How does caffeine keep us awake?
Over 100,000 metric tons of caffeine are consumed around the world every year. That's equivalen…
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Hawking's Black Hole Paradox Explained
Scientists work on the boundaries of the unknown, where every new piece of knowledge forms a path i…
Who decides how long a second is?
In 1967, researchers from around the world gathered to answer a long-running scientific question— j…
The Material that could change The World
Thousands of years ago, the Romans invented a material that allowed them to build much of their spr…
A Brief History of Alcohol
A chimpanzee stumbles across a windfall of overripe plums. Many of them have split open, drawing hi…
How the world’s tallest skyscraper was built
By the end of the 20th century, the race to build the world's tallest skyscraper ground to a ha…
A Brief History of Plastic
Today, plastics are everywhere. All of this plastic originated from one small object— that isn’t ev…
The mysterious science of pain
In 1995, the British Medical Journal published an astonishing report about a 29-year-old builder. H…
How much electricity does it take to power the world?
You flip a switch. Coal burns in a furnace, which turns water into steam. That steam spins a turbin…
Where Does Gold Come From?
In medieval times, alchemists tried to achieve the seemingly impossible. They wanted to transform l…
The three types of tears
Our story is about a girl named Iris. Iris is very sensitive. So much that she is always in tears. …
What if every satellite suddenly disappeared?
One day, without warning or apparent cause, all of humanity’s artificial satellites suddenly disapp…
Hilbert's Infinite Hotel Paradox
In the 1920's, the German mathematician David Hilbert devised a famous thought experiment to sh…
The Language of Lying | How to Spot a Lair.
" Sorry, my phone died ." " It's nothing. I'm fine. " " These allegations…
What is Consciousness?
A hemispherectomy is a surgical procedure in which half of a person's brain is removed. It's…
How does the Stock Market work?
In the 1600s the Dutch East India Company employed hundreds of ships to trade gold, porcelain, spic…
What is Déjà vu?
Today we're going to discuss déjà vu . What is it, and why does it occur? You know, those moments…