wikimedia Foundation Katherine Maher delves into the transparent, adaptable and community-building ways the...
SciShow
5D, Holograms, & DNA: Amazing Hard Drives of the Future
Today's data storage solutions have an expiration date. What's on the horizon to replace them?
TED Talks
TED: An ever-evolving map of everything on Earth | Jack Dangermond
What if we had a map of ... everything? Jack Dangermond, a visionary behind the geographic information system (GIS) technology used to map and analyze all kinds of complex data, walks us through the interconnected technologies gathering...
Be Smart
What's REALLY Warming the Earth?
As earth temperatures continue to rise, what's really to blame?
Crash Course
Education In Society: Crash Course Sociology
Today we’ll explore the history of education as a social institution, with a specific focus on how the US organizes its educational system. We’ll look at education through the lenses of some sociological paradigms: structural...
SciShow
Data Mining: How You're Revealing More Than You Think
Data mining recently made big news with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but it is not just for ads and politics. It can help doctors spot fatal infections and it can even predict massacres in the Congo.
TED Talks
Dalia Mogahed: The attitudes that sparked Arab Spring
Pollster Dalia Mogahed shares surprising data on Egyptian people's attitudes and hopes before the Arab Spring -- with a special focus on the role of women in sparking change.
SciShow
3 Planets That Shouldn't Exist
We explore several exoplanets whose features make us think they shouldn't even have been able to form in the first place!
SciShow
We Don't Actually Know Where the Sun Came From
We can’t find evidence of the Sun’s family, or how it might have formed, but we do have some pretty good theories.
SciShow
Our Startling First Glimpse of the Far Side of the Moon
Since the moon is tidally locked to the Earth, for millennia we could only guess what mysteries lay on its 'dark side.' Then in 1959 the Luna 3 spacecraft sent back a photo that prompted more questions than it answered.
SciShow
There Are Crystal Mirrors Hidden in Scallop Eyes
Sea creatures abound this week, as scientists make discoveries about scallop eyes and use models to help figure out the age old mystery, "Which came first, comb jellies or the sea sponge?”
SciShow
The Secret to Unbelievably Fast Internet: Twisting Light
You might finally be able to watch that 4k video without buffering, thanks to quantum mechanics and orbital angular momentum.