Cafe Science

Biology textbooks are full of drawings of DNA, but none of those show what DNA actually looks like. Sure, they're good models for understanding how DNA works, but inside of real cells, it's a whole lot more interesting. Learn why we can't look directly at DNA, and find out how DNA is actually packed inside cells.

What happens if we bring the sun to earth? No, seriously.

Scientists have discovered how to create a real life 'superlaser' using an ultra-pure diamond. How exactly does it work?2

The light from KIC 8462852 faded again, and scientists have some new theories about what's behind astronomy's most mysterious star.

The nose's olfactory receptors are stimulated when we smell food and other odors. But could the process of smelling cause weight gain?

This video is about why it's harder to successfully land spacecraft and landers and rovers on Mars than on Earth, or Venus, or the Moon, or Titan, or asteroids. It all comes down to atmospheric density! When there's no atmosphere, you can do a powered descent in a flimsy tinfoil spacecraft like the Lunar Module, and when there's plenty of atmosphere you can do an unpowered descent via heat shield and parachutes like the space shuttle, Apollo command module, Soyuz, Huygens, etc. But on Mars with its thin air, you have to do both powered & unpowered descent, getting the worst of both worlds.

Researchers at Stanford University developed a soft, squishy robot that "grows" like a vine and can squeeze through tight spaces. It can also lift heavy objects, which makes it potentially ideal for search-and-rescue operations.

1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221. These are the first five elements of a number sequence. Can you figure out what comes next? Alex Gendler reveals the answer and explains how beyond just being a neat puzzle, this type of sequence has practical applications as well.

Finding the source of a disease outbreak requires intensive detective work from health experts. But is finding Patient Zero even possible?

If you're not a morning person, science says you probably never will be.

Broccoli is one of the most nutritious vegetables. However, boiling it takes many of those essential nutrients out. There's a simpler way to cook it and retain all the nutrition. Following is a complete transcript of the video.

The solstice alignments of Stonehenge, explained.

More than 18,300 candidates applied to be astronauts in NASA's latest class-smashing the record of 8,000 applicants in 1978-and only 12 got the job. Here's who made the cut.

In 2018, NASA will launch a solar probe that will travel closer to the sun than any spacecraft before. But why? What are they looking for?

Perpetual motion machines - devices that can do work indefinitely without any external energy source - have captured many inventors' imaginations because they could totally transform our relationship with energy. There's just one problem: they don't work. Why not? Netta Schramm describes the pitfalls of perpetual motion machines.

Tiny lab-grown organs. A spongy cloth that absorbs oil spills. Sure, why not. These are some of the finalists for the European Inventor Award.

Fraser Corsan wants to go faster than a Ferrari F50 and higher than Mount Everest-with nothing but his own two wings to carry him. Corsan is a wingsuit pilot. He wants to break four of the world wingsuit records.