The real reason polio is so dangerous
AdultsHealthHistoryHumanBiologyScience... Explore what makes polio so dangerous, what is causing the 21st century resurgence of cases, and how we can eradicate the disease.
Why Do Butterflies Bother Being Caterpillars?
AdultsAnimalsLifeNatureEvolutionBiology... It seems wild that some animals basically trade in their bodies for new ones during their lifetime, but it's actually really common – and it makes a lot of sense.
We Only Discovered This 10 Years Ago
AdultsEducationHistoryBiologyEvolutionScience... Most living things on Earth need oxygen to survive, but scientists discovered a species of bacteria that uses oxygen totally differently from every other organism on Earth.
You've Never Heard of the World's Most Common Mineral
AdultsEducationScienceWorkWorldEnergyEnvironmentTechnologyGeologyBiology... The most common substance in the world is literally IN the world. It's a mineral called bridgmanite, and it belongs to a class of minerals (called perovskites) that scientists are trying to use in the next generation of solar panels.
There Is Something Hiding Inside Earth
AdultsEducationScienceBiologySpaceNature... We’ve found a new planet, home to octillions of the most extreme beings living in the most absurd and deadly hellscape. In absolute darkness, crushed by the weight of mountains, starved of oxygen, cooked alive, bathed in acid, salt or radiation.
Groundbreaking chemist defines all of life in 2 words | Lee Cronin
AdultsLifePhilosophyScienceBiology... What is life, really? Despite our scientific advancements, we still don’t really know.
The Species That Broke Evolution?
AdultsHealthHistoryScienceBiologyEvolution... The ancestors of gars, horseshoe crabs and coelacanths looked almost the same as their modern relatives. Darwin called species like these “living fossils'' because they seem like they are evolutionarily frozen in time. But Darwin was wrong.
5 Ways CRISPR Is About to Change Everything
AdultsBiologyBiotechnologyHumanScienceHealth... CRISPR-based gene therapies are already changing healthcare for things like sickle cell disease. But CRISPR is bigger than just medicine, and it could revolutionize everything from food and agriculture to green energy fuels to plastics.
Why is it so dangerous to step on a rusty nail? - Louise Thwaites
AdultsBiologyHealthHumanScience... Explore how a toxin-producing bacterium causes tetanus, and how to identify its common symptoms and best prevention practices.
Why There Are No King Bees
AdultsAnimalsLifeNatureBiology... Beehives always have a queen, who is the mother of the entire hive. But have you ever wondered, what happened to the king, if there was ever any? Can a male bee become a king?
This Disease is Deadlier Than The Plague
AdultsBiologyHistoryHumanHealthScience... The white death has haunted humanity like no other disease following us for thousands, maybe millions of years.
This Animal Lays Eggs AND Has Live Young
AdultsAnimalsLifeNatureBiology... You might think that an animal either lays eggs or has live young. But these species prove it's a lot more complicated than that.
The Truth About Petri Dishes
AdultsEducationScienceBiology One of the best ways of studying bacteria is to grow them on a petri dish, but only a tiny percentage of bacterial species will grow on them.
Why fish are better at breathing than you are - Dan Kwartler
AdultsAnimalsBiologyHumanScience... Explore how fish use their gills to breathe, and how these processes make them some of the most efficient breathers on Earth.
These Iguanas Have An Unusual Mating Tactic
AdultsAnimalsLifeNatureBiology... Crested iguanas were discovered on Fiji in 1979, and since then we've learned a lot about their behaviour, including their strange mating rituals. But how exactly did they end up on such a remote island in the first place?