Smarter Every Day
AdultsTechnologyTransportationPhysics...Can You Land A Helicopter Without Engine Power?
James Webb Space Telescope
AdultsSpaceTechnologyScienceKnown as Hubble's successor, it uses 18 mirror segments to collect light from galaxies billions of light years away.
The Turing test: Can a computer pass for a human?
AdultsArtificial IntelligenceLanguageTechnology...What is consciousness? Can an artificial machine really think? For many, these have been vital considerations for the future of artificial intelligence.
NASA | A Year in the Life of Earth's CO2
AdultsTechnologyWorldScience...An ultra-high-resolution NASA computer model has given scientists a stunning new look at how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe.
The reason you feel awful when you're sick
AdultsHealthNeuroscienceWellness...It starts with a tickle in your throat that becomes a cough. Your muscles begin to ache, you grow irritable, and you lose your appetite. It's official: you've got the flu. It's logical to assume that this miserable medley of symptoms is the result of the infection coursing through your body - but is that really the case? Marco A. Sotomayor explains what's actually making you feel sick.
What is Random?
AdultsInternet CultureMathPhilosophy...Is the future of the universe already determined?
The science of skin color
AdultsHumanScienceTechnology...When ultraviolet sunlight hits our skin, it affects each of us differently. Depending on skin color, it'll take only minutes of exposure to turn one person beetroot-pink, while another requires hours to experience the slightest change.
How do glasses help us see?
AdultsBiotechnologyScienceHealthToday, glasses help millions of people with poor vision be able to see clearly. But how? Andrew Bastawrous and Clare Gilbert help unravel the answer by explaining refraction - the ability of a transparent medium, like glass, water, or the eye, to change the direction of light passing through it.
How To Count Past Infinity
AdultsMathSciencePhilosophyI'm very grateful to mathematician Hugh Woodin, Professor of Philosophy and Mathematics at Harvard, for taking the time on multiple occasions to discuss this topic with me and help me wrap my (finite) head around it.
Why is Mount Everest so tall?
AdultsNatureWorldScience...At 8,850 meters above sea level, Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, has the highest altitude on the planet. But how did this towering formation get so tall? Michele Koppes peers deep into our planet's crust, where continental plates collide, to find the answer.
Pushing the Envelope
AdultsScienceTechnologyNew Shepard flew again on April 2, 2016 reaching an apogee of 339,178 feet or 103 kilometers. It was the third flight with the same hardware.
The power of the placebo effect
AdultsHealthScienceWellnessThe placebo effect is an unexplained phenomenon wherein drugs, treatments, and therapies that aren't supposed to have an effect - and are often fake - miraculously make people feel better. What's going on? Emma Bryce dives into the mystery of placebos' bizarre benefits.
The invisible motion of still objects
AdultsPhysicsScienceMany of the inanimate objects around you probably seem perfectly still. But look deep into the atomic structure of any of them, and you'll see a world in constant flux - with stretching, contracting, springing, jittering, drifting atoms everywhere.
How stress affects your brain
AdultsHealthMental HealthScienceStress isn't always a bad thing; it can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you're playing a competitive sport or have to speak in public. But when it's continuous, it actually begins to change your brain. Madhumita Murgia shows how chronic stress can affect brain size, its structure, and how it functions, right down to the level of your genes.