What a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would look like

China vs. Taiwan, explained

Taiwan and China are separated by just 100 miles of water, but the distance between the two countries is farther than that. This 14-minute video details the history of their sovereignty dispute, and China's likelihood to use military tactics if they can't unify peacefully. The main problem there is that the United States has vowed to defend Taiwan, which could lead to an American-Chinese war.

How China could blockade Taiwan

China has its eyes on Taiwan, and could move to isolate the island in order to force it into concessions. Through military maneuvers, building its navy, and other actions, it feels like China is testing the waters for a future blockade if peaceful attempts to unify the two countries fail. This New York Times interactive article details how it might happen.

Why China wants Taiwan

Why does China want Taiwan? Money, power, nationalism, regional dominance, and a footstep toward further establishing their position as a superpower. This article explores all the angles of China's sudden push to reclaim/reunify with their neighbor across the strait. But an invasion might not be as easy as they suppose.

Comparing military power: China and Taiwan

When it comes to power, China and Taiwan are predictably lopsided, though in some regards Taiwan may be able to hold its own. This site crunches the numbers for each country and compares them side by side. See what the totals are and what either side's military seems to be focused on.

Taiwan's semiconductor dominance

Taiwan is a leader in the production of semiconductors. In the event of a Chinese invasion, what happens if China controls the supply chain for these indispensable materials? How would it affect the United States as well as other nations already dealing with disruptions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine? This blog explores these questions and more.

Tracking the latest developments in the Taiwan Strait

China continues to express its desire to unify with Taiwan and prevent the island republic from any interaction with the United States of America. See the latest skirmishes and saber-rattlings on the part of the Chinese government in this detailed article that provides clear data visualizations of how China has encroached on Taiwan's air space and tested the waters, so to speak.

Japan committed mass war crimes during its invasion of China

During the 1937 invasion, Japanese forces carried out systematic atrocities—including mass executions, rape, torture, forced labor, and chemical warfare. The Nanjing Massacre alone killed tens of thousands over a span of six weeks, with some estimates claiming 300,000.

7 experts debate China's role in the future of the rules-based international order

This interactive feature showcases opposing arguments—from scholars who view China as a major threat to the order, to Chinese analyst Wu Xinbo's argument that China will shape the order's evolution rather than destroy it.

Hong Kong: British colony turned Chinese police state

This 15-minute video explores how Hong Kong has changed since China reclaimed the territory from Britain in 1997. Hong Kong became a British colony after the First Opium War, a conflict arising from Britain's attempt to equalize trade with China through smuggled opium. Democratic rights assumed by Hong Kong residents, such as the right to protest, have been in peril since the 1997 shift, according to this video.

Is China using archaeological findings to boost its territorial claims?

This 28-minute podcast dives into the political ramifications of two Ming dynasty-era ships found in the South China Sea in October 2022. The ships, filled with well-preserved porcelain and timber, were found 1,500 meters—about 4,900...

What happens if the US doesn't pay its debt?

A video created during the debt ceiling debates of 2021 outlining what would happen if the US failed to meet its debt obligations. Its lessons are applicable to today's debates.

See how distant aliens could preemptively strike humanity

Could aliens destroy us from light-years away? The team at Kurzgesagt imagines the impact of a highly sophisticated alien civilization setting out to crush humanity and considers the real-world logistics for warfare conducted across the Universe.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022

Russia launched a massive multifront assault from Belarus, Russia, and Crimea, aiming to seize Kyiv within days. Instead, Ukrainian forces repelled the advance, halting Moscow's plans for a rapid takeover.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor largely because it was running out of oil

This video traces how US-led sanctions and Japan’s near-total dependence on imported oil pushed Japanese leaders toward a high-risk plan: seize Southeast Asian oil fields and neutralize the American Pacific Fleet, hoping Washington would negotiate rather than fight.

The North Korean nuclear threat, explained

What would happen if North Korea gets a working ICBM Watch this six-minute video by Vox for an explanation of the North Korean nuclear threat. The Soviet Union first gave nuclear technology to North Korea in the 1950s, when they helped their ally...

A photo story of the Chinese civil war and creation of modern-day China

A deep dive of the twists and turns of China's civil war and how the People’s Republic of China was established, illustrated through restored photographs in color.

The Inca Empire: a timeline

When did the Inca Empire solidify into an empire? When was it invaded by the Spanish? What remains of it today? Click through this timeline to learn more.

How NATO responded to 9/11

The collective defense clause of the NATO constitution has only been invoked one time: after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States. This video explores the immediate actions NATO took to respond to the attacks to support the United States. These firsthand clips from 2001 give a sense of the magnitude of the moment and the difficult decisions facing NATO leaders at the time.

The Four Great Inventions are historically significant Chinese technological advancements

The inventions of paper, gunpowder, printing, and the compass advanced civilizations worldwide by spreading knowledge, enhancing warfare, and improving navigation.

The impressive walls of Constantinople

This video explores the land walls of Constantinople, built on the orders of Theodosius II in the mid-fifth century. They consisted of a triple line of defenses, studded with hundreds of towers and supplemented with a moat. The walls were besieged dozens of times, but were only broken in 1453 by the power of Ottoman cannons. As repaired by the Ottomans, the walls are still largely intact today.

China had an inflation rate of -0.4% in August 2025

As opposed to other G20 countries that are largely struggling with high inflation rates, China is facing deflation. Sluggish growth in the country's once booming real estate market is just one glimpse into the consumer slowdown triggering deflation.

A timeline and visuals on TikTok's rapid growth

The app that would become TikTok is known as Douyin in China, and this article recounts its history, acquisition of rival Musical.ly, and rebranding ahead of its lightning growth. One visualization shows how quickly TikTok reached 1B users.

A Marine’s-eye view of the Battle of Iwo Jima

February 19, 2023, marked the 78th anniversary of the beginning of the battle of Iwo Jima. A decisive battle in World War II's Pacific Theater, most American's associated the iconic "raising of the flag" photo with the fight. This five-minute video provides a glimpse of what the six-week fight was like from the vantage of an individual US Marine.

How tea gets made

Tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, and this video walks us through the process of supplying it from farms to our mugs. Workers handpick leaves, ferment them, and dry them as part of this involved operation. Follow along for a scientific understanding of the many steps it takes to produce tea and appreciate the detail and effort to create its flavor, aroma, and color.

The difference between standard cancer treatments and emerging immunotherapies

If you've ever wondered what the difference was between immunotherapy and chemotherapy, this short video takes you through the steps. Briefly, chemotherapy attacks cancer in tumor cells directly, while immunotherapy encourages your immune system to fight it. There's more to it than that, but this delightful two-and-a-half-minute video provides a good primer.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Poison ivy's characteristic rash is caused by an allergic response to an oily compound in the plant called urushiol.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.