TED Talks
Morgan Vague: These bacteria eat plastic
Humans produce 300 million tons of new plastic each year -- yet, despite our best efforts, less than 10 percent of it ends up being recycled. Is there a better way to deal with all this waste? Morgan Vague describes her research with...
PBS
Are Prime Numbers Made Up?
Is math real or simply something made up by mathematicians? You can't physically touch a number yet using numbers we're able to build skyscrapers and launch rockets into space. Mathematician Kelsey Houston-Edwards explains this...
TED Talks
Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy
What's the key to using alternative energy, like solar and wind? Storage -- so we can have power on tap even when the sun's not out and the wind's not blowing. In this accessible, inspiring talk, Donald Sadoway takes to the blackboard to...
TED Talks
TED: In praise of conflict | Jonathan Marks
Conflict is bad; compromise, consensus and collaboration are good -- or so we're told. Lawyer and bioethicist Jonathan Marks challenges this conventional wisdom, showing how governments can jeopardize public health, human rights and the...
Bozeman Science
Systems
In this video Paul Andersen explains how systems are two or more objects that interact with one another. If a system has no relevant internal structure it can be treated as an object. The conservation laws apply to energy, charge and...
TED Talks
Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain
We're bringing gameplay into more aspects of our lives, spending countless hours -- and real money -- exploring virtual worlds for imaginary treasures. Why? As Tom Chatfield shows, games are perfectly tuned to dole out rewards that...
TED Talks
Tal Golesworthy: How I repaired my own heart
Tal Golesworthy is a boiler engineer -- he knows piping and plumbing. When he needed surgery to repair a life-threatening problem with his aorta, he mixed his engineering skills with his doctors' medical knowledge to design a better...
TED Talks
Charmian Gooch: My wish: To launch a new era of openness in business
Anonymous companies protect corrupt individuals – from notorious drug cartel leaders to nefarious arms dealers – behind a shroud of mystery that makes it almost impossible to find and hold them responsible. But anti-corruption activist...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the virus riddle? - Lisa Winer
Your research team has found a prehistoric virus preserved in the permafrost and isolated it for study. After a late night working, you're just closing up the lab when a sudden earthquake hits and breaks all the sample vials. Will you be...
TED Talks
Janelle Shane: The danger of AI is weirder than you think
The danger of artificial intelligence isn't that it's going to rebel against us, but that it's going to do exactly what we ask it to do, says AI researcher Janelle Shane. Sharing the weird, sometimes alarming antics of AI algorithms as...
TED Talks
Ryan Martin: Why we get mad -- and why it's healthy
Anger researcher Ryan Martin draws from a career studying what makes people mad to explain some of the cognitive processes behind anger -- and why a healthy dose of it can actually be useful. "Your anger exists in you ... because it...
TED Talks
TED: The next outbreak? We're not ready | Bill Gates
In 2014, the world avoided a global outbreak of Ebola, thanks to thousands of selfless health workers -- plus, frankly, some very good luck. In hindsight, we know what we should have done better. So, now's the time, Bill Gates suggests,...
SciShow
Could the Plague Rise Again?
How likely is a 21st-century epidemic of the plague? Unlike other diseases, the plague is alive and well in some parts of the world, but scientists and doctors are continuing to develop better treatments.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Particles and waves: The central mystery of quantum mechanics - Chad Orzel
One of the most amazing facts in physics is that everything in the universe, from light to electrons to atoms, behaves like both a particle and a wave at the same time. But how did physicists arrive at this mind-boggling conclusion? Chad...
TED Talks
Alejandro Aravena: My architectural philosophy? Bring the community into the process
When asked to build housing for 100 families in Chile ten years ago, Alejandro Aravena looked to an unusual inspiration: the wisdom of favelas and slums. Rather than building a large building with small units, he built flexible...
TED Talks
TED: How frustration can make us more creative | Tim Harford
Challenges and problems can derail your creative process ... or they can make you more creative than ever. In the surprising story behind the best-selling solo piano album of all time, Tim Harford may just convince you of the advantages...
TED Talks
Lynn Rothschild: The living tech we need to support human life on other planets
What would it take to settle Mars? In a talk about the future of space exploration, Lynn Rothschild reviews the immense challenges to living elsewhere in the universe and proposes some bold, creative solutions to making a home off planet...
SciShow Kids
Jessi and Squeaks Build a Better Back-Scratcher!
When we last left Jessi and Squeaks, Jessi had a big problem: her back was really itchy! Today we'll share our designs for back scratchers and build something to help her out!
TED Talks
TED: Let's launch a satellite to track a threatening greenhouse gas | Fred Krupp
When we talk about greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide gets the most attention -- but methane, which often escapes unseen from pipes and wells, has a far greater immediate impact on global warming. Environmentalist Fred Krupp has an idea to...
TED Talks
TED: Perspective is everything | Rory Sutherland
The circumstances of our lives may matter less than how we see them, says Rory Sutherland. At TEDxAthens, he makes a compelling case for how reframing is the key to happiness.
SciShow
A Surprisingly Simple Secret to Supersonic Flight
Making a faster plane takes more than building better engines and structures. To go supersonic, engineers had to solve hundreds of problems -- including ditching one of the biggest assumptions in aerodynamics!
SciShow
The Quantum Internet of the Future
You might want to hold off on sending your family's secret chili recipe across the internet to your family member who lives out of state. Researchers are working on a way to harness quantum weirdness to send information super securely!
TED Talks
Terry Moore: Why is 'x' the unknown?
Why is 'x' the symbol for an unknown? In this short and funny talk, Terry Moore gives the surprising answer.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What causes constipation? - Heba Shaheed
Visiting the bathroom is part of the daily human experience. But occasionally, constipation, a condition that causes a backup in your digestive system, strikes. In some especially uncomfortable cases, the food you eat can take several...