Did our most famous fossil ancestor, Lucy, die by falling out of a tall tree? The answer is part of a decades-long debate over how, exactly, our ancestors transitioned from life in the trees to life on the ground.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, everyone older than six months should use sunscreen every day to decrease the risk of skin cancer. But today’s sunblock is full of ingredients that are decades old and increasingly obsolete. Dr....

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....

Climate change doesn't care about ideological divides, says policy analyst and China expert Changhua Wu. Here's what she says the US can learn from the progress China has made on the clean energy revolution -- and why collaboration...

What would it take to make global supply chains cleaner and greener? Bo Cerup-Simonsen -- who's helping decarbonize the maritime industry as CEO of the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping -- discusses why tenacious...

Most of us are stoked if we can get a stone to skip more than 3 or 4 times. The world record holder at skipping stones has 88 skips. Here's why science says that number is way too low.

Where would biology be without microscopes? But for a long time, in order to see the smallest bits of life, that life had to be dead. Then along came Atomic Force Microscopy, which let us observe things like DNA and proteins moving...

If you hear birds chirping in the trees, you might not think much of the different sounds you're hearing. But as it turns out, those tweets and chirps have a lot more in common with some of our complicated rules of grammar than you might...

If you're bitten by a snake, you might need a horse to save your life. Researchers are searching for better antivenoms to treat illnesses like snake bite, and they're turning to monoclonal antibodies, made in a lab, to replace the...

A clip from America Ferrera's TED Talk "My identity is a superpower -- not an obstacle" from TED2019 Hollywood needs to stop resisting what the world actually looks like, says actor, director and activist America Ferrera. Tracing the...

The name of the order Carnivora means "meat-eaters," and while most of the members of Carnivora live up to that name, there is at least one cute and curious exception.

Researchers have found ancient communities of microbes that have been buried deep, for a hundred million years! This discovery might be the oldest living thing on Earth, and could even expand the search for life on other planets.

There are lots of strategies to remember information when you need it most. These are shortcuts called mnemonics.

In 1965, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory saw their Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1 (LCS-1) launched into Earth orbit. It was an empty aluminum sphere and couldn't do any science of its own. But the world's most boring disco ball has played a huge...

What happens when a species is the only of its kind? This phenomenon is called a monospecific taxon. Studying these special species can help us better understand not just those sparse groups, but all life on this planet! Join Olivia...

In elections, your vote may be influenced by design of the ballot itself, especially when you don’t have strong feelings about which candidate to elect.

7 Animals Called By The Wrong Name

How can you tell the difference between a yellowjacket and a hornet? And how much cosmic XP do you need to evolve a wasp into a bee? Follow the insect that stung you, and discover the fascinating world of wasp nests and bee hives.

From wasps nests to nuclear reactors. Here are just a few clever ways archeologists figure out how old something is.

SciShow takes you inside a limnic eruption, a natural disaster that’s as deadly as it is rare.

Sheryl Lee Ralph is a force, delivering iconic performances both on stage and screen. But she didn't always know if she'd make it big. In a lively talk sparkling with actionable advice, she shares how her struggles taught her what it...

She was the Queen of France, notorious for living in opulence while peasants starved and became a symbol of everything wrong with monarchy. But was Marie Antionette a heartless, wasteful queen, or a convenient scapegoat in turbulent...

If you think social media is powerful, keep an eye on immersive video games, says futurist Noah Raford. As more and more people are drawn into gaming and virtual worlds, the communities they forge are spawning real-world social...

Thomas Jefferson, founding father of the United States and primary author of the Declaration of Independence, was part of America's fight for freedom and equality. But in his personal life, he held over 600 people in slavery. Are his...