What if we told you that supernovas aren’t the brightest events in the Universe? Gamma-ray bursts are. They shine hundreds of times brighter and only last for several minutes at most. But even a second would be enough for them to mess up all complex life on the planet. Watch […]
You’ve seen it growing on your fruit, eating your leftovers, and maybe even hiding in your basement. Mold smells bad, it’s creepy-looking, and even if you don’t know much about it, you probably know enough to keep it as far away from your mouth as possible. But what would happen […]
Watch the discussion episode on this topic featuring world-renowned astrobiologist and President of METI (Messaging Extra-Terrestrial Life) Douglas Vakoch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fAgihenxcU Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? Not by a creepy stalker, but by aliens. Yup, it might be happening. Just like we watch animals at the zoo, aliens […]
Imagine an entire network of flying cars zooming around 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) above our congested city streets. Your morning commute would be a lot different up there: you could travel at higher speeds and you could reach almost any remote destination. But what kinds of laws would we have […]
Neutron stars are massive gravitational monsters, and orbiting one wouldn’t end up well for our planet. But what if we took just a spoonful of it and transported it to Earth? Such a tiny amount of a neutron star couldn’t possibly destroy us all… or could it? When a star […]
Did you know that a single snake bite can kill an adult elephant in just a few hours? And if you’re not careful, snake venom can kill you in only 15 minutes. But that’s from a venomous bite. What if the venom was already collected and you took a swim […]
Take some cosmic dust and gas, then add billions and billions of planets and a whole lot of stars to the mix. Spice it all up with a handful of gravity to hold things together, and you get a galaxy. Shaken, not stirred. Some of those ingredients would get clumped […]
Is surfing a tsunami even possible? And have people done this before? Thanks, Audible! Start listening with a 30-day trial and your first audiobook plus two Audible Originals are free when you go to http://audible.com/whatif or text whatif to 500-500 The biggest wave that someone has surfed on was 24.4 […]
The Earth might not be here forever. A huge solar flare, an asteroid impact, or a local gamma-ray burst — anything could wipe us out for good. If we’re looking for someplace to escape to, there is one planet in our Solar System that is somewhat similar to Earth, though […]
Elon Musk wants to nuke Mars. What are the consequences? Without nukes, life on Mars might be like this: You’d live in giant glass domes, and grow small portions of food inside. And if you happen to go outside, it would be in your big clunky spacesuit, and you wouldn’t […]
