View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-hidden-worlds-within-natural-history-museums-joshua-drew When you think of natural history museums, you might picture exhibits filled with ancient lifeless things, like dinosaurs or meteorites. But behind that educational exterior, there are hidden laboratories where scientific breakthroughs are made. Joshua Drew gives a breakdown of some of the hidden worlds within these museums. Lesson by Joshua Drew, animation by Provincia Studio.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-we-know-what-color-dinosaurs-were-len-bloch The microraptor was a four-winged carnivorous dinosaur with iridescent black feathers. But if our information about this dinosaur comes from fossils, how can we be certain about its color? Len Bloch shows how making sense of the evidence requires careful examination of the fossil and a good understanding of the physics of light and color. Lesson by Len Bloch, animation by Paul Newell.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/inside-the-minds-of-animals-bryan-b-rasmussen Do animals think? It’s a question that has intrigued scientists for thousands of years, inspiring them to come up with different methods and criteria to measure the intelligence of animals. Bryan B Rasmussen navigates through this controversial question, showing how determining intelligence often says more about how humans think than about anything else. Lesson by Bryan B Rasmussen, animation by Mike Schell.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-we-hiccup-john-cameron The longest recorded case of hiccups lasted for 68 years … and was caused by a falling hog. While that level of severity is extremely uncommon, most of us are no stranger to an occasional case of the hiccups. But what causes these ‘hics’ in the first place? John Cameron takes us into the diaphragm to find out. Lesson by John Cameron, animation by Black Powder Design.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/could-we-survive-prolonged-space-travel-lisa-nip Prolonged space travel plays a severe toll on the human body: microgravity impairs muscle and bone growth, and high doses of radiation cause irreversible mutations. As we seriously consider the human species becoming space-faring, a big question stands: even if we do break free from Earth’s orbit, can we adapt to the extreme environments of space? Lisa Nip examines our odds. Lesson by Lisa Nip, animation by Bassam Kurdali.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-detect-a-supernova-samantha-kuula Just now, somewhere in the universe, a star exploded. In fact, a supernova occurs every second or so in the observable universe. Yet, we’ve never actually been able to watch a supernova in its first violent moments. Is early detection possible? Samantha Kuula details the science behind an early supernova warning system. Lesson by Samantha Kuula, animation by Nick Hilditch.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/is-space-trying-to-kill-us-ron-shaneyfelt How likely is it that a massive asteroid will do major damage to Earth and its inhabitants? What about the sun -- is it dying out anytime soon? And the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way -- should we be worried about that? Ron Shaneyfelt assesses the dangers of space. Lesson by Ron Shaneyfelt, animation by Retchy.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-are-manhole-covers-round-marc-chamberland Why are most manhole covers round? Sure it makes them easy to roll, and slide into place in any alignment. But there’s another, more compelling reason, involving a peculiar geometric property of circles and other shapes. Marc Chamberland explains curves of constant width and Barbier’s theorem. Lesson by Marc Chamberland, animation by Pew36 Animation Studios.