Be Smart
Are We Running Out Of Food??
If you tried to sum up the last 150 years or so in one image, a chart of exponential growth would be a good place to start. It shows that some things change faster over time. You could apply it to life expectancy. Or compound interest....
TED Talks
TED: How to solve the world's biggest problems | Natalie Cargill
Sometimes the world's biggest issues can seem so intractable that meaningful change feels impossible. But what if the answer has been right in front of us all along? What if the answer is actually throwing money at the problems? In this...
TED Talks
TED: The wheat field that could change the world | Guntur V. Subbarao
Crop physiologist Guntur V. Subbarao and his team have developed an antibiotic-infused strain of wheat that naturally combats harmful, fertilizer-eating bacteria -- a "monster" contributor to climate change. Learn more about how this...
TED Talks
TED: A global food crisis may be less than a decade away | Sara Menker
Sara Menker quit a career in commodities trading to figure out how the global value chain of agriculture works. Her discoveries have led to some startling predictions: "We could have a tipping point in global food and agriculture if...
TED Talks
Johan Rockström: Let the environment guide our development
Human growth has strained the earth's resources, but as Johan Rockström reminds us, our advances also give us the science to recognize this and change behavior. His research has found nine "planetary boundaries" that can guide us in...
Crash Course
Why is There Uneven Access to Food? Crash Course Geography
Food insecurity, or the lack of access to enough nutritious food, is a complex problem. In the 21st century, even with all of our advances in technology, access to food is still uneven. Today we're going to look at the diffusion of food...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy? | Laura Wright
Set in a small town in India, "The God of Small Things" revolves around fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, who are separated for 23 years after the fateful hours in which their cousin drowns, their mother's affair is revealed, and her...
Crash Course
Controlling the Environment: Crash Course History of Science
Well, it wouldn't be too long after we started developing Ecology that we would try to control the environment. In some ways this was helpful and likely prevented a lot of people from starving. But, there have been a few downsides.
Vlogbrothers
What Can't a Billion Dollars Buy?
In which John discusses the strangeness of large numbers, and this year's Annual Letter from Melinda and Bill Gates. Other topics discussed include the human microbiome, the Green Revolution, the foreign aid budget in the United States,...
Step Back History
5 People Who Changed the World
Here at Step Back we have been focusing on historical events that do not lean on singular important people to understand. Often, historians tend to overemphasize the roles of individuals in the overall course of humanity. But hell, I...
National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation: Green Revolution
A10-part video series about renewable energy resources.