As benign as it may look up close, the tiny seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia can wreak quite a bit of havoc on coastal ecosystems. This super algae is very adaptable; it also grows fast and spreads easily. Eric Noel Munoz gives the details of...

You might think your grandma who wakes up at 4am just needs less sleep than younger people. Not so! Studies suggest there are some bizarre reasons older people rise at the crack of dawn, including something called brain sand!

Schizophrenia affects 20 million people worldwide, and we don’t exactly know how it develops, or what causes it yet. However, some research has found that it might be an autoimmune condition.

In many democratic countries, charismatic leaders vilify political opponents, disparage institutions, and claim to be for the people. Some critics label this approach as authoritarian or fascist, while others argue that these leaders are...

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that you can never simultaneously know the exact position and the exact speed of an object. Why not? Because everything in the universe behaves like both a particle and a wave at the same time....

The pothos plant grows really well in a lot of places, so you’d think they’d be easy to coax blossoms out of, but even the greenest thumbs haven’t seen this plant bloom naturally in over 60 years! Why are the pothos petals so shy?

The Order of Operations is Wrong

Each year, we try to fight flu season with the influenza vaccine and this year is no different. But why is there a flu season at all and how do we fight it?

If you feel like you’ve been more forgetful than normal recently, you’re definitely not alone. Your memory can have a lot to do with what's happening around you.

What would happen if one day all of humanity's artificial satellites suddenly disappeared? Within hours, most of the planet's traffic would grind to a halt, the world economy would shut down, and most countries would declare a state of...

Farming erodes soil 50 times faster than it forms. We can change that, but will we?

Focus groups have been widely used by organizations and individuals to find out how their products and ideas will be received by an audience. From the usage of household products to a politician's popularity, almost everything can be...

Ever since humans found out about germs, we’ve gone a bit overboard inventing antibacterial soap and antibiotics and antifungals. But despite our aversion to them, microbes aren’t all bad, and some of them could even help us...

Trusting your gut may not sound like a reliable way to make decisions, but the research points to some times when you might want to listen to it!

Today we're talking about birds — from how they are evolving in response to climate change and how one species is surprisingly healthy, genetically, despite being critically endangered.

In this video Paul Andersen explains how ecosystems respond to disruptions. Disruptions can cause changes in the number and variety of organisms. It can also lead to migration, extinction or even speciation. Ecosystems that have a...

In 1815, Lord Byron proposed a challenge to a few literary guests he had gathered in his house on Lake Geneva: Who could write the most chilling ghost story? This question sparked an idea in eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley who, over the...

We all do it, but why? Hank explains the whys and hows of our gaseous emissions.

So, have you ever wondered why some stars are brighter than others? You might think it's because they're closer to us, but that's not the whole story? In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina chats about how stars glow and how...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how the polarity of water makes life on the planet possible. Oxygen is highly electronegative and pulls the electrons closely creating a partial negative charge. The polarity of water (and the...

Honeybees are some of nature's finest mathematicians. Not only can they calculate angles and comprehend the roundness of the earth, these smart insects build and live in one of the most mathematically efficient architectural designs...

Without refrigerators, we'd have spoiled milk, moldy cheese, and warm sodas. However, there are some foods that don't fare so well in a chilly fridge, including tomatoes.

60 years ago, in January 1958, the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1.

Do we really have free will? Today Hank explores possible answers to that question, explaining theories like libertarian free will and it’s counterpoint, hard determinism.