What is the difference between a theory and a law, and is one better? Matt Anticole shows why science needs both laws and theories to understand the whole picture. [5:12]
You work at the college library. You're in the middle of a quiet afternoon when suddenly, a shipment of 1,280 books arrives. The books are in a straight line, but they're all out of order, and the automatic sorting system is broken. How can you sort the books quickly? Chand John shows how, shedding light on how algorithms help librarians and search engines speedily sort information. [4:37]
Borths, D'Emic, and Pritchard give a quick history of mass extinctions. [5:01]
Me, myself, and I. You may be tempted to use these words interchangeably because they all refer to the same thing. But in fact, each one has a specific role in a sentence: 'I' is a subject pronoun, 'me' is an object pronoun, and 'myself' is a reflexive or intensive pronoun. Emma Bryce explains what each role reveals about where each word belongs. [2:57]
When life emerged on Earth about 4 billion years ago, the earliest microbes had a set of basic genes that succeeded in keeping them alive. In the age of humans and other large organisms, there are a lot more genes to go around. Where did all of those new genes come from? Carl Zimmer examines the mutation and multiplication of genes. [4:24]
Marcel Danesi explains how new words enter a language. L.11-12.1a Gram/Usage changes
Did you know that gold is extraterrestrial? Instead of arising from our planet's rocky crust, it was actually cooked up in space and is present on Earth because of cataclysmic stellar explosions called supernovae. CERN Scientist David Lunney outlines the incredible journey of gold from space to Earth. [4:34]
Voltaire was one of the wisest, funniest and cleverest people of the 18th century. He continues to have a lot to teach us about toleration, modesty, and kindness. [2:15]
WonderWhy takes a look at why you can't simply print money to pay off debt. And what has happened when countries have tried to! And for that matter, why a country having debt isn't necessarily a bad thing. [10:08]
Shakespeare sometimes gets a bad rap in high schools for his complex plots and antiquated language. But a quick peek into the rhythm of his words reveals a poet deeply rooted in the way people spoke in his time- and still speak today. Why do Shakespeare's words have such staying power? [5:22]
Leo Q. Wan takes us into the human body to show how biological asymmetry can be quite beautiful. [4:18]
Our planet's diverse, thriving ecosystems may seem like permanent fixtures, but they're actually vulnerable to collapse. Jungles can become deserts, and reefs can become lifeless rocks. What makes one ecosystem strong and another weak in the face of change? Kim Preshoff details why the answer, to a large extent, is biodiversity. [4:19]
In this video, Richard St. John explains that one of the keys to success is to work hard. [6:23] Includes a brief quiz and a list of additional resources to explore.
Charles Darwin called the brain of the ant "one of the most marvelous atoms of matter in the world." Anna Stockl takes us inside the tiny but mighty insect brain. [4:22]
Video that uses an elevator in motion to describe the relationship among weight, gravity, and relative motion. [3:36] Includes a short quiz and a list of additional resources to explore.
Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how power posing- standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don't feel confident- can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success. [21:03]