Get your bone flute and gather around the fire. Today on What If, we’re taking you back to the time of woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. That’s right...
Thousands of satellites and pieces of debris currently orbit our Earth. They provide us with television, internet, and communications. But what if all these satellites...
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and our nearest neighbor. At its closest approach, Venus is mere 40 million km (25 million mi) away from us. After just four...
What would happen if you put a couple of physicists in a room with a rope, a box and a black hole? They might come up with a plan to power the Earth for centuries. Black...
It’s the matchup you’ve been waiting for, the clash between some of the biggest titans that ever roamed the Earth. Today, we’re going back in time to...
Space tourism is happening now. Soon enough, you might be able to take your own vacation into the cosmos. What would your travel experience be like? What would you see...
One minute, you’re setting up a new space station orbiting Jupiter. The next, you’re plunging right into the middle of a giant, red cyclone of death. What...
On December 25, 2007, as Christmas celebrations were taking place across the world, a deadly incident was developing inside the San Francisco Zoo. At approximately 5 p.m...
Picture the most dangerous liquid you could possibly fall into. Most people think of boiling acid, or molten rock, or water swarming with something venomous. All...
Swipe Down for Full Video Story Imagine a tiny needle traveling toward Earth at the speed of light. At first glance, it might seem harmless, since it is so small...
Your body will tell you to run. Every instinct built into you over millions of years will scream the same instruction the moment something that large steps out of the...
Jupiter may be the biggest planet in the Solar System, but its days are numbered. Because today, we’re using Earth’s biggest, baddest bombs to blow the gas giant...
Ah. The Sun. So bright. So hot. Time to jump into your super heat-resistant spaceship and get so close you could touch it. If you dare. How would you get to the Sun’s...
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 venomc can kill you in only 15 minutes. But...
Somewhere right now, in a conference room full of planetary scientists, an argument is quietly raging. On one side: the Mars camp, backed by sixty years of missions...
Deep in the mountains of Bolivia, there is a road where a single mistake can turn an ordinary journey into a fight for survival. For decades, the North Yungas Road...
The Sun is Yellow If you’ve always thought our star was a bright yellow ball of fire, you were wrong. For starters, it’s not yellow. It’s green. Sort...
Swimming alongside a giant whale can feel like entering another world. The water is calm, the enormous animal moves gracefully through the ocean, and for a few seconds...
Parasites are creatures that need a host organism to feed on, survive in and sometimes reproduce inside. And guess what? The human body is a favorite neighborhood for...
Somewhere in the far reaches of space, a giant hunk of rock is hurtling our way, just biding its time before an extinction-level impact with Earth. Before you run into...
