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...
For thousands of years, woolly mammoths existed only in fossils, frozen remains, and cave paintings. But now, scientists are closer than ever to bringing these Ice Age...
You are exhausted. Your clothes are soaked, your skin is covered in sand, and your entire body is shaking from the cold. Every step feels impossible. Your hands and feet...
It’s almost as old as the Universe, and as massive as 34 billion Suns. It eats stars for breakfast. And now it’s about to consume our own. Behold, the great...
Guantanamo Bay is not just a prison. It is a place that sits at the edge of law, geography, and morality, built on an idea that distance can change the rules. Located on...
Jetpack technology is getting better, and maybe someday, jetpacks will be available for your everyday commute. But what if, instead of just using a jetpack for a short...
Jupiter is old. Like 4.5 billion years old. It started as a swirling disk of gas and dust that formed into a pretty big planetary core. With time, Jupiter’s core...
This not-so-little piece of equipment could change astronomy forever. And it could be about to find alien life. Maybe in a matter of days. What is this powerful new tool...
A car can feel like a safe place, but under the wrong conditions, it can quickly become a deadly trap. On a hot day, temperatures inside a vehicle can rise at an...
A lot of horror movies start like this. An empty road and someone like you standing alone with their thumb up. After hours of waiting, a stranger pulls up at the side of...
If you’re wondering where to take your first post-pandemic trip, here’s a place you don’t want to miss. Lake Baikal. This lake is unique. And its...
Mountains. They’re born, they grow, they age and erode. And after a very, very long life, they turn to dust. What if all mountains collapsed at once? What are the...
There are sunsets on other planets even more spectacular than the ones on Earth. What if we could see not just one, but two suns falling below the Earth’s horizon...
You might be wondering how I keep ending up in these situations. Well, let me roll it back a bit. Triton, Neptune’s gargantuan moon, is one of the strangest objects in...
Nuclear weapons have shaped global politics for decades, but their destructive power is almost impossible to comprehend. From the bomb that devastated Hiroshima in 1945...
Today on What If, we’re going to build the highest bridge on planet Earth. Welcome to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the “Roof of the World.”It’s home to the world’s...
For thousands of years, a forgotten village lay hidden beneath layers of sand on a remote island in Scotland. Its stone walls, ancient furniture, and mysterious rooms...
The year is 2040. You hunker down with your fellow human survivors, listening for the sound of your enemy. The cyber-bugs have taken over. How did this happen? What...
Over the past century, astronomers have speculated about the existence of a mysterious 9th planet lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system. Although we’ve...
Unlike the world wars of the twentieth century, the next global conflict might not begin with soldiers crossing borders. It could start inside computer networks. A...
