minuteearth

FOUR NEW VIDEOS! (yes, four)

We partnered with the Swiss National Science Foundation to make four (!) videos...

One for our channel: How to Turn Cancer Against Itself 

And three for theirs:

What’s intelligent about artificial intelligence? 

2019-06-19 17:31:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Help us test our interactive video! (TOP SECRET)

Dear patrons,

MinuteLabs has been hard at work putting together something that’s rarely been attempted; an interactive video. It’s almost ready for the general public, but we need beta testers to help us work out the kinks.

Firstly, please keep this SECRET link to yourself and don’t share it yet. Just visit:

http://labs.minutelabs.io/what-is-a-day/

... and let us know if anything loo...

NEW VIDEO: This Might be the World's Most Important Country

Dear patrons,

It's been awhile! We're finally posting another video, about a country that has something everyone else wants.

Click on the thumbnail or watch the video here: https://youtu.be/O0BooiAxQyY

We've been working hard behind the scenes, so stay tuned for a bunch of new videos (and a special project) over the next few weeks!

Thanks!! 

NEW VIDEO! The Secrets of Extreme Breath Holding

Dear patrons,

Don't try this at home, but...

Humans can hold our breath longer than we think by taking advantage of our body’s innate survival instincts - and then ignoring them.

To watch, click the thumbnail or click here: https://youtu.be/5_Q2JPv-jWQ

Thanks, as usual, for making MinuteEarth possible.

NEW VIDEO! Why Is Lyme Disease Getting Worse?

Dear patrons,

Lyme disease is spreading like wildfire around the world: here's why.

To watch, click the thumbnail above, or click here: https://youtu.be/cvKyxrOvgZk

Thanks for your support!

NEW VIDEO! Why Can't We Get Power From Waves?

Wave power hasn’t yet made a splash because it’s hard to use waves to spin turbines, and because the sea is a harsh place to build things.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/PMRiKmgxrh0

Thanks for your support!

NEW VIDEO & NEW APP! You Are A Fish / Tree of Life Explorer

Dear patrons,

We're excited to say that tomorrow, after 5 years of thinking, dreaming, and finally, doing, we're sharing our new app - the Tree of Life Explorer - with the world!

We made "You Are A Fish" (which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/yyeDgBm1Du8 ) to illustrate how the app can help us understand evolution... 2019-03-20 22:58:04 +0000 UTC View Post

NEW VIDEO! The Problem With Concrete

Dear patrons,

Concrete is responsible for 8% of humanity’s carbon emissions because making its key ingredient - cement - chemically releases CO2, and because we burn fossil fuels to make it happen.

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/GSc9hu917OU

We're excited to create this video in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates! If you want to read their letter about their efforts to make the wor...

NEW VIDEO! Why Earthquakes Are So Hard To Predict

Scientists are trying to figure out if they can predict big earthquakes by simulating small quakes in labs and studying big quakes under the ocean.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/J6d0UqY6IsA

Thanks for supporting MinuteEarth`!

NEW VIDEO: How Chaos Makes Your Fingerprints Unique

Dear patrons,

Because of the chaotic way fingerprints develop and the multiplying effect of compound probability, it's basically impossible for any two fingers to have matching prints.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/iCRy8voU5dE

We are grateful that the chaotic phenomena of the world have come together in a way  that allows you to support MinuteEarth! You are all unique, and we appreciate each and every o...

NEW VIDEO! The Bird Poop That Changed The World

Dear patrons,

We made another poop video. Sorry not sorry.

This one's about how bird poop was the gateway fertilizer that turned humanity onto the imported-chemical-based farming system of modern agriculture. So it's not about poop, it's about farming! ;)

(It was a particularly fun video to make, since it let us delve into some family history - my ancestors were among the first people to use this bird poop in the US.)

Watch the video here: 2018-12-13 22:19:14 +0000 UTC View Post

NEW VIDEO: These Names Can Kill Animals

Dear patrons,

Just like the names of products and companies, animals' names can affect how we feel about them...and changing the name of a species might actually help us save it.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/FMxiDy0rx_s

Thanks for supporting us!

Help us Beta-Test a SECRET PROJECT

Hello Minute Earthlings!

If you're a long-time supporter, you may remember an old project called MinuteLabs.io. It was a very new idea at the time that used interactive web technology to create what we called “Labs”. Websites, web apps, simulations, widgets, gadgets, gizmos… whatever you want to call them, MinuteLabs.io had them. They were a way of creating interactive explanations you could explore and play with. If you wondered where they went, well…

We’re br...

NEW VIDEO! The Mystery of The Exploding Appendix

Dear patrons,

Why do rates of appendicitis vary around the world?

Watch our latest video to find out: https://youtu.be/_eGrTowysE0

Thanks, as always, for your support!

NEW VIDEO! Why Do You Make So Many Poop Videos? (& Other Questions)

Dear patrons,

We made a Q&A video! Coincidentally, it's the 160th video we've made! That's a nice big round number, and those videos have only been possible because of your support - we want you to know how grateful we are that you believe MinuteEarth is worth having in the world!

Enjoy the video here: https://youtu.be/CgU8ZNEUr0Y

Best,

Alex, on behalf of the team

Behind the Scenes (Plus, come hang with us at ThinkerCon!)

Dear patrons,

When we’re making a video, we spend a ton of time figuring out the best way to make the visuals and narration match the story as well as possible. So recently we decided to create different storyboards and narration styles for the exact same part of an upcoming video so we could see what worked and what didn't. We thought you might get a kick out of watching the two videos we came up with: here ...

NEW VIDEO! The Secret Weapon That Could Help Save Bees

Dear patrons,

Honeybees are dying from parasites, pesticides, and poor nutrition, but we can help them in a number of ways, including by encouraging them to make a homemade antibiotic.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/tG9OKz0jsUY

Thanks for your support! 

P.S. If you've been with us from the beginning (thank you!!!) you might remember that we first asked viewers to help us make MinuteEarth in a 2018-10-04 02:54:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Ask us questions!

MinuteEarth just reached 2 million subscribers! To celebrate, we're making a Q&A video. Ask us questions you want us to answer!

NEW VIDEO! Why Malaria Isn’t Just A Tropical Disease

Dear patrons,

Until recently, malaria regularly killed people all over the world. We've beaten it back, including in some tropical places, but we’ve had the hardest time in Africa.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/SmQ5-iM6YsA

Thanks for supporting MinuteEarth! 

Also, please check out Hot Mess - it's a new PBS YouTube channel about ...

NEW VIDEO! Why Do Some Animals Eat Poop?

Dear patrons,

Have you ever wondered why animals eat poop? We did, so we looked into it, and it turns out there are a lot of good reasons, like accessing nutrients or the microbes to help digest those nutrients.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/Ubt2fl11v5E

Thanks for your support!

NEW VIDEO! Why Are There Penguins At The Equator?

Dear patrons,

Penguins like cold - so why can some penguins live in the Galapagos Islands? It all comes down to ocean currents and ocean productivity. 

Watch a sneak peek of the video here: https://youtu.be/EEcHbIWogxA

Thanks, as always, for your support!

NEW VID: Why Earth Has Two Levels

Hi Patrons!

Did you know that Earth’s outer shell is made of two materials whose different densities and thicknesses give rise to two distinct “levels” on the planet’s surface?

Here's the video: https://youtu.be/KOv3FGVmRcA 

Thank you for your support of MinuteEarth.

NEW VIDEO! The Similarity Trap

Hi Patrons! 

Did you know that the words “emoticon” and “emoji” are not actually related? Or that one of these vultures is more closely related to a penguin than to the other vulture? That’s because things that look similar don’t necessarily have the same origin story. They could share traits because of convergent evolution - or because of pure coincidence.  

Here's our video: https://youtu.be/flVK-rbe...

NEW VIDEO! Rise Of The Mesopredator (ft. ScienceWithTom)

Dear patrons,

We've never made anything like this, and we are all REALLY excited about it. 

I know we say this often, but the fact that all of you support MinuteEarth makes it possible for us to do crazy things like this video - a musical collaboration with our friend, ScienceWithTom, about how food chains change when you kill all the apex predators. So, thank you.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/jsJj9q5UKlE

NEW VIDEO: How Long Can We Live?

Hi Patrons! The current old-age record for humans on Earth is 122. But...how long can we ultimately live? The answer may be influenced, in part, by the way natural selection works. 

Here's our video: https://youtu.be/gxLSTOE5TaM

Thank you for your support of MinuteEarth! 

NEW VIDEO: When Trees Go Nuts

Hello Patrons! 

This week, we investigate the mystery of "mast years" – years when all the plants of a particular species across a whole big geographic region all produce an exorbitant number of seeds. Our questions: how do they coordinate with each other, and why do they exhibit this strange behavior at all? 

Watch here! https://youtu.be/EQ748TZcuqs

NEW VIDEO! Why You Shouldn't Give Ginger To Monkeys (and other animal sayings)

Dear patrons,

Did you know that humans from different cultures anthropomorphize different animals to represent the same human traits?

We had so much fun making the video: "Why Is A Group Of Crows Called A 'Murder'?" that we decided to make another video about animal sayings.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/S0OICOBR19Q

In it, you'll learn that you shouldn't give coins to cats. W...

NEW VIDEO: Milk Is Just Filtered Blood

Dear patrons,

We were fascinated to learn how female mammals make milk! It's a cocktail of nutrients they filter out of their blood to provide their babies with life-giving nutrients.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcsGpDFKCgY

Thanks, as always, for your support!

NEW VIDEO: Are Plastics Too Strong?

Today we have just one word for you: Plastics. 

Plastics are tough, light, cheap, and flexible, and they may well be the future. But the same chemistry that makes plastic such a perfect material also makes it almost impossible to get rid of. 

We look into some solutions to this problem in our latest video – live to our Patrons here: 

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

NEW VIDEO! How Much Food Is There On Earth?

Dear patrons,

We had a really fun time thinking through this question and doing the calculations to find an answer. We hope you enjoy watching it!

Watch here: https://youtu.be/DjjBg8hTaPo

Thanks for your support,

Alex