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The Science of Depression

Adults Science
What's going on inside of a depressed person?

You Can Learn Anything

Adults Science
Khan Academy is on a mission to unlock the world's potential. Most people think their intelligence is fixed. The science says it's not.

Here's Why You Should Never Thaw Your Frozen Steaks Before Cooking

Adults Science
You may find out that you've been cooking steaks wrong your entire life.

7 Myths About The Brain You Thought Were True

Adults Science
Blow your mind with these brain myths!

How do we smell?

Adults Science
An adult human can distinguish up to 10,000 odors. You use your nose to figure out what to eat, what to buy and even when it's time to take a shower. But how do the molecules in the air get translated into smells in your brain? Rose Eveleth charts the smelly journey through your olfactory epithelium and explains why scent can be so subjective.

The chemistry of cookies

Adults Science
You stick cookie dough into an oven, and magically, you get a plate of warm, gooey cookies. Except it's not magic; it's science. Stephanie Warren explains via basic chemistry principles how the dough spreads out, at what temperature we can kill salmonella, and why that intoxicating smell wafting from your oven indicates that the cookies are ready for eating.

What's In A Candle Flame?

Adults Science
Is a flame really a plasma? Well it depends on your definition of plasma, but there are certainly ions in a flame, formed as molecules collide with each other at high speed, sometimes knocking electrons off of their atoms.

The loathsome, lethal mosquito

Adults Science
Everyone hates mosquitos. Besides the annoying buzzing and biting, mosquito-borne diseases like malaria kill over a million people each year (plus horses, dogs and cats). And over the past 100 million years, they've gotten good at their job -- sucking up to three times their weight in blood, totally undetected. So shouldn't we just get rid of them? Rose Eveleth shares why scientists aren't sure.

How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries

Adults Science
Adam Savage walks through two spectacular examples of profound scientific discoveries that came from simple, creative methods anyone could have followed -- Eratosthenes' calculation of the Earth's circumference around 200 BC and Hippolyte Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in 1849.

Anti-Gravity Wheel Explained

Adults Science
It's a little shaky but if you average out the oscillations I think the result is clear. Again, huge thank you's to A/Prof Emeritus Rod Cross, Helen Georgiou, Alex Yeung, and Chris Stewart, the University of Sydney Mechanical Engineering shop, Duncan and co. Ralph and the School of Physics.

Questions no one knows the answers to

Adults Science
In the first of a new TED-Ed series designed to catalyze curiosity, TED Curator Chris Anderson shares his boyhood obsession with quirky questions that seem to have no answers.

Why do we cry? The three types of tears

Adults Science
Whether we cry during a sad movie, while chopping onions, or completely involuntarily, our eyes are constantly producing tears. Alex Gendler tracks a particularly watery day in the life of Iris (the iris) as she cycles through basal, reflex and emotional tears.

When Water Flows Uphill

Adults Science
In the Leidenfrost Effect, a water droplet will float on a layer of its own vapor if heated to certain temperature. This common cooking phenomenon takes center stage in a series of playful experiments by physicists at the University of Bath, who discovered new and fun means to manipulate the movement of water.

Why Do We Yawn?

Adults Science
What makes yawning so contagious?

Amazing Water & Sound Experiment

Adults Science
The effect that you are seeing can't be seen with the naked eye. The effect only works through the camera. However, there is a version of the project you can do where the effect would be visible with the naked eye.

The mystery of motion sickness

Adults Science
Although one third of the population suffers from motion sickness, scientists aren't exactly sure what causes it. Like the common cold, it's a seemingly simple problem that's still without a cure. And if you think it's bad on a long family car ride, imagine being a motion sick astronaut! Rose Eveleth explains what's happening in our bodies when we get the car sick blues.

What Causes Traffic Jams?

Adults Science
It's happened to all of us: we're cruising down the freeway and suddenly find ourselves stuck in a thick jam of other cars. Where did they come from? What caused the traffic mess? Scientific American editor Larry Greenemeier explains.

These Japanese Scientists Discovered A Way To Levitate Objects Using Sound

Adults Science
Droplets, pellets, a stick of wood, nuts, screws, diodes, if the object in question is small enough, than this machine can not only lift them into the air and hold it in place, but move them around on all three axes

Sulfur Hexafluoride Gas

Adults Science
A model boat floating on sulfur hexafluoride (gas significantly denser than air) at the Physikshow of the University of Bonn!

Sam Harris - It Is Always Now

Adults Science
Sam Harris, an American neuroscientist, author, and philosopher, shares his concept of the present moment and why it matters to live in the now rather than wait for the "now" of the future. Remember to live for each and every moment.

Time Travel

Adults Science
3 Simple Ways to Time Travel (& 3 Complicated Ones)