TED Talks
TED: How to take a picture of a black hole | Katie Bouman
At the heart of the Milky Way, there's a supermassive black hole that feeds off a spinning disk of hot gas, sucking up anything that ventures too close -- even light. We can't see it, but its event horizon casts a shadow, and an image of...
SciShow
The Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts
FRBs last just a few milliseconds, and astronomers have detected less than a couple dozen of them without our current telescopes. Where do scientists think they come from?
TED Talks
Wendy Freedman: This telescope might show us the beginning of the universe
When and how did the universe begin? A global group of astronomers wants to answer that question by peering as far back in time as a large new telescope will let us see. Wendy Freedman headed the creation of the Giant Magellan Telescope,...
SciShow
We May Have Just Found the Universe's Missing Baryonic Matter
Astronomers have finally found evidence to help solve the missing baryon problem, and they're pointing telescopes toward the Intergalactic Medium to figure it out.
SciShow
SciShow Talk Show: Jimmy Henderson & The Red Eyed Skinks
SciShow Talk Show is back! Hank talks to Jimmy Henderson about project MINERVA, or is it the MINERVA Project? Special Guest Jessi Knudsen Castañeda introduces two red eyed crocodile skinks!
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How many universes are there? - Chris Anderson
The fact that no one knows the answer to this question is what makes it exciting. The story of physics has been one of an ever-expanding understanding of the sheer scale of reality, to the point where physicists are now postulating that...
SciShow
Why Is Neptune So Blue And 3 Other Mysteries an Orbiter Could Solve
Neptune's radius is almost four times larger than Earth's, its surface has super intense storms, and we barely know anything else about it. It is time to send another orbiter out there.
SciShow
We Found a Planetary Graveyard | SciShow News
Researchers think they may have found a new way to study planets after they've been "buried" in a star! Astronomers are also officially acknowledging the discovery of a distant body with a thousand-year orbit and an adorable nickname.
SciShow
ALMA: What We've Learned from One of the Best Telescopes on Earth
Move over Hubble, ALMA sees what you can't!
TED Talks
Roy Gould + Curtis Wong: A preview of the WorldWide Telescope
Educator Roy Gould and researcher Curtis Wong show a sneak preview of Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope, which compiles images from telescopes and satellites to build a comprehensive, interactive view of our universe.
SciShow
The Leviathan of Parsonstown
In the 1800s, William Parsons built a telescope larger than any in the world: The Leviathan of Parsonstown. This landmark in science history helped solve the mystery of just what a nebula could be.
SciShow
Buzzed By a Weird Blue Asteroid
Asteroid 3200 Phaethon got closer than it will be until 2093, and the reflecting light has astronomers puzzled, and the relationship between black holes and magnetic fields is now a little more clear.
TED Talks
Andrew Connolly: What's the next window into our universe?
Big Data is everywhere — even the skies. In an informative talk, astronomer Andrew Connolly shows how large amounts of data are being collected about our universe, recording it in its ever-changing moods. Just how do scientists capture...
SciShow
The Legendary Arecibo Radiotelescope
All telescopes work by gathering light from the stars, but one held the crown for square footage for collecting that light for 53 years. The amazing Arecibo.
SciShow
“Do Fabulous Science”: Jane Rigby | Great Minds
Astronomer Dr. Jane Rigby challenges the limits of the naked eye. Having influenced most famous telescopes that come to mind, her work is defined by breaking boundaries both physical and beyond.
TED Talks
TED: Our longing for cosmic truth and poetic beauty | Maria Popova
Linking together the histories of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Edwin Hubble and Tracy K. Smith, poet and thinker Maria Popova crafts an astonishing story of how humanity came to see the edge of the observable universe. (Followed by an...
SciShow
A Telescope Bigger Than the Solar System
It turns out if you’d like to take a deeper look into the universe, the universe itself might actually help you do that!
TED Talks
Jeremy Kasdin: The flower-shaped starshade that might help us detect Earth-like planets
Astronomers believe that every star in the galaxy has a planet, one fifth of which might harbor life. Only we haven't seen any of them -- yet. Jeremy Kasdin and his team are looking to change that with the design and engineering of an...
TED Talks
TED: The most mysterious star in the universe | Tabetha Boyajian
Something massive, with roughly 1,000 times the area of earth, is blocking the light coming from a distant star known as KIC 8462852, and nobody is quite sure what it is. As astronomer Tabetha Boyajian investigated this perplexing...
TED Talks
Juna Kollmeier: The most detailed map of galaxies, black holes and stars ever made
Humans have been studying the stars for thousands of years, but astrophysicist Juna Kollmeier is on a special mission: creating the most detailed 3-D maps of the universe ever made. Journey across the cosmos as she shares her team's work...
SciShow
Two Decades Later, We Know Why the Sun Is a Lava Lamp
In 1999, scientists discovered something that took over 20 years to solve. Why do solar flares move like a lava lamp?
SciShow
Mining Asteroids for Space Treasure!
In the quest to build colonies in space, one major hurdle to overcome getting materials for construction to the places they'll be needed. One of the most promising techniques for solving this problem involves some extraordinary space...
TED Talks
George Smoot: The design of the universe
At Serious Play 2008, astrophysicist George Smoot shows stunning new images from deep-space surveys, and prods us to ponder how the cosmos -- with its giant webs of dark matter and mysterious gaping voids -- got built this way.