On the surface, it looks like pure freedom. A man suspended between sky and earth, a dog beside him, and the vast wilderness of the planet stretching endlessly below...
Experimenting on animals is a dark side of science and research. And most of us try not to think about the animals that experienced the horrors of testing when we buy...
In 1044, the Chinese invented gunpowder. And we’ve been getting into trouble ever since. Fireworks are cool, nuclear warfare is not. And nuking the moon...
There is a reason people say you should never travel alone in the Amazon rainforest. As you go deeper into the jungle, the feeling of being watched becomes impossible to...
Today on What If, we’re taking Jupiter’s deadly gases and unleashing them on Earth. Where could you be safe from these toxic winds? How would you breathe...
Objects seemingly move by themselves, reflections are missing when you pass by mirrors. But don’t worry, this isn’t a horror story. It’s just the future. And...
Io. One of Jupiter’s four largest moons, it’s a world that seems ripped straight from a science fiction nightmare. Its surface is a chaotic, constantly shifting...
When a SpaceX spacecraft intentionally crashed into the Moon during testing, it sparked plenty of online jokes about Elon Musk “leaving his mark” on our...
For more than 200 years, one of the world’s most famous maps showed something that was completely wrong. It placed California not as part of the North American...
The Moon’s surface is made up of long-dead volcanoes and impact craters from asteroids. But have you ever wondered what might be inside it? We could find out one...
Paul Hayward’s story does not begin in a prison cell or under chains. It begins in a normal life that slowly gets pulled off course by loyalty, pressure, and bad company...
Imagine, instead of looking up and seeing the stars, you see something like this: Coca-Cola ads are seen on billboards, magazines, online and now in space. How would...
What if, someday, we decided that the usefulness of our planet had run its course, and humans needed to scour space to find somewhere new to live? But instead of finding...
What if the solution to rising temperatures was not found on Earth, but in the sky above us? As global temperatures continue to increase, scientists are exploring...
With every rocket we launch into the Earth’s orbit, we’re trapping ourselves on our own planet. Wait, how could sending rockets into space put an end to...
Imagine landing on a planet where the surface looks frozen but burns hotter than your oven. Welcome to Gliese 436b, one of the strangest known planets in the universe...
Imagine that the Sun is on the verge of exploding. Or that a planet-killing asteroid is headed our way. Or maybe you just want to take the entire planet on a joy ride...
Scroll down to watch the video. Long after the invention of airplanes, we still dream of being able to fly on our own. But without wings, our options are kind of limited...
The emergency alert just appeared on your phone. The sky is turning dark and the wind is getting unbearable. A massive column of air is spinning its way toward you. You...
Imagine having the strength of a wolf, the balance of a cat, or the ability to fly like a bird. For centuries, these ideas have belonged to mythology and science fiction...

