Save the rainforest is an environmental slogan as old as time — but Tasso Azevedo catches us up on how the fight is actually going these days. Spurred by the jaw-dropping losses of the 1990s, new laws (and transparent data) are helping...

Fire seasons can be bad enough on their own, but it turns out sometimes forest fires that appeared to be dead, turn out to have just been lying in wait.

So, what is fire, exactly? What causes fires in the wild, and how do we put them out? SciShow answers your burning questions about the science of fire. (See what we did there?)

Jessi and Squeaks are thinking of visiting the redwoods, the tallest trees in the world, but there's lots for them to learn before they make their trip! First Grade Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Idea: LS1.A:...

Along with humans, orangutans belong to the Hominidae family tree, which stretches back 14 million years. But it's not just their striking red hair that makes orangutans unique among our great ape cousins. Lu Gao shares some amazing...

The sounds of the rainforest include: the chirps of birds, the buzz of cicadas, the banter of gibbons. But in the background is the almost-always present sound of a chainsaw, from illegal loggers. Engineer Topher White shares a simple,...

Economics PhD Sebastião Salgado only took up photography in his 30s, but the discipline became an obsession. His years-long projects beautifully capture the human side of a global story that all too often involves death, destruction or...

Earthworms may be good for your garden, but they also have the potential to disrupt forest ecosystems across much of North America.

Around the world, living things have managed to build truly extraordinary ecosystems in some of the last places you would think to look. Understanding these ecosystems can help us protect or repair them, and it can also help us...

What's black and white, big and fuzzy, and likes to eat bamboo all day? A panda! Join us to learn all about this rare bears and the challenges they face as their habitat disappears.

Roasting marshmallows over a fire is a lot of fun, but did you know that, in nature, fire keeps our forests clean and healthy and even helps some plants grow?

Jane Goodall is an amazing scientist and conservationist who has dedicated her life to learning about and protecting chimpanzees! Thanks to her, we've learned that, sometimes, people and animals aren't so different! Learn more about her...

Why Poor Places Are More Diverse

Our early ancestors relied on lightning to cause forest fires, from which they could collect coals and burning sticks to help them cook food and clear land. Yet, it wasn't just humans who benefited from these natural phenomena. Even as...

Join Hank Green to learn ten weird, scary, and amazing things fungi can do!

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The next entry in our parade of heroes is Rama, the protagonist of the Ramayana, one of India's oldest stories. We're going to be talking about Rama's importance to Hindu culture, and how Rama fits into Campbell's idea of the Hero's...

This week, we're continuing our discussion of heroes by talking about Gilgamesh, star of one of the earliest written hero stories, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a terrible ancient king who left his kingdom seeking adventure, and...

Which Came First - The Rain or the Rainforest

It's lights up in America! This week, we're headed to North America. We'll look at Native American storytelling traditions, the theater that Europeans brought along starting in the 17th century, and how theater developed before and after...

Illness is universal -- but access to care is not. Physician Raj Panjabi has a bold vision to bring health care to everyone, everywhere. With the 2017 TED Prize, Panjabi is building the Community Health Academy, a global platform that...

Last time we put a Polar Bear in the desert and we still feel bad about that, but there's a lot more going on in ecosystems than just temperature. In fact, there are so many elements in ecosystems, that if just one leaves or gets out of...

Forests don't have to be far-flung nature reserves, isolated from human life. Instead, we can grow them right where we are -- even in cities. eco-entrepreneur and TED Fellow Shubhendu Sharma grows ultra-dense, biodiverse mini-forests of...

Megafires, individual fires that burn more than 100,000 acres, are on the rise in the western United States -- the direct result of unintentional yet massive changes we've brought to the forests through a century of misguided management....

In this video Paul Andersen explains how forests and rangelands are managed to provide renewable lumber and cattle. Threats to renewability of forests include old-growth logging, forest fires, and tree plantations. Threats to renewable...