minuteearth

Why The Weather Is Worse At The Mall

Extreme weather sometimes happens in very specific areas thanks to extreme surface temperature differences.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/wF2PVuQ_s8M

Thank you for your support! 🛍🌨

-Julián

There's No Salt In The Sea

Our oceans don’t technically contain salt, but the ions salt is made of play a critical role in planet-wide processes that make the Earth habitable.

You can also watch here: https://youtu.be/Gj0LqmNsrCc

Thank you for your support! 🧂🌊
-Julián

The Most Common Allergy In The World

The urushiol molecules in poison ivy have the ability to trigger a harmful immune response in most people because the immune system mistakenly labels them as a threat.

You can watch here: https://youtu.be/3uk8_7VNubo

Thanks for your support! 🍃🤧🥜
-Julián

Why The Shortest Day Of The Year Isn't The Coldest

The way we experience seasons doesn’t necessarily line up with how they're technically defined - here's why.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/Vr2KarUh19E

Thanks for your support! 📅☀️❄️🌸🍂

-Julián

The Plankton Paradox

The competitive exclusion principle predicts that there would just be a few species of plankton, but instead there are thousands.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/MI7mM7vQrX0

Thanks for your support! 🦠🐦

-Julián

Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane?

A technology to ignore birds on radar ended up being useful to study and conserve them.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/VGJw4JCrf7o

Thank you for the support! ✈️🦆🌨
-Julián

Why Some Fruits Won’t Ripen On Your Counter

Trying to ripen some fruits on your kitchen counter is totally fruitless - here's why.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/ttCd60Qko5A

Thank you for your support! 🍍

-Julián

Hyena Butter: Weird & Informative (Just Like Us!)

Hyenas communicate via an information-dense physical medium (hyena butter) - and now MinuteEarth does too (book).

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/ewCPnPlNdE4

Thank you for all your support and making it possible for us to work on awesome projects like writing and publishing our own freakin' book! 🧈📘
-Julián 

MinuteEarth Book GIVEAWAY! [Patron Exclusive]

Hi patrons!

Our first book, MinuteEarth Explains: How Did Whales Get So Big? And Other Curious Questions about Animals, Nature, Geology, and Planet Earth, is coming out in just two weeks, on October 12th! We are so excited and incredibly proud of this book. To celebrate the final countdown to the book release, we want to give away some free books. One lucky patron will also win our whole book bundle, including the Pacific Blue Minute...

The Hurricane Category Scale Is Broken

The current hurricane category scale doesn’t accurately convey the danger of a storm, because it doesn’t account for a hurricane's most destructive factors.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/R3ZNVwGFuDU

Thanks for your support! 🌀🌊🌨
-Julián

How To Solve Every Global Crisis

Lots of global problems seem intractable, but there’s a formula for success that we can follow. 

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/lOQqGKt52X8 

Thanks so much for your support! 🧑‍🔬🌏💉

-Julián

Is Tomorrow A Place?

People all around the world tend to represent time via space, but there’s no consensus on which way time goes.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/J_-kPKu_A14

Thanks for your support! ⏳🕰🧭↔️↕️
-Julián

Why Do Hobbits Need SEVEN Meals?

Because smaller animals have to eat more relative to their bodyweight, Tolkein’s hobbits need to eat a lot - not for comfort, but for survival.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/5F9blVIJ4z4

Thanks for your support! 🍕🍔🌮🌭🍜🥗🥪
-Julián

Your Teeth Are Actually Scales

Sharks wouldn’t be known for their fierce teeth today if it weren’t for their ancient scales.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/ltekTswx3Ug

Thanks so much for your support! 🦈🦷
-Julián

How A Whale And A Bear Beat The System

While the rest of the world’s megafauna are still foundering in the Anthropocene era, these two big animals have used little animal strategies to bounce back. Way back.

You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/-inNrttB5tk

Hope you like it. Thanks for your support! <3

- Ever

Why Poison Sometimes Doesn't Kill You

It’s not just how much you take in; it’s how fast your body can purge it.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/gu0vyDeJDeY

Thanks for your support! ☠️🍎🛀
-Julián

MinuteEarth Book Trailer + Patron-only Discount

Hey patrons! We’re so excited to bring you an exclusive first look at the trailer for our new (and first!) book, “MinuteEarth Explains: How Did Whales Get So Big? And Other Curious Questions about Animals, Nature, Geology, and Planet Earth.” It’s packed with the clever explanations, adorable illustrations, and quirky humor you love from MinuteEarth – all in hard-cover form! Explore science and fun facts about animals, plants, microbes and more from all over Earth (and beyond).

Why These Bears Throw Away Salmon

Optimal foraging theory means that turning down food is sometimes more efficient than eating it - but even then, what’s “wasted” doesn’t necessarily go to waste.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/b0dabXAy7uA

Thanks for your support! 🐻🧸
-Julián

MinuteLabs: How long will you live? How about your cat?

Hey patrons! Jasper, the coffee-fueled brain and coder behind MinuteLabs, just updated the Survival Curves lab with the historical data used in our recent video, "How Long Did People Use To Live?" You'll be able to interact with the data and learn more about what the data tells us!

Here's a link to the lab:

2021-07-06 21:42:52 +0000 UTC View Post

How Fevers REALLY Work

Fevers are one of our best weapons against infections, but they don't work like you might think.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/qDSc2RkVWAQ

Thanks for your support! 🌡🤒🦠
-Julián

P.S. At the end of this video we announce the season 2 premiere of MinuteBody on Nebula. In case you didn't know, all Patrons have access to the whole first season 2021-07-02 02:40:49 +0000 UTC View Post

How Long Did People Use To Live?

By analyzing survivorship curves over the centuries, we can learn what’s changed about how - and when - humans die.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/c_ADG3Qc6rI

Thanks for your support! 🗓👴🏻
-Julián

MinuteEarth Book Cover Reveal

You guessed it! This will be the cover for our first book! More details on how you can pre-order coming next month.

Thanks to everyone who also shared their thoughts in the comments of the poll.

Which do you think will be our book cover?

Exciting news! 👀 We’re writing a book, and these are some of the cover concepts (which we haven't shared anywhere else) . Which do you think is our *actual* cover?

We don't know what a tree is (and this video won't tell you)

It turns out that defining what is and isn't a “tree” is way harder than it seems.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/kSmurp1xOkQ

Thanks for your support! 🌲🌴🌳
-Julián

EDIT: We had to make a hot fix on text at the very end of the video (we called the "tree fern" a "fern tree"!) and reupload so the links here will be different from the one that went out in an email if you receive notif...

Why It's Good To Have A Weak Hand

We might have a strong hand because having a weak hand is actually useful.

Watch: https://youtu.be/-XlD1xWqNh0

Thank you for your support! ✍️🙌🤲🤝👈👉
-Julián

An Unexpected Consequence of COVID

The global pandemic led to a drop in outdoor air pollution, but it also led to an increase in indoor air pollution - and our exposure to it.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/bfkyVJH0DqM

Thank you so much for the support! 😷🧼🍳
-Julián

P.S. Here I am appreciating one of the air purifiers I have running in my house. This one has a HEPA filter, carbon filter, and UV-C light. If y...

The Mystery of The Missing Penis

Because there are so many different types of penises among our evolutionary relatives, we didn’t know until a recent discovery whether they all had the same origin.

You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/iSyRfyJJaIc

Thanks for all your support and WELCOME to our many new patrons! 🐘🦆🦎
-Julián

WE'RE MAKING A BOOK! (Sneak Peek 4K Wallpaper)

Hey patrons,

We have big news! WE’RE MAKING A BOOK and it's coming out in October!

Soon you’ll be able to have MinuteEarth’s curious stories and fun illustrations right on your coffee table. We’ll be asking for your input and sharing sneak peeks with you along the way here on Patreon - we’re so excited for you to see it! The first part of the book we’re sharing with you is this super cool pattern that you can use as wallpaper (click ...

Why We Faint (When Other Animals Don't) + Special Announcement

Humans are the only animals known to faint due to triggers like shock, fear, or pain; this is due to a combination of our massive brains and upright stance.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/Qewt66Yu7jE

As you’ll see at the end of this video, we recently got the opportunity to create special MinuteEarth-edition YETI tumblers. Rather than putting them up for sale, we wanted to do something special, so we�...

How Do Some Waves Get SO Big?

All over the world, giant wave breaks appear because of underwater geology that supercharges their wave energy.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/edaJSZs-n9s

Thanks for your support! 🌊🏄
-Julián