In the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator, there’s a growing, “floating island” of trash that’s twice the size of Texas, and three times the...
We visit a lot of planets here on WHAT IF, but K2-141b is the most extreme one yet. Are you ready to jump on board this one-way space shuttle? If you’d rather stay...
Over 300 million years ago, before the age of giant dinosaurs, Earth was covered with giant insects. Imagine a world where dragonflies are the size of crows and...
The digital age is well and truly upon us. And in recent years, there’s no development more talked about than Bitcoin. Forget about dollars, pounds, and euros...
How long would it take for the world’s largest rainforest to burn down? If we don’t do anything to stop it, we’ll soon find out. The Amazon rainforest...
Legend has it that somewhere beyond Neptune and Pluto, there is a ninth planet, with a mass that is five times greater than Earth’s. Planet Nine, also known by its...
They’re in your yard, on your walls, in your attic, and there’s probably one near you right now. The thought of these creepy crawlers might make you want to go on an...
You thought forest fires were bad? Wait till you hear about ocean fires. Yes, that’s right. The sea bursting into a fiery hellscape. What if every ocean on Earth...
They’re the deadliest thing on Earth. They suck your blood and spread disease, killing nearly one million people each year. Are we talking about vampires? Lions...
Cities have been named after it, economies have been built on it, wars have been fought over it, your life depends on it. Salt may be the most important, and the most...
Within the vastness of the Universe, humanity is not that big of a deal. We’re not here because we’re meant to be here, we’re just… here. If...
All over the world, people are treating bodies of water like they are giant garbage dumps. And experts say that continuing these practices will result in catastrophic...
An unexpected guest has made its way into our Solar System. It’s an interstellar object, an ISO. And it’s tumbling through space in a way that can’t be explained by...
The Sun’s core is shrinking. But as its core shrinks, the Sun itself grows larger. And it will continue to grow, until one day, it engulfs the Earth. How long can you...
This is not some harmless hair. It’s volcanic glass and it could turn your life into an itchy, blistering existence. Uh oh. Looks like today’s forecast is volcanic...
Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse. Saying its name three times won’t have the same effect as a certain bio-exorcist, but it’s still a sight to behold. At about 950...
This would be the journey of a lifetime, if you don’t mind riding through molten rock and crushing pressure. What would you see along the way? How long...
We’ve thrown a lot of disasters at Earth over the years: from asteroids and aliens, to the Sun’s death. But hey, the Universe is a dangerous place, and we’re not...
Take some cosmic dust and gas, 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...
Death and the possibility of an afterlife have fascinated artists, philosophers, and scientists throughout history. Fear, hope, dread… these are all things we...
