Natural selection can lead to some pretty amazing adaptations, but sometimes the resulting traits aren’t the most efficient solutions to the problems at hand. With the bar set to “good enough,” here are some features that arose from...

You don't actually have a "reptilian brain" somewhere deep in your head making you act like a salty crocodile, so where did that idea even come from?

In this video Paul Andersen shows conceptual thinking in a mini-lesson on complex structures.


TERMS
Complex structures - structures that consist of many different and conne
cted parts
System - a set of components...

Even the parts of our brains that don't control physical movement show a lot of rhythm, and that might be integral to how our brains...

It's easy to assume a cat's coat pattern is based exclusively on genetics, but that isn't entirely the case for Siamese cats. Their unique coloration comes from a combination of genetics, a fragile enzyme, and losing heat from little...

If you're flying on a plane in a thunderstorm, you should be more worried about the wind than the lightning.

Axolotls are one of science's most studied animals. Why, you ask? These extraordinary salamanders are masters of regeneration: they can flawlessly regenerate body parts ranging from amputated limbs and crushed spines to parts of their...

Hank brings you the SciShow news of the week. Recent record high temperatures and other extreme weather events around the world are climate change in action; a new fossil of an ancient human ancestor; some disturbing discoveries about...

When we think of the neurotransmitter dopamine, we often imagine it, and other molecules in our brains, as doing one specific thing. But that's just flat out wrong!

Animal behavior isn't complicated, but it is complex. Nicolas Perony studies how individual animals -- be they Scottish Terriers, bats or meerkats -- follow simple rules that, collectively, create larger patterns of behavior. And how...

Sometimes, when you bump your elbow really hard, your arm can get all weird and tingly, all the way down to your fingers! Some people call that "hitting your funny bone," but what you're hitting isn't a bone at all!

Some people (maybe you!) can't eat certain foods because they're allergic to them. People can have an allergic reaction to almost any kind of food, or even other things, like bee stings! But all allergies have something in common: our...

Greg Lynn talks about the mathematical roots of architecture -- and how calculus and digital tools allow modern designers to move beyond the traditional building forms. A glorious church in Queens (and a titanium tea set) illustrate his...

Get the behind-the-scenes story from visual strategist Dan Goods about how a single question launched NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab into action at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, propelling an unprecedented pivot from...

HOMUNCULUS! It's a big and weird word that you may or may not have heard before, but do you know what it means? In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank gives us a deeper understanding of this weird model of human sensation.

What’s that stuff up your nose? Does it do anything? SciShow Kids explains the science of boogers!

Plants are finding their ways into caves, and it's all our fault.

When you think of a brain, you probably imagine that pink, wrinkly organ in your skull, but we don’t have to stop there! Neither the brain’s functions, nor its cells, are confined to the organ we normally think of as the brain.

We'll soon be capable of building self-replicating robots. This will not only change humanity's future but reshape the galaxy as we know it.

Cities designed like families can last for generations. Skeptical? Look to master architect Liu Thai Ker, who transformed Singapore into a modern marvel with his unique approach to sustainable urban design. Liu shares creative wisdom and...

Designer and architect Neri Oxman is leading the search for ways in which digital fabrication technologies can interact with the biological world. Working at the intersection of computational design, additive manufacturing, materials...

It’s Nobel Prize week 2016, which means it’s basically science Christmas!

Future advances in engineering may come from chemistry. From molecular motors to salt-shaker-drug-deliverers, the future looks small.

You've probably known OF E=mc_ since you were born, and were also probably told that it meant that it proved Mass equaled Energy, or something along those lines. BUT WAIT. Was E=mc_ explained to you properly? Mass equalling energy is...