![A melting world-shaped glacier](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-11/melting_world-shaped_glacier.jpg?itok=-lrMUAJG)
What is Ocean Warming and Why Does It Matter?
STEM Explained
Oceans absorb the greatest amount of solar radiation on Earth. Ocean warming can lead to glaciers melting and ocean acidification.
![A pot of gold at the end of a rainbow](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-09/A%20pot%20of%20gold%20at%20the%20end%20of%20a%20rainbow.jpeg?itok=qHjgEPrQ)
What's in a Rainbow?
STEM Explained
Rainbows are beautiful examples of optics in nature. We see them thanks to the reflection and refraction of visible light and water.
![The Electronic Sackbut Synthesizer](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-01/Electronic_Sackbut_Synthesizer.jpg?itok=jubC6sRr)
Who Created the Electronic Synthesizer?
STEM Explained
A Canadian researcher built the first voltage-controlled synthesizer in the 1940s.
![Aerial of Gas well Marcellus Shale Formation in northern West Virginia](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-01/Aerial-of_gas_well.jpg?itok=tjnKvzRe)
What is Fracking?
STEM Explained
The fracking process gets natural gases out of rocks. This process can have effects on freshwater, water quality and even earthquakes!
![Solar panel project in Dakar, Senegal](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-11/Solar_project_Dakar%2CSenegal.jpg?itok=q64WAuqV)
What are Carbon Offsets?
STEM Explained
Can carbon offsets help you reduce your environmental footprint, practice sustainable living and fight climate change?
![Biofuel concept](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-09/biofuel-concept.jpg?itok=mGz1FUEJ)
What are the Pros and Cons of Ethanol Biofuel?
STEM Explained
Biofuels like ethanol might help fight climate change. But they can contribute to food insecurity and greenhouse gases in ways that might surprise you.
![Screen captures from embedded Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell videos](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-02/pros_cons_nuclear_energy.png?itok=NVvZ7d08)
What are the Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy?
STEM Explained
These two “point-counterpoint” videos provide arguments for and against using nuclear energy to generate electricity.
![Charging a cell phone](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-02/charging_a_cell_phone.jpg?itok=ugTEHYXD)
What If You Could Charge Your Phone Using Radio Waves?
STEM Explained
Could we use radio waves to charge electrical technologies in the future?
![icon of embryo in hands](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-09/in-the-doctors-hands-the-icon-of-the-embryo.jpg?itok=Cdc3gCG-)
What if You Could Choose Your Baby?
STEM Explained
Many people have had children using assisted reproductive technologies. But some of these medical biotech techniques can raise some ethical issues.
![Battery of Stiger Vortex rainmaking guns at Charleville, Australia, in 1902](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-11/Stiger_rainmaking_guns.jpg?itok=4-aCsJPP)
What is Cloud Seeding?
STEM Explained
Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification. Learn about cloud seeding, as well as its risks and benefits.
![Thermal images of people and objects](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-10/Thermal_images_of_people_and_objects.png?itok=5vLkf21V)
Thermopower and the Body Heat-Powered Flashlight
STEM Explained
Can your body be a source of electricity generation? Maybe, if you understand heat transfer. Explore this concept through a 2013 invention by a Canadian teen.
![Nitrogen symbol from periodic table](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2021-03/the-periodic-table-element-nitrogen.jpg?itok=bs_Xbeg4)
Understanding the Nitrogen Cycle
STEM Explained
What is the nitrogen cycle? How do human activities such as using fertilizer affect the nitrogen cycle? How can this cause greenhouse gases?
![Like trees, brains grow and develop](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-10/How_a_brain_is_like_a_tree.jpg?itok=K6H2lR4a)
Understanding the Teen Brain
STEM Explained
Teen brain development prepares teens for adulthood, but also affects their emotions.
![Plastic drinking straws](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2020-06/plastic_drinking_straws.jpg?itok=jMA-xYeF)
We Use a Lot of Plastic
STEM Explained
What are microplastics? How are plastics polluting aquatic ecosystems?
![Milky Way galaxy as seen from Australia (Brett Ritchie via Unsplash)](/sites/default/files/styles/resource_card_image_360x300_/public/2019-09/Milky%20Way%20galaxy%20as%20seen%20from%20Australia.jpg?itok=OevuZWGV)
The Milky Way
STEM Explained
In 2019, scientists discovered that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is not the shape they thought it was. How do astronomers use astronomical distance to understand the shapes of galaxies?