minuteearth

The Never Ending Lightning Storm

Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo is home to a legendary lightning storm that has been going on for over 500 years. Watch out latest video here: https://youtu.be/SCma7xq4KE0

This video was made in collaboration with Esther Ikoro, who has really nice videos ...

Why Don't Electric Eels Shock Themselves?

Electric eels can emit some of the largest shocks in the animal kingdom - but why don't they shock themselves?

This video is very special to us, since it was written and narrated by Leonardo Souza, who's been translating MinuteEarth to our brazilian audience at MinutoDaTerra (which recently hit 1 million subscribers!) 2023-12-20 21:15:47 +0000 UTC View Post

The time I was a human incubator

Premature babies majorly benefit from skin-to-skin contact with a parent –also known as “kangaroo care”– because it reduces infections and hypothermia and increases weight gain and parental involvement.

Watch our latest video here: https://youtu.be...

Why Flushing Isn't For Everyone

Sewers are a great way to make pooping safe, but they’re not always the right solution because they require specific resources that many places just don’t have.

You can watch our latest video here: https://youtu.be/DzANRll8ltI

Thanks for your...

Why Hurricane Paths Are WEIRD

Hurricane path prediction seems straightforward, until it is not – that’s because hurricanes can encounter atmospheric effects that turn their paths into erratic nonsense.

Watch our latest video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=303w...

Why Antarctica's Ocean Has The Weirdest Animals

Life in Antarctica's ocean has followed a completely different evolutionary path from other ocean life because of how cold and isolated the ocean is.

Watch our latest video here: https://youtu.be/yulpV8TxSQk

Thanks for your support! <3

Underwater Animal Pollination

We've long known that animal pollination is an important way plants reproduce on land, but we're only JUST finding out animals also pollinate plants underwater.

Watch our latest video before everyone else here: https://youtu.be/PJPaamdwCCc

Thanks...

Eclipses Used To Be Terrifying

Because eclipses are powerful and frightening events, ancient cultures went to great lengths to understand eclipses, leading to remarkably accurate predictions and helping invent the science of astronomy.

Watch our latest video here: https://youtu.be/SUSo7...

How To Identify Every Living Thing

Every species on Earth has a fingerprint - whether or not they have fingers at all. 

Watch our latest video before everyone else here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m69_zJTfmbs

Thank you so much for your support <3

...

We want your thoughts for our new merch!

Hey friends! 

We're working on an idea for a product for our shop and would love to make something fun and useful for you. 

At the moment, our vision is some kind of journal or notebook that evokes curiosity and observation in daily life. However, we are still shaping what that's supposed to look like - ...

Three Incredible Things We’ve Learned From Eclipses

Without eclipses, our world would be a lot different because eclipses give us the ability to do science we otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Thanks for your support! <3

- Ever

Willows weep for my rejected thumbnail

Hi friends!

Last week we released our video about Weeping Willows and it was such a joy to make the illustrations. With every new video we get to do a little deep dive into the topic matter. In this case, I ended up taking an unreasonable amount of time thinking about a single sentence Kate wrote in the script. 2023-09-20 14:47:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Who Are Willows Weeping For?

Most trees reach for the sun – but not the weeping willow. Why?

Watch our latest video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl0VmU4-3AQ

Thanks for your support! <3

- Ever

This Chemical Does Nothing, But It's Still Bad For You

PFAS - also known as the “forever chemicals” we use in all sorts of household products - are able to cause all sorts of health problems without ever really reacting with anything.

Watch our latest video here: https://youtu.be/H3aFzQdWQTg

Than...

Is Bigger Better?

Elephants might be strong, but they are weak compared to ants because ants have certain advantages that allow them to outlift their larger competitors.

https://youtu.be/p1qBHL16aXk

Thank you for your support!

- David

(PS - This is a c...

These Monkeys Crossed the Ocean on a Raft

How did monkeys get from Africa to South America? Strangely, most scientists think they took a raft.  Watch our latest video here: https://youtu.be/W6LnB4kVJ84

Thanks for your support! <3

- Ever

What Will Death Be Like In The Future?

In the future, humans will likely die of a very different suite of causes than we do now, thanks to advances in healthcare, an aging population, and changes in the environment. 

Watch our latest video before everyone else here: https://youtu.be/atCgZP...

Why Koalas?

Hi friends!

Here is Cameron again to tell you how the Koala video came to be! And more importantly, his dog Nelson makes a cameo in this one.

I had an amazing time drawing sadder and sadder Koalas for this video and I hope you enjoyed watching it :) If you haven't yet, the link is here: 2023-07-24 18:22:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Why Do People Hate Koalas?

On the Internet, koalas get an unnecessary amount of hate, so let's debunk some of the most pervasive koala myths! Watch our latest video here: https://youtu.be/wlBQND67Nfw

Thanks for your support! <3

- Ever

Why did we start hunting meteorites?

Hey friends! 

We would like to tell you how our recent video about Meteorites came to be! Or rather: Cameron is going to tell you in this little video he recorded on his daily walk ;)
A lot of our best ideas come to us while chasing down a completely different idea, or while aimlessly googling when we are a litt...

The Best Place To Find Meteorites

Meteorite hunters don’t search for meteorites in the places most frequently peppered by them – they go to Antarctica instead, because that’s where they are easiest to find.

Watch our latest video before everyone else here: https://youtu.be/3NUUNo43b3...

Printing and shipping is on its way!

The mug printing conveyor belt has started! 1/3rd of the mugs have been printed and shipped, and we can't wait for them to find their new homes!

Some of the people who signed up for a mug have started to receive shipping notifications, the rest will be created and shipped in the coming two weeks. :)

Please let u...

DFTBA tour & mug printing time!

Hi friends!

While we’re waiting for all the mugs to be printed and shipped, we'd like to take you with us on a little tour through DFTBA to show you what's going on behind the scenes! :)

Let's start with the mugs! All of the mug designs are printed with the printer in this image, attached to a blank mug and ba...

More Species Should Be Extinct

Only 902 animal and plant species have been officially declared extinct worldwide by the IUCN, and if this seems like a really small number, that’s because it is.

Watch our latest video before everyone else here: https://www.youtube.com/wa...

Your stick figures are here!

Hi friends,

Good news! We have finalized the stick figures for people who were a 6$+ tier in April and signed up for it.

Download link: https://stick-download.pages.dev/

Instructions: ...

The Worst Climate Cheaters

Today, we're calling out countries – like Canada, The United States, Saudi Arabia, and many more – for cheating. And they’re cheating on what might be the most important math test of all: climate change.

Watch our latest video before everyone else here: 2023-06-14 04:24:42 +0000 UTC View Post

Why Are Tropical Fish So Colorful?

Coral reef fish get away with being colorful thanks to a weird quirk of underwater optics. Watch our latest video before everyone else here: https://youtu.be/CF1o34ILjsU

Thanks for your support <3

- Ever

Why Most Fossils Are Incomplete

In 1990, fossil collectors in South Dakota stumbled across a dinosaur that turned out to be a really big deal. Not just because it was a T. rex – basically the most popular dino out there – or because it ended up in Chicago’s famous Field Museum… but because of the number of bones it had. 

You can watch our...

The Ancient Tool With No Known Purpose

The Acheulean handaxe was the most common tool of early humans, but we still don’t know what the heck they used it for.

Watch our latest video before anyone else (and leave your time-travelling comments) here: https://youtu.be/srPz0VpW4Rk

T...

The Giant Mystery Of Eel Sex: Resolved?

Almost everything we know about the reproductive practices of European eels comes from a genius study conducted more than 100 years ago.

Watch our latest video before everyone else here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQVUuBQtb7w (if yo...