We may have planet-shattering asteroids to thank for the origin of life on Earth.

Hank's news this week informs us on a couple of crazy science experiments, updates us on some earlier topics (dangerous asteroids and ancient phallic rock art), and briefs us on a new study that seeks to find the evolutionary origins of...

All humans share some common bits of DNA, passed down to us from our African ancestors. Geneticist Spencer Wells talks about how his Genographic Project will use this shared DNA to figure out how we are -- in all our diversity -- truly...

Hank's news this week informs us on a couple of crazy science experiments, updates us on some earlier topics (dangerous asteroids and ancient phallic rock art), and briefs us on a new study that seeks to find the evolutionary origins of...

As we try to figure out the evolutionary trees for languages and species, we sometimes get led astray by similar but unrelated words and...

Sometimes, in order to learn something, you've got to punch a giant asteroid.

SPHERE took a photo of a baby planet and the origin of the asteroid belt may be less mysterious than we thought.

In the history of our species, we still don’t know exactly how and when early humans migrated across the world, but some ancient footprints might be helping us figure it out.

Escape was one of the many ways that enslaved people resisted their captivity in the system of American slavery. The Underground Railroad was not literally a railroad. It was a network of people, routes, and safe houses that helped...

How did the universe begin -- and how is it expanding? CERN physicist Tom Whyntie shows how cosmologists and particle physicists explore these questions by replicating the heat, energy, and activity of the first few seconds of our...

This week we're headed to China to learn about the ancient origins of theater there. We'll look at the early days of wizard theater (not a typo), the development of classical Chinese theater, and the evolution of Beijing Opera.

We might be closer to figuring out how our solar system was born and NASA has two finalists for its next New Frontiers mission.

What we call language is something more specific than communication. Language is about sharing what's in our minds: stories, opinions, questions, the past or future, imagined times or places, ideas. It is fundamentally open-ended, and...

There was a massive data breach in the United States, and chances are you're probably affected by it. While Hank can't undo what was done, he can give you some insight into how it all went down.

We were recently visited by a traveler from outside our solar system. This is the first time we've ever seen an object that came to us from interstellar space. It's name is 'Oumuamua.

We've all been told that we should recycle plastic bottles and containers. But what actually happens to the plastic if we just throw it away? Emma Bryce traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, shedding light on the...

More than 90% of the plants on Earth are angiosperms, flowering plants whose seeds are enclosed inside fruit. And they’re everywhere -- but exactly how and when these plants came to be so ubiquitous is one of the most stubborn questions...

The search for our origins go back to a single common ancestor -- one that remains shrouded in mystery. It's the ancestor of everything we know and today scientists call it the last universal common ancestor, or LUCA.

Welcome to Crash Course Theater with Mike Rugnetta! In this, our inaugural week, we're going to ask the two classic questions about theater. 1.What is theater? And 2. Is it spelled -re or -er? Well, there's a clue to question two in the...

Holiday Kids_ Mardi Gras V1-0001

Holiday Kids_ Easter V1-0003

Featured in tabletop RPGs, card games, books, animated movies and shows, the manticore is a legend. And there’s a lot of speculation about the origins of the manticore. Is it a man-eating monster from Persian myth or simply a...

It's delicious AND affordable, but where does it come from? We're digging into the origins of Costco's Kirkland brand scotch.

What makes a fashion trend go from lowbrow to high class? How does the person wearing the style change its perception? And whose taste gets to be respected? Hang on to your boxer braids for this one, from the ghetto to ghetto fabulous...