TED Talks
Aaron Huey: America's native prisoners of war
Aaron Huey's effort to photograph poverty in America led him to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the struggle of the native Lakota people -- appalling, and largely ignored -- compelled him to refocus. Five years of work later,...
TED Talks
TED: How to win at evolution and survive a mass extinction | Lauren Sallan
Congratulations! By being here, alive, you are one of history's winners -- the culmination of a success story four billion years in the making. The other 99 percent of species who have ever lived on earth are dead -- killed by fire,...
TED Talks
TED: Living sculptures that stand for history's truths | Sethembile Msezane
In the century-old statues that occupy Cape Town, Sethembile Mzesane didn't see anything that looked like her own reality. So she became a living sculpture herself, standing for hours on end in public spaces dressed in symbolic costumes,...
SciShow
What Neanderthal DNA Is Doing To Your Genome
Scientists estimate that about 2% of our DNA is from Neanderthals. In this week, the journal Cell showed what those Neanderthal DNA do to our genome.
TED Talks
TED: When workers own companies, the economy is more resilient | Niki Okuk
Another economic reality is possible -- one that values community, sustainability and resiliency instead of profit by any means necessary. Niki Okuk shares her case for cooperative economics and a vision for how working-class people can...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The art forger who tricked the Nazis
It was one of the strangest trials in Dutch history. The defendant in a 1947 case was an art forger who had counterfeited millions of dollars worth of paintings. But he wasn’t arguing his innocence— in fact, his life depended on proving...
TED Talks
Naomi Oreskes: Why we should trust scientists
Many of the world's biggest problems require asking questions of scientists -- but why should we believe what they say? Historian of science Naomi Oreskes thinks deeply about our relationship to belief and draws out three problems with...
TED Talks
TED: The revolutionary power of diverse thought | elif Shafak
From populist demagogues, we will learn the indispensability of democracy, says novelist elif Shafak. "From isolationists, we will learn the need for global solidarity. And from tribalists, we will learn the beauty of cosmopolitanism." A...
TED Talks
Alexander MacDonald: How centuries of sci-fi sparked spaceflight
Long before we had rocket scientists, the idea of spaceflight traveled from mind to mind across generations. With great visuals, TED Fellow and NASA economist Alexander MacDonald shows how 300 years of sci-fi tales -- from Edgar Allan...
MinuteEarth
Our Best View Of Bacteria Is...From Space?!
Observing the effects of microbes using satellites can give us all sorts of useful information about life on Earth ... and other planets too.
SciShow
What the Wright Brothers Should Actually Be Famous For
For the pioneers of human aviation, one of the trickiest problems was figuring out how to steer the early craft. Then, the Wright Brothers changed everything by using bike parts and watching birds.
SciShow
Evolution & The Science of Popular Music
This week, researchers reveal the single most important influence on music since 1960. Also, turns out that sleepwalking and sleep terrors are genetically linked.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Chinese legend of the butterfly lovers | Lijun Zhang
Although only boys were allowed at the Confucius Academy, what Zhu Yingtai wanted was to go to school. She begged her parents to let her attend dressed as a boy and, seeing her determination and clever disguises, they finally agreed— as...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The evolution of the book - Julie Dreyfuss
What makes a book a book? Is it just anything that stores and communicates information? Or does it have to do with paper, binding, font, ink, its weight in your hands, the smell of the pages? To answer these questions, Julie Dreyfuss...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The language of lying - Noah Zandan
We hear anywhere from 10 to 200 lies a day. And although we've spent much of our history coming up with ways to detect these lies by tracking physiological changes in their tellers, these methods have proved unreliable. Is there a more...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What was so special about Viking ships? - Jan Bill
As the Roman Empire flourished, Scandinavians had small settlements and no central government. Yet by the 11th century, they had spread far from Scandinavia, gaining control of trade routes throughout Europe, conquering kingdoms as far...
SciShow
Why It Actually Took 50 Years to Make COVID mRNA Vaccines
The FDA recently approved two mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, but it was a challenge to make this type of vaccine work. And it took decades of research to get us to the point where scientists could make those vaccines as quickly as they did.
SciShow
Why Billions of Passenger Pigeons Died in Under a Century
How could the most abundant bird in North America go extinct so quickly? Short answer: us.
PBS
Do We Want the World to End?
The so-called Mayan long count calendar predication of the apocalypse is based a fundamental MISUNDERSTANDING of Mayan calendars and society. It's so far off base that scientific and anthropological experts can dismiss it with laugh....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why is this painting so captivating? - James Earle and Christina Bozsik
On first glance, the painting Las Meninasc (The Maids of Honorc) might not seem terribly special, but it's actually one of the most analyzed pieces in the history of art. Why is this painting by Diego Velazquez so captivating? James...
TED Talks
Parag Khanna: Mapping the future of countries
Many people think the lines on the map no longer matter, but Parag Khanna says they do. Using maps of the past and present, he explains the root causes of border conflicts worldwide and proposes simple yet cunning solutions for each.
TED Talks
TED: The birth of virtual reality as an art form | Chris Milk
Chris Milk uses innovative technologies to make personal, interactive, human stories. Accompanied by Joshua Roman on cello and McKenzie Stubbert on piano, Milk traces his relationship to music and art -- from the first moment he...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Who is Alexander von Humboldt? - George Mehler
Have you heard of Alexander von Humboldt? Not likely. The geologist turned South American explorer was a bit of an 18th century super scientist, traveling over 24,000 miles to understand the relationship between nature and habitat....
Crash Course
Crash Course Film History Preview
Beginning April 13th, join Craig Benzine (the internet's WheezyWaiter) for 16 weeks of Film History right here on Crash Course. He'll look at the history of one of our most powerful mediums. Film has the ability to communicate with...