SciShow
Why Does Everything Decay Into Lead
If you look at a copy of the periodic table, you might notice that basically every element after lead is labelled as radioactive. And the vast majority of those elements wind up decaying into some version of lead eventually. But why is...
SciShow
We Don’t Know What the Sun Is Made Of
Unlike Earth, our Sun is a giant ball of mostly hydrogen and helium. Astronomers managed to figure that one out roughly 100 years ago. But after all this time, they still can't come to an agreement on what "mostly" means, precisely.
SciShow
How Much of the Periodic Table is in YOU?
About 99.9% of your typical human body is made of just 11 elements from the periodic table. But hiding in that remaining 0.1% are some elements that do some very important jobs to keep you alive and healthy. Including some elements you...
SciShow
This Element Doesn't Fit the Periodic Table
One of the most famous elements in the periodic table doesn't really belong anywhere chemists would like to put it.
SciShow
Mercury Shouldn't Be Liquid. But It Is.
Mercury, a.k.a. quicksilver, is famous for being a liquid at room temperature...and also below room temperature. But you can't use a high school chem class to explain why. Instead, we need a little help from Einstein.
SciShow
Glenn Seaborg: Shaking Up the Periodic Table
Hank synopsizes the life and work of Glenn Seaborg, pioneer of synthetic elements, member of the Manhattan Project, and the architect of the last great shake-up of the periodic table.
PBS
Are there Undiscovered Elements Beyond The Periodic Table?
Adamantium, bolognium, dilithium. Element Zero, Kryptonite. Mythril, Netherite, Orichalcum, Unobtanium. We love the idea of fictional elements with miraculous properties that science has yet to discover. But is it really possible that...
PBS
The Alchemy of Neutron Star Collisions
Carl Sagan’s famous words: “We are star stuff” refers to a mind-blowing idea – that most atomic nuclei in our bodies were created in the nuclear furnace and the explosive deaths of stars that lived in the ancient universe. In recent...
Be Smart
The Strange Cosmic Origin of Earth’s Most Precious Metals
Precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and rhodium are expensive because they're rare in Earth's crust. But are they rare in the universe? Why is it so hard to make some of the chemical elements? Where do heavy metals come from,...
SciShow
The Biggest Volcano and Small Testes
Hank reviews the latest in science news, including the discovery of Element 115, the biggest volcano on Earth, and new insights into what it might mean to have small testicles.
SciShow
8 Elements You Might Not Know That Are Extremely Useful
There are 118 elements on the periodic table, but it seems like only a handful of them get any attention. But just because you haven't heard of an element doesn't mean that it isn't a vital part of everyday life! Learn about these lesser...
SciShow
Mendeleev's Periodic Table
Hank tells us about the awesomeness of the periodic table and the genius of the man who invented it.
Bozeman Science
Conservation of Atoms
In this video Paul Andersen explains how atoms are conserved in a chemical reaction. This can be seen in a chemical equation where the subscripts represent the atoms in the molecule and the coefficients represent the molecules. The mass...
SciShow
How Alchemy Led to Modern-Day Chemistry & Medicine
At the heart of alchemy was the quest to turn ordinary metals into gold. Despite the hopelessness of that goal, alchemists still made a lot of discoveries that formed the foundation of modern chemistry and medicine.
SciShow
SciShow Quiz Show: Weird Facts About Humans
Hank squares off against the host of SciShow Kids, Jessi Knudsen Castaneda, to match wits about chemistry, evolution, and how babies are weird!
SciShow
Japans Ominous Dancing Cats and the Disaster That Followed
In the 1950s, the people of Minamata, Japan started seeing strange behavior from the local cats, and it wasn't long before humans were showing the same symptoms.
TED Talks
Angela Belcher: Using nature to grow batteries
Inspired by an abalone shell, Angela Belcher programs viruses to make elegant nanoscale structures that humans can use. Selecting for high-performing genes through directed evolution, she's produced viruses that can construct powerful...
PBS
We Are Star Stuff
Stars are our stellar alchemists. They spend their entire lifespan creating and molding elements. In their final moments, a supernova spreads these elements out into the universe, providing the building blocks for new stars, planets, and...
Bozeman Science
Concept 1 - Patterns
Paul Andersen explains patterns and describes why pattern recognition is an important skill in science and engineering. He begins by discussing patterns in nature, including snowflakes, flower petals, seasons and nucleotides in DNA. He...
Crash Course
Precipitation Reactions: Crash Course Chemistry
A lot of ionic compounds dissolve in water, dissociating into individual ions. But when two ions find each other that form an insoluble compound, they suddenly fall out of solution in what's called a precipitation reaction. In this...
TED Talks
Janine Benyus: Biomimicry's surprising lessons from nature's engineers
In this inspiring talk about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus provides heartening examples of ways in which nature is already influencing the products and systems we build.
Bozeman Science
PS1A - Structure and Properties of Matter
In the first physical science video for the Next Generation Science Standards Paul Andersen explains the structure and properties of matter. He starts by explaining how all matter is made of about 100 smaller particles called matter. He...
Amoeba Sisters
Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles
Explore the cycling of carbon among carbon reservoirs! Then discover the importance of nitrogen, essential for amino acids and nucleotides, and learn about the nitrogen cycle! Expand details for table of contents. Table of Contents:...
SciShow
Dmitri Mendeleev: Great Minds
Hank introduces us to the man behind the periodic table - the brilliant Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.