In this video Paul Andersen explains how nuclear energy is released during fission of radioactive uranium. Light water reactors, nuclear waste, and nuclear accidents are also discussed along with the future of nuclear energy.

In this video Paul Andersen explains the different forms and units for energy. A discussion of the laws of thermodynamics is also included. Sample conversion problems using dimensional analysis is also included.

In this video Paul Andersen discusses the technology, advantages and disadvantages of six sources of renewable energy; biomass, hydroelectric, solar, geothermal wind, and hydrogen. He also explains how changes in the storage and flow of...

The best form of energy available to the world is energy reduction. In this video Paul Andersen explains how energy conservation and energy efficiency and be used to decrease energy during peak demand. Tiered and variable pricing, as...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how energy flows in ecosystems. Energy enters via producers through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Producers and consumers release the energy from food through cellular respiration. An...

Every year, the world uses 35 billion barrels of oil. This massive scale of fossil fuel dependence pollutes the earth, and it won't last forever. On the other hand, we have abundant sun, water and wind, which are all renewable energy...

Although coal is such an amazing energy source that we've kept using it despite the harm it causes, today we may be better poised to stop using it than at any previous time in history.

What is “the environment”? Well, it’s everything, and it’s everywhere, including you and me. Just about every part of human civilization depends on a healthy and stable environment. Yet, human activity is causing pollution, climate...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how stimulated emission can be used to create coherent light. When an atom absorbs a photon it moves to a higher energy level through stimulated absorption. It may then release a photon and moves to...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how matter and energy are conserved within the Earth's system. Matter is a closed system and Energy is open to the surroundings. In natural systems steady state is maintained through feedback loops...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how energy can be harnessed was water moves through a turbine. Three types of systems are discussed in the video; run-of-the-water, impoundment, and tidal. Several advantages and disadvantages of dams...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how humans have consumed energy through history and may consume energy in the future. Sources of energy have included food, animals, wood, wind, coal, oil, and natural gas. However non-renewable...

Despite the rise of renewable energy, the backbone of the power grid is fossil fuels. Adapting the grid to green energy sources is more complicated than flipping a switch.

Energy is neither created nor destroyed - and yet the global demand for it continues to increase. But where does energy come from, and where does it go? Joshua M. Sneideman examines the many ways in which energy cycles through our...

The way smartphones made many devices nonessential is a model for a new way to think about improving energy efficiency.

On July 26, 1943, Los Angeles was blanketed by a thick gas that stung people’s eyes and blocked out the Sun. Panicked residents believed their city had been attacked using chemical warfare. But the cloud wasn’t an act of war. It was...

Learn how the coronavirus pandemic has changed energy consumption patterns and how these changes might affect renewable energy in this interview with Melissa Petruzzello, Editor of Plant and Environmental Science at Encyclopaedia...

In this video Paul Andersen shows how increasing ocean temperatures causes coral polyps to release their symbiotic algae. This process of coral bleaching decreases the availability of energy for the coral and may eventually lead to coral...

Burning a marshmallow can release more energy than detonating an equal mass of TNT...so why isn't a marshmallow as dangerous?

All over the world, giant wave breaks appear because of underwater geology that supercharges their wave energy.

Sloths spend most of their time eating, resting, or sleeping; in fact, they descend from their treetops canopies just once a week, for a bathroom break. How are these creatures so low energy? Kenny Coogan describes the physical and...

You've probably heard that carbon dioxide is warming the Earth. But how exactly is it doing it? Lieven Scheire uses a rainbow, a light bulb and a bit of quantum physics to describe the science behind global warming.

In this video Paul Andersen explains how fossil fuels are formed when organic material is heating and squeezed in an anaerobic environment. Formation, extraction, advantages, and disadvantages are discussed for coal, petroleum and...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how the atmosphere surrounds the planet. The state of the atmosphere is climate and is affected by unequal heating, the Coriolis Effect, and the ocean. Convection cells and ENSO are discussed in...