ScienceEarth Sciences

MinuteEarth

Minute Earth

From the creators of the popular science show with millions of YouTube subscribers comes the MinuteEarth podcast. Every episode of the show dives deep into a science question you might not even know you had - but once you hear the answer, you’ll want to share it with everyone you know. Our team of scientists digs into the research and breaks it down into a short, entertaining explanation jam-packed with science facts and terrible puns. We’ll tell the incredible story of how monkeys crossed the Atlantic ocean on natural rafts, and we’ll explain why it gets hotter the deeper you dig underground.

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37 episodes
daily
Avg 2 min
English

Episodes 37

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Today · 1 min
Fish Evolution
Very soon after bony fishes first evolved, they branched into two groups – those with flimsy ray-type fins, and those with more meaty appendages that were attached to their bodies by a single strong bone.
Yesterday · 2 min
Collective Nouns
In the 15th century, aristocratic British hunters invented some whimsical labels for groups of animals, like a “gaggle of geese," a “skulk of foxes,” and a “charm of finches.” These “collective nouns” allowed the hunters to share their appreciation for nature's animals...before shooting them.
Monday · 4 min
The Heaviest Part of a Forest Is NOT What You Think
In the 1850s, German scientists were trying to figure out how to weigh a forest – but they weren’t particularly interested in the trees. Because as it turns out, forests are much more than trees, and trees aren't the heaviest – or even the second heaviest – part of a forest.
September 13 · 1 min
most of the images that pop up in a Google Image search for pine trees aren’t pine trees.
The fossil record only captures a tiny fraction of the life that has ever existed on our planet – but it also captures a different fraction from one period to the next.
September 12 · 1 min
Not A Pine
Most of the images that pop up in a Google Image search for pine trees aren’t pine trees.
September 6 · 1 min
Hot Water 2
Heat stored in the oceans has a big impact on the weather.
September 5 · 1 min
Hot Water
You’ve probably heard that weather is getting more extreme and that this is in part because accumulating greenhouse gases have caused the air at earth’s surface to warm by an average of 0.8 degrees Celsius over the last century. But how could a barely perceptible rise in temperature lead to such crazy changes in weather?
August 31 · 4 min
What's The Fewest People That Could Repopulate Earth?
How many people would it take to rebuild a genetically sustainable human population after being nearly wiped off?
August 30 · 1 min
How cold can the human body get before it stops working?
There is a limit to how slow - and therefore how low - you can go.
August 29 · 1 min
What's the most heat the human body can take?
There is a limit to how hot any given molecule in our body can get before it breaks.
August 24 · 11 min
ALL THE APES, EXPLAINED 🦍🦧🐒
The ape family is a hugely diverse group of gibbons, gorillas, orangutans, chimps, and - yes - humans. MinuteEarth explains who they are and how they’re related.
August 23 · 1 min
Methanes molecular shape helps it trap heat!
Methane is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide because of its molecular shape. Methane traps more ultraviolet light because it has four bonds that move and resonate, while carbon dioxide only has two.
August 22 · 2 min
This map shows the worlds animals!
What if a map did not show country borders, but instead showed the landscape and the native animals?
August 16 · 1 min
This cat published a physics paper!
Writing a paper was more challenging in the 70s, if only because there was no snazzy writing software with a find/replace function.
August 15 · 1 min
If a megalodon - the largest shark ever - fought a great white, who would win?
Well, we already know the answer: millions of years ago, when the two species actually competed, it was the great white that came out on top.
August 9 · 1 min
Cloud Formation
Cumulus clouds get their start when solar energy evaporates water from oceans, plants, and soil by breaking the bonds that hold water molecules together.
August 8 · 1 min
What's ecological redundancy
Even without human influence, species go extinct all the time. And losing a species is unfortunate…there are lots of reasons we don’t want, say, a one-of-a-kind orchid to disappear.
August 2 · 1 min
Learning Languages
There are a few reasons why an adult might have trouble learning a new language.
August 1 · 1 min
Exercise More
In the United States, three quarters of all people fail to meet recommended guidelines for physical activity, and some countries are even less active. That’s why some people are calling for us to reincorporate more non-exercise physical activity back into modern life.
July 26 · 1 min
Dying Old
In 2022, the queen officially died of old age. But from a medical perspective, “dying of old age” doesn’t technically exist.

Showing 1–20 of 37 episodes