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icon of embryo in hands

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

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

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.

Like trees, brains grow and develop

Understanding the Teen Brain

STEM Explained

Teen brain development prepares teens for adulthood, but also affects their emotions.

Plastic drinking straws

We Use a Lot of Plastic

STEM Explained

What are microplastics? How are plastics polluting aquatic ecosystems?

Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing

Testing Parachutes for Mars

STEM Explained

NASA engineers apply kinematics and dynamics to test parachutes designed specifically to help space probes land safely using aerodynamics.

A person’s hand holding a cold pack on an ankle

The Cold Pack: A Chilly Example of an Endothermic Reaction

STEM Explained

When you hurt your ankle, thermodynamics can help you heal! An endothermic reaction reduces the swelling by cooling your injury.

Wasted food on the ground

The Environmental Impact of Wasted Food

STEM Explained

One-third of all food produced is wasted. Learn about the environmental consequences of food waste, and what you can do about it.

Screen capture from the TED Ed video “The genius of Mendeleev's periodic table”

The Genius of Mendeleev's Table

STEM Explained

Dmitri Mendeleev’s version of the periodic table was brilliant - find out why!

AeroVelo's winning flight

The Hovering Human

STEM Explained

Learn how a team of Canadian engineers used Bernoulli’s Principle to design a human-powered helicopter. It set a world record for human-powered hovering flight!

Keplers Supernova. Image © NASA

The Life and Death of Stars

STEM Explained

The life and death of stars form the chemical elements that make up Earth, making stars critical to life as we know it.

The newest chemical elements

The Newest Elements on the Periodic Table

STEM Explained

The periodic table was last updated in 2016 with four new chemical elements. What is a chemical element? What is the atomic structure of the newest chemical elements? How did they get their names?

man sick with the flu

The Surprising Reason You Feel Awful When You're Sick

STEM Explained

Viruses can make you feel awful! This article explains how feeling bad might be your immune system’s way of helping you heal.

Telegraph key used in Metcalfe, Ontario telegraph office (Ingenium)

Telegraph Key

Interactives

The telegraph works by transmitting signals through an electrical circuit. Learn more and print your own telegraph key using this 3d model of a real artefact.

Crispy fried crickets © phuketisland, iStockphoto

Should We Eat Bugs?

STEM Explained

What's tasty, abundant and high in protein and vitamins? Bugs! Bugs feed about 2 billion people each day. They also hold promise for food security and sustainability.