MinuteEarth
How Cats Became our Feline Overlords (ft. It's Okay To Be Smart)
Check out how cats became our favorite little murder machines. ___________________________________________ If you want to learn more about this topic, here are some keywords to get your googling started: Puma: The big cat with the...
TED Talks
TED: 3 questions to ask yourself about US citizenship | Jose Antonio Vargas
At age 16, journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas found out he was in the United States illegally. Since then, he's been thinking deeply about immigration and what it means to be a US citizen -- whether it's by birth, law or...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Claws vs. nails | Matthew Borths
Consider the claw. Frequently found on animals around the world, it's one of nature's most versatile tools. Bears use claws for digging as well as defense. An eagle's needle-like talons can pierce the skulls of their prey. Even the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: If superpowers were real: Immortality - Joy Lin
What if immortality wasn't just the stuff of epic comic book stories? Is it scientifically possible to be immortal? In this series, Joy Lin tackles six superpowers and reveals just how scientifically realistic they can be to us mere...
TED Talks
TED: Climate change isn't a distant threat -- it's our reality | Selina Neirok Leem
Every year, ocean levels rise and high tides flood the low-lying Marshall Islands in the Pacific, destroying homes, salinating water supplies and disrupting livelihoods. In a stirring poem and talk, youth climate warrior Selina Neirok...
TED Talks
TED: The intergenerational wisdom woven into Indigenous stories | Tai Simpson
The way we behave politically, socially, economically and ecologically isn't working, says community organizer and activist Tai Simpson. Sharing the creation myth of her Nez Perce tribe, she advocates for a return to the "old ways"...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What can DNA tests really tell us about our ancestry?
Two sisters take the same DNA test. The results show that one sister is 10% French, the other 0%. Both sisters share the same two parents, and therefore the same set of ancestors. So how can one be 10% more French than the other? Tests...
TED Talks
Louise Leakey: A dig for humanity's origins
Louise Leakey asks, "Who are we?" The question takes her to the Rift Valley in Eastern Africa, where she digs for the evolutionary origins of humankind -- and suggests a stunning new vision of our competing ancestors.
Be Smart
Are We All Related?
In part 3 of our special series on human ancestry, we investigate how closely related we all really are. Basic math tells us that all humans share ancestors. But you'll be amazed at how recently those shared ancestors lived. Thanks to...
Be Smart
6 Chemical Reactions That Changed History
From fire to food, check out these life-altering reactions that surround us everyday.
TED Talks
Lauren Sallan: A brief tour of the last 4 billion years (dinosaurs not included)
In this hilarious, whirlwind tour of the last four billion years of evolution, paleontologist and TED Fellow Lauren Sallan introduces us to some of the wildly diverse animals that roamed the prehistoric planet (from sharks with wings to...
SciShow
How the First Americans Got There
This week, researches published a genetic analysis of the 11,500-year-old remains of a baby found in Alaska, near where the first Americans crossed the Bering land bridge. That analysis has answered some lingering questions about human...
PBS
Why Triassic Animals Were Just the Weirdest
The Triassic was full of creatures that look a lot like other, more modern species, even though they're not closely related at all. The reason for this has to do with how evolution works and with the timing of the Triassic itself: when...
Be Smart
Where Did Humans Come From?
In part 1 of our special series on human ancestry, we tour through our family tree to meet our ancestors and distant cousins, and to find out what made us human along the way. The story of human ancestry is not a simple progression from...
Be Smart
Why Do We Cook?
Why do humans cook? Holidays are celebrated in many ways, but chances are they involve eating, and eating a LOT. Ever wonder why we cook our food? We do it because it tastes good, of course, and because our customs and traditions are...
SciShow
When Did Modern Behavior Evolve?
Scientists often use the phrase “anatomically modern humans” to describe the point when our ancient ancestors looked like us. But when did humans become behaviorally modern?
MinuteEarth
The Bird Poop That Changed The World
Thanks to my grandmother for inspiring this story, and to my mother for helping make it. Bird poop was the gateway fertilizer that turned humanity onto the imported-chemical-based farming system of modern agriculture....
Be Smart
How Evolution Turned A Possum Into A Wolf
Until the early 20th century, Tasmania was home to a very weird wolf-like creature. Except that it wasn't a wolf. Even though it looked like a wolf. How did that happen? Here's the science of convergent evolution!
PBS
Your Place in the Primate Family Tree
Purgatorius, a kind of mammal called a plesiadapiform, might've been one of your earliest ancestors. But how did we get from a mouse-sized creature that looked more like a squirrel than a monkey -- to you, a member of Homo sapiens?
Curated Video
The Science of Fear: Understanding Our Physical and Psychological Responses
This video explores the concept of fear and its physical and psychological effects on the human body. It discusses how fear is a response that can be triggered by both real and perceived dangers, and how our ancestors' fight or flight...
Curated Video
DNA Results for Queen Elizabeth II Predicted
DNA Results for Queen Elizabeth II Predicted
Curated Video
Does Queen Elizabeth have any Black, Jewish, or Muslim Ancestors?
Does Queen Elizabeth have any Black, Jewish, or Muslim Ancestors?
Science ABC
Cave Paintings To Cartography: This Is How They Created Maps Before Satellites
In 1963, in Turkey, a cave painting was discovered that had been drawn around 6200 BC in Catal Hyük in Anatolia. This painting illustrated a town with streets, houses, and a volcano. Would you call this a cave painting or an attempt at...