Extreme environments full of life on Earth have led researchers to expand the definition of habitability to something that includes many more planets, potentially leading us to evidence of living things in a dramatically shorter time!...

Legendary ocean researcher Sylvia Earle shares astonishing images of the ocean -- and shocking stats about its rapid decline -- as she makes her TED Prize wish: that we will join her in protecting the vital blue heart of the planet.

From Ancient Greece to the 20th century, Aristotle, Freud, and numerous other scholars were all looking for the same thing: eel testicles. Freshwater eels could be found in rivers across Europe, but no one had ever seen them mate and no...

We live in an unusual age - the age when the stars still shine. We should count ourselves lucky - nearly all of future history will be dark. But events will still unfold in that long, cooling darkness, and civilizations may endure. So...

Fiorenzo Omenetto shares 20+ astonishing new uses for silk, one of nature's most elegant materials -- in transmitting light, improving sustainability, adding strength and making medical leaps and bounds. On stage, he shows a few...

When Amy Green's young son was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, she made up a bedtime story for his siblings to teach them about cancer. What resulted was a video game, "That Dragon, Cancer," which takes players on a journey they can't...

That baby is staring at you, and you don't know why. Something in your teeth? Did you accidentally leave a tag on your clothes? Don't worry,that baby probably just likes your face.

Our friend the Giant Squid inspired a SciShow Kids viewer to write us and ask, 'What is squid ink, and can you write with it?' Jessi has the answers!

"A political cartoon is a barometer of freedom," says Rayma Suprani, who was exiled from her native Venezuela for publishing work critical of the government. "That's why dictators hate cartoonists." In a talk illustrated with highlights...

The idea that a collection of pixels can be sold for actual money might be confusing to some, as they are neither true "objects" you can hold nor "ideas" that can be considered intellectual property. But despite the lack of tangibility,...

TED curator Chris Anderson shares his obsession with questions that no one (yet) knows the answers to. A short intro leads into two questions: Why can't we see evidence of alien life? And how many universes are there?

In this epic overview, Michael Tilson Thomas traces the development of classical music through the development of written notation, the record, and the re-mix.

As we wrap up Crash Course Philosophy, we’re using the things we’ve learned to explore big issues like the value of life. Today, we’re discussing abortions in cases of fetal abnormality, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. We will consider...

Today we’re talking about mass transfer. It doesn’t just apply to objects and fluids as a whole, but also to the individual molecules and components that make them up. We’ll see that transfers of mass need their own driving force,...

Scientists have discovered an underground lake of liquid water on Mars! While this isn’t itself evidence for life on Mars, it does raise some new possibilities.

Musician and activist Bono accepts the 2005 TED Prize with a riveting talk, arguing that aid to Africa isn't just another celebrity cause; it's a global emergency.

Check out life under a rock to see what you can learn about insects, spiders, and other animals!

Explore the haunting and intimate works of poet Sylvia Plath, who digs into issues of mental health, trauma and sexuality in works like “The Bell Jar.” -- Under her shrewd eye and pen, Sylvia Plath turned everyday objects into...

While the Earth's oceans are known as five separate entities, there is really only one ocean. So, how big is it? As of 2013, it takes up 71% of the Earth, houses 99% of the biosphere, and contains some of Earth's grandest geological...

While comets were historically thought to be ill omens of war and famine, recent science has revealed that these celestial wonders actually contain amino acids, the building blocks of life on Earth. Justin Dowd explores the implications...

Crash Course Big History is back! It turns out, we couldn't tell all of the 13.8 billion years of the history of the universe in 10 Crash Course Episodes. So, Big History host Emily Graslie has returned to add 6 more episodes that look...

So, you know you'd like to get help with some problematic behavior (like fear of flying). What do you do? Who can you go to for help? Once you've gone, what can you expect? In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank...

How do you know you're a person who has lived your life, rather than a just-formed brain full of artificial memories, momentarily hallucinating a reality that doesn't actually exist? That may sound absurd, but it's kept several...

Dr. Emmett Chappelle developed a test to find living microbes on other planets, and while it hasn't yet been used to find life amongst the stars, we've found many applications for it here on Earth