TED Talks
TED: The line between life and not-life | Martin Hanczyc
In his lab, Martin Hanczyc makes "protocells," experimental blobs of chemicals that behave like living cells. His work demonstrates how life might have first occurred on Earth ... and perhaps elsewhere too.
TED Talks
TED: How to foster productive and responsible debate | Ishan Bhabha
The clash of ideas is fundamental to creativity and progress, but it can also be deeply destructive and create divisions within companies, communities and families. How do you foster productive debate while protecting against harmful...
TED Talks
TED: How to build for human life on Mars | Melodie Yashar
We're going to be building on the Moon this decade -- and next will be Mars, says space architect Melodie Yashar. In a visionary talk, she introduces her work designing off-world shelters with autonomous robots and 3D printers and...
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
When Insects First Flew
Insects were the first animals to ever develop the ability to fly, and, arguably, they did it the best. But this development was so unusual that scientists are still working on, and arguing about, how and when insect wings first came about.
PBS
The First Humans on Mars
Elon Musk's SpaceX program proposes that 100 people could be sent to colonize Mars within 10 years. What might that colony look like?
PBS
The Facts About Dinosaurs & Feathers
Over the past 20 years, dinosaurs of all types and sizes have been found with some sort of fluff or even full-on plumage. These fuzzy discoveries have raised a whole batch of new questions so we're here to tell you everything we know...
SciShow
The 3 Coolest Things Built By Bugs
Long before there were strip malls, skyscrapers, and combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bells, nature had its own architects: all kinds of creatures create all kinds of structures for living, raising offspring, or maybe just the occasional...
SciShow
These 'Fossilized Brains' Might Not Be Brains At All
A new study calls the claims of fossilized brains into question, and another finds ichthyosaurs might have been bigger than our current champions, the blue whales.
TED Talks
Deb Roy: The birth of a word
MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch...
Amoeba Sisters
Specialized Cells: Significance and Examples
Explore some examples of specialized plant and animal cells with the Amoeba Sisters! Video explains how specialized cell structure suits their function. Table of Contents: Intro 00:00 Specialized Cell Defined 0:26 Animal and Plant Cells...
SciShow
We Live in a Chimney
There are some captivating things when you look up at the night sky, but our location in the Milky Way may be fogging up our view.
SciShow
Why Do Things Fade in the Sun?
Have you ever noticed that sunlight makes colors fade? Join Quick Questions as we explore why that happens.
Bozeman Science
Thinking in Structure and Function: Level 3 - Material Properties
In this video Paul Andersen shows conceptual thinking in a mini-lesson on material properties. TERMS Structure - parts in a material object Function - an activity or purpose for a thing Properties - any traits of an object that can be...
SciShow
The 3 Coolest Things Built By Birds
There are a number of bird species that construct pretty cool things - today on SciShow, we'll visit with three of them...
SciShow
We Might Be Wrong About Planet Formation
Though we’ve been able detect thousands of exoplanets in the last few decades, we’ve now directly imaged an exoplanet that changes our whole perspective on how we think planets like Jupiter form!
Crash Course
How the Leaning Tower of Pisa Was Saved: Crash Course Engineering #40
This week we’re going underground to explore geotechnical and seismic engineering. We’ll look at how structures connect to the ground and transmit loads through their foundations, and how those foundations need to provide a high bearing...
SciShow
This Beautiful House Is Made of Snot
These giant balls of mucus may seem like a bizarre sight in the open ocean, but all this snot serves a purpose, both for the tiny creatures that produce it and for the entire ocean ecosystem!
TED Talks
Bastian Schaefer: A 3D-printed jumbo jet?
Designer Bastian Schaefer shows off a speculative design for the future of jet planes, with a skeleton inspired by strong, flexible, natural forms and by the needs of the world's, ahem, growing population. Imagine an airplane that's full...
Amoeba Sisters
Plant Reproduction in Angiosperms
Join us as we explore flower parts, pollination, and double fertilization in angiosperms. We'll also talk about the importance of pollinators, like bees, and the role they play. 00:00 Intro 1:34 What are Angiosperms? 1:48 Fruit 2:29...
SciShow
These Voracious Ants Are Their Own Mobile Home
Army ants move around a lot, which means they can't build a nest like other ants do. So, to build their shelters, they came up with another, way weirder solution...
SciShow
4 Buildings Too Awesome to Be Real (For Now)
Humans take up a lot of space, but engineers are already coming up with some amazing solutions for the future.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How do oysters make pearls? | Rob Ulrich
Despite their iridescent colors and smooth shapes, pearls are actually made of the exact same material as the craggy shell that surrounds them. Pearls, urchin spines, the shells of mussels, snails and clams, even coral— all these...
Bozeman Science
Concept 6 - Structure and Function
Paul Andersen explains how the structure of objects are related to their function and vice versa. He begins with a quick quiz on bicycle construction and ends with a progression of teaching for students grades K-12. He also explains how...