Hang on because we’re about to screech to a halt. That’s right. The Earth is going to stop spinning for five seconds. How much damage would this sudden stoppage cause...
Volcanic eruptions can be devastating. So what if we took extreme actions to prevent them? How could we drill into a volcano? What would be the benefits of doing this...
Dane Kieser was 16 years old, a high school rugby player from Pretoria, South Africa. Strong, athletic and familiar with lions, he had spent time around animals at the...
You would never make it to the bottom of the ocean without any equipment, because you would run out of oxygen, and your body would be shut down by the pressure...
In the summer of 1981, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City was one of the most exciting places in the city. Its massive lobby, elegant design, and famous suspended...
Overnight, our planet has gone from a pale blue dot to a glistening white snowglobe. Stretches of Earth have become frozen wastelands that are completely inhospitable...
Imagine you’re out for a blissful swim, trying to catch a glimpse of some beautiful whales. The sun is shining, the water feels refreshing, and, uh oh, something just...
Few inventors in history have become as famous as Thomas Edison. With more than 1,000 patents attached to his name, Edison helped shape the modern world through...
There is an invisible force protecting us, keeping our atmosphere in place. Without it, life on Earth would be over very quickly. I’ll play with the music or a...
[dx_custom_adunit mobile_id=”RTK_v1lP”] On average, you produce just over 2 kgs (4.4 lbs) of waste each day. That may not sound like a whole lot, but...
Earth can be full of extremes. But today, there is only one extreme. Non-stop earthquakes that last an entire year. What would it be like to live under such shaky...
They say doomsday is near. But you have been safe in your bunker for months, far away from the chaos outside. At first, isolation felt like protection. Now your body...
He was a naturalist, not a soldier, attached to British forces on an island off the coast of Burma. What he described hearing that night in 1945 turned into one of the...
Where did life on Earth come from? It is one of humanity’s oldest and most fascinating questions. For centuries, people have searched for answers in religion...
When most people imagine dinosaurs, they picture giant reptiles covered in thick scales, with rough skin similar to modern lizards or crocodiles. But an extraordinary...
This former intelligence officer-turned-president took Russia from a defeated Cold War relic to the most feared superpower in Eurasia. Now Vladimir Putin, who many have...
Welcome to one of the most restricted countries in the world. North Korea is often described by analysts and defectors as a tightly controlled state where everyday life...
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...
In the beginning, there was nothing. Well, except for you. And the Big Bang. What would the first moments of the Universe be like? What would happen over the next...
Space is famous for being unimaginably vast. Yet even among its endless distances, there are places that make the rest of the Universe seem crowded. One of those places...
