The world gets 80% of its energy from fossil fuels. But based on our current levels of consumption, we could run out of oil and gas in the next 50 years. And in 100...
Ah, the planet Earth, our beautiful home. We’d like to believe it will be around forever, but what if it isn’t? Aliens, comets, weapons of mass destruction, black...
Spanning more than 66 million years, the Cenozoic Era shaped the world we live in today. From the rise of mammals to the emergence of modern humans, this era tells a...
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...
All good things must come to an end. Sadly, Homo sapiens’ time on Earth is no exception. And someone would surely take our place as the dominant species. But who? Or...
“Below the thunders of the upper deep, Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, his ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep The Kraken sleepeth” That’s right. It’s...
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...
Just north of the Martian equator lies a 45 km (28 mi) wide impact crater that scientists believe may have been the site of an ancient lake. Here at Jezero Crater...
What’s the best place to put solar panels? Close to the Sun, of course. And in this scenario, we’re going to build the most efficient solar farm possible...
Settling on the Moon or Mars may be all the buzz. But how about we all move to an icy dwarf planet in the middle of the Solar System? To Ceres. What would make this a...
Humans have a knack for changing the environment. Often, these projects have effects we didn’t plan for. Sometimes, it’s disastrous. And other times, it gives us energy...
Hundreds of meters underground. Large enough to house tens to hundreds of thousands of people. And walls strong enough to withstand the force of a nuclear blast. These...
What if everyone on the planet coordinated to perform the biggest “flush mob” in history? Pushing all the wastewater in the world down the drain, all at once...
For 20 years, Russian scientists and engineers drilled deeper and deeper, hoping to uncover whatever mysteries the hole may hold, earning it the ominous nickname of...
Nearly 800 million light-years away, something has been forming. Scientists aren’t exactly sure what it is but have dubbed it ‘the black neutron star.’...
While it might be nice to avoid any dangerous confrontations on your wilderness walks, life without wildlife would be pretty boring. If we didn’t have animals...
The Titanosaur is no longer. As the largest animal to roam the Earth, you’d think such an impressive presence would be almost invincible. How did this titan of a...
Neptune is big, it’s blue, and it is a planet that can tear you apart if you happen to drop into one of its massive, Earth-sized storms. While it might look calm and...
A century of history flashes before your eyes. Not the past, but the future. And now you know how life would unfold over the next 100 years. What changes would happen to...
Can you imagine what the world would look like if it were run by children? We all know that our youngest generations are the future of humanity, but what would happen if...
