TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why is NASA sending a spacecraft to a metal world? - Linda T. Elkins-Tanton
In 2026, an unmanned NASA spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at 16 Psyche, a massive, metallic asteroid floating somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Why is NASA so interested in this heavy metal asteroid? Are we going to...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How far would you have to go to escape gravity? - Rene Laufer
Every star, black hole, human being, smartphone and atom are all constantly pulling on each other due to one force: gravity. So why don’t we feel pulled in billions of different directions? And is there anywhere in the universe where...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How does anesthesia work? - Steven Zheng
When under anesthesia, you can't move, form memories, or -- hopefully -- feel pain. And while it might just seem like you are asleep for that time, you actually aren't. What's going on? Steven Zheng explains what we know about the...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Cannibalism in the animal kingdom - Bill Schutt
Until recently, scientists thought cannibalism was a rare response to starvation or other extreme stress. Well-known cannibals like the praying mantis and black widow were considered bizarre exceptions. But now, we know they more or less...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Would you weigh less in an elevator? - Carol Hedden
What happens when you jump in a moving elevator? Do you weigh more when you're going up and less when you're going down? Carol Hedden explores the relationship between gravity, weight, and relative motion, using a moving elevator to...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The power of creative constraints - Brandon Rodriguez
Imagine you were asked to invent something new. It could be whatever you want, made from anything you choose, in any shape or size. That kind of creative freedom sounds so liberating, doesn't it?
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The physics of the "hardest move" in ballet - Arleen Sugano
In the third act of "Swan Lake", the Black Swan pulls off a seemingly endless series of turns, bobbing up and down on one pointed foot and spinning around and around and around thirty-two times. How is this move - which is called a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How your digestive system works - Emma Bryce
Constantly churning inside of you, the digestive system performs a daily marvel: it transforms your food into the vital nutrients that sustain your body and ensure your survival. Emma Bryce traces food's nine-meter-long, 40-hour journey...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The unexpected math behind Van Gogh's "Starry Night" - Natalya St. Clair
Physicist Werner Heisenberg said, "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." As difficult as turbulence is to understand...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What is the universe made of? - Dennis Wildfogel
The atoms around you have existed for billions of years -- and most originated in the flaming, gaseous core of a star. Dennis Wildfogel tells the captivating tale of these atoms' long journeys from the Big Bang to the molecules they form...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Are ghost ships real? - Peter B. Campbell
In 1884, the British steamer “Rumney” crashed into the French ship “Frigorifique.” Seeing their ship filling with water, the French crew climbed aboard the “Rumney.” But as they sailed towards port, a silent form emerged from the fog –...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What can you learn from ancient skeletons? - Farnaz Khatibi
Ancient skeletons can tell us a great deal about the past, including the age, gender and even the social status of its former owner. But how can we know all of these details simply by examining some old, soil-caked bones? Farnaz Khatibi...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Is DNA the future of data storage? - Leo Bear-McGuinness
In the event of a nuclear fallout, every piece of digital and written information could all be lost. Luckily, there is a way that all of human history could be recorded and safely stored beyond the civilization's end. And the key...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: If superpowers were real: Immortality - Joy Lin
What if immortality wasn't just the stuff of epic comic book stories? Is it scientifically possible to be immortal? In this series, Joy Lin tackles six superpowers and reveals just how scientifically realistic they can be to us mere...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The incredible collaboration behind the International Space Station - Tien Nguyen
The International Space Station is roughly the size of a six-bedroom house and weighs more than 320 cars -- it's so large that no single rocket could have lifted it into orbit. Instead, it was assembled piece by piece while hurtling...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What is metallic glass? - Ashwini Bharathula
Steel and plastic are essential to much of our infrastructure and technology. Steel is strong and hard, but difficult to shape intricately. Plastic can take on just about any form, but it's weak and soft. Wouldn't it be nice if there...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Is time travel possible? - Colin Stuart
Time travel is a staple of science fiction stories, but is it actually possible? It turns out nature does allow a way of bending time, an exciting possibility suggested by Albert Einstein when he discovered special relativity over one...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How heavy is air? - Dan Quinn
Too often we think of air as empty space - but compared to a vacuum, air is actually pretty heavy. So, just how heavy is it? And if it's so heavy, why doesn't it crush us? Dan Quinn describes the fundamentals of air pressure and explains...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The genius of Marie Curie - Shohini Ghose
Marie Sk_odowska Curie's revolutionary research laid the groundwork for our understanding of physics and chemistry, blazing trails in oncology, technology, medicine, and nuclear physics, to name a few. But what did she actually do?...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to squeeze electricity out of crystals - Ashwini Bharathula
It might sound like science fiction, but if you press on a crystal of sugar, it will actually generate its own electricity. This simple crystal can act like a tiny power source because sugar happens to be piezoelectric. Ashwini...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Could the Earth be swallowed by a black hole? - Fabio Pacucci
From asteroids capable of destroying entire species to supernovae that could exterminate life on Earth, outer space has no shortage of forces that could wreak havoc on our planet. But there's something in space that is even more...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The real story behind Archimedes' Eureka! - Armand D'Angour
When you think of Archimedes' Eureka moment, you probably imagine a man in a bathtub, right? As it turns out, there's much more to the story. Armand D'Angour tells the story of Archimedes' biggest assignment -- an enormous floating...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to think about gravity - Jon Bergmann
Did you know that when you fall down, the earth falls up to meet you? Explore the counterintuitive equation that describes gravity.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Describing the invisible properties of gas - Brian Bennett
How do you explain the properties of something we can't see? See how scientists use scientific principles, such as gravity, to observe gases. This lesson explores gases and how we have come to know what we know about them.