It may seem like the semicolon is struggling with an identity crisis. It looks like a comma crossed with a period. Maybe that's why we toss these punctuation marks around like grammatical confetti; we're confused about how to use them...

In our first episode of Crash Course Engineering, Shini explains what engineering is, and gives a brief overview of its four main branches (civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical) as well as a look at some of the other fields of...

Group projects have a reputation of being difficult at times. But there are ways to make sure everything from the project to meetings about the project go smoothly. In this episode, Evelyn chats about how we can make sure and avoid...

We need to figure out how we go into conversations not looking for the victory, but the progress, says world debate champion Julia Dhar. In this practical talk, she shares three essential features of productive disagreements grounded in...

What exactly is culture? This week we’re going to try to answer that, and explain the difference between material and non-material culture. We’ll look at three things that make up culture: symbols, values and beliefs, and norms. We’ll...

In this episode SciShow Space we talk about the aether...which hasn't been proven.

This week we answer skeptics like Descartes with empiricism. Hank explains John Locke’s primary and secondary qualities and why George Berkeley doesn’t think that distinction works -- leaving us with literally nothing but our minds,...

When trying to come up with a new idea, we all have times when we get stuck. But according to research by behavioral and learning scientist Marily Oppezzo, getting up and going for a walk might be all it takes to get your creative juices...

Perspective is everything, especially when it comes to examining your beliefs. Are you a soldier, prone to defending your viewpoint at all costs -- or a scout, spurred by curiosity? Julia Galef examines the motivations behind these two...

Paul Andersen explains the concept of coevolution. He begins with an analogy comparing the relationship of humans to technology with those of coevolving species. He then discriminates between coevolution and convergent evolution. He...

There are over 170,000 words currently in use in the English language. Yet every year, about a thousand new words are added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Where do they come from, and how do they make it into our everyday lives?...

The weak force has been causing trouble for a century, ruining everything physicists thought was true. But it might actually be responsible for your very existence.

Cómo despertar la creatividad dentro de nosotros



No hay una sola manera de ser creativo, propone el investigador Franc Ponti. Algunos nos inclinamos por el pensamiento creativo lógico y basado en la acción, mientras...

Viruses all around us, they evolve, grow, and can be killed. But are they alive?

Today we’re going to talk about the collection of routes known as the Silk Roads, and explore how worldview and other ideas spread along those trade routes. The Silk Roads are responsible for everything from the spices we use when we...

Writing a great English paper can be tough because literature doesn't always reveal its deeper meanings immediately. You might not know Mr. Darcy's true feelings for Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice or grasp the...

Humans have an almost insatiable energy demand, so scientists and engineers are always on the lookout for sustainable ways to provide the energy we need. And some of these ideas go way beyond solar panels and wind...

Why do Africa and South America fit together? Anyone who's ever looked at a map can see that Earth's continents are kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. The idea that continents are constantly moving and weren't always in their current spots is...

In which John Green teaches you about the American Revolution and the American Revolutionary War, which it turns out were two different things. John goes over the issues and events that precipitated rebellion in Britain's American...

Value is the core of any business, and it directs all future decisions, innovations, and customers that get targeted. Even if we’ve thought about the big picture, if we can’t explain how an idea makes someone’s life better, then why...

Remember how Darwin and Mendel lived around the same time, but everyone forgot about Mendel until 1900, and even then biologists saw Darwinism and Mendelism as two competing grand theories about how life works?

Well, in this episode...

The Presocratics: Crash Course History of Science #2

One of the problems with the whole idea of a single Scientific Revolution is that some disciplines decided not to join any revolution. And others just took a long time to get there.

The standard story of the Scientific Revolution culminates with the long life of one man: Sir Isaac Newton—a humble servant of the Royal Mint, two-time parliamentarian, and a scientific titan whose name, along with Einstein’s, is...