New ReviewSince the 1970s, researchers have engineered superbugs. While this research could help us prepare for future outbreaks, the stakes of this work are extremely high: if even one dangerous virus escaped a lab, it could cause a global...

New ReviewAt the end of the Civil War, though slavery was technically illegal in all states, it still persisted in the last bastions of the Confederacy. This was the case when Union General Gordon Granger marched his troops into Galveston, Texas...

New ReviewThomas Jefferson, founding father of the United States and primary author of the Declaration of Independence, was part of America's fight for freedom and equality. But in his personal life, he held over 600 people in slavery. Are his...

New ReviewImagine that your life began as one of the planet's first humans. After dying, you're reincarnated as the second human ever to live. You then return as the third person, the fourth, the fifth, and so on – living the lives of every human...

New ReviewMedieval Europe. Where unbathed, sword-wielding knights ate rotten meat, thought the Earth was flat, defended chastity-belt wearing maidens, and tortured their foes with grisly gadgets. Except... this is more fiction than fact. So, where...

New ReviewBy 1917, Albert Einstein had explained the relationship between space and time. But, that year, he designed a flawed airplane wing. His attempt was based on an incomplete theory of how flight works. Indeed, insufficient and inaccurate...

New ReviewIn the early 20th century, Alfred Wegener's theory of Continental Drift laid the foundation for our modern theory of plate tectonics. And today we know something even more exciting: Pangea was only the latest in a long lineage of...

New ReviewIn June 2022, a gold miner in the Canadian Yukon made a remarkable discovery. While working on the traditional lands of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation, he uncovered the exceptionally well-preserved, frozen remains of a wooly mammoth...

New ReviewNestled in the forests of Canada sits the world's longest beaver dam. This 850-meter-long structure is large enough to be seen in satellite imagery and has dramatically transformed the region, creating a pond containing 70 million liters...

New ReviewIn 1998, a school district removed one of American literature's most acclaimed works from its curriculum. Parents pushing for the ban said the book was both "sexually explicit" and "anti-white." The book at the center of this debate was...

New ReviewIn August 1968, factory workers overheard news of a mandatory meeting. Whispered rumors described shipments of a gift from the country's Communist leader, Chairman Mao Zedong. And sure enough, managers soon distributed a gift to every...

New ReviewIn 1967, James Bedford had a plan to cheat death. He was the first person to be cryogenically frozen. This process promised to preserve his body until a theoretical future when humanity could cure any illness, and essentially, reverse...

New ReviewA 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...

New ReviewA few years ago, the king decided your life would be forfeit unless you tripled the gold coins in his treasury. Fortunately, a strange little man appeared and magically performed the feat. Unfortunately, you promised him your first-born...

New ReviewWe don't often think of touch as being a vital part of movement, but touch is one part of a network that oversees all the sensations arising from the surface and interior of our bodies. Touch, pain, temperature, and our spatial awareness...

New ReviewMost countries recognize 18 as the start of adulthood by granting various freedoms and privileges. Yet there's no exact age or moment in development that we can point to as having reached full maturity. If there's no consensus on exactly...

New ReviewIn 1830, David Walker sewed a pamphlet into the lining of a coat. The volume was thin enough to be hidden, but its content was far from insubstantial. At the time, many members of the US government considered this pamphlet to be one of...

New ReviewAn athlete is preparing for a game. They've put on their gear and done their warmup, and now it's time for one more routine — stretching. Typically, athletes stretch before physical activity to avoid injuries like strains and tears. But...

New ReviewWelcome to the Neighborhood! Humans need a lot of things to survive (I'm sure you've noticed). We need food, water, and shelter and it takes a lot of resources to get all of those things. What are resources? In this episode of Crash...

New ReviewSchizophrenia was first identified more than a century ago, but we still don’t know its exact causes. It remains one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized illnesses today. So what do we actually know about its symptoms, causes, and...

New ReviewRemember pre-school? If not, IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER! But when you were stacking blocks and figuring out which block went into which shaped hole, you were learning about properties. In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks about...

New ReviewBy 2050, it's estimated that over 65% of the world will be living in cities. We may think of nature as being unconnected to our urban spaces, but trees have always been an essential part of successful cities. Humanity has been uncovering...

New ReviewA throbbing, pounding headache. Bright zigzagging lines across your field of vision. Sensitivity to light, lingering fatigue, disrupted sleep. While an incapacitating headache is one of the most common symptoms, a migraine can include...

New ReviewIt was long assumed that Amazons, the fierce and fearsome women warriors of Greece, were imaginary. But curiously enough, stories from ancient Egypt, Persia, the Middle East, Central Asia, India and China also featured Amazon-like...