How do vaccines work? Watch this brief 101

A quick video on how your immune system works

Explore how your immune system’s vast network of cells, tissues, and organs coordinate your body’s defenses against bacteria, viruses and toxins with this 5-minute TED talk video.

What is the immune system? A quick 101

Your body’s immune system is designed to protect you from infection. Find out more about how the immune system works with this quick overview and set of diagrams.

What is vaccination? The World Health Org explains

Read up on the basics of vaccinations with this 101 from the World Health Organization, the public health arm of the United Nations.

Breaking down the different types of vaccine technologies

There are several different types of vaccines. Each type is designed to teach your immune system how to fight off germs—and the serious diseases they cause. This short overview breaks down the differences between the types.

The basics behind mRNA vaccines

In this video, Yale experts Saad Omer, MBBS, MPH, PhD; Onyema Ogbuagu, MBBCh; and Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, explain the science behind COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

Attenuated vaccines introduce a weakened version of the virus into the body

Some vaccines, like those for measles, rely on weakened versions of a virus. These weakened pathogens are introduced into the body, triggering an immune response and helping the immune system learn to protect itself against stronger versions of the virus. (This also explains why some vaccines make you feel under the weather.)

Herd immunity works by slowing down viral transmission until it dies out

Herd immunity refers to a population whose vaccination rates against a given virus are high enough that transmission dies out before the bug can find the next unvaccinated person to infect. Rates needed to achieve this depend on how contagious a virus is. This video gives a quick visual explanation of how it works.

The basic science of rockets

How do rockets work? What is the science behind a rocket launch? How does a rocket go into space? In this short and simple video, we discuss the science of rocket propulsion and what takes to get these vehicles into orbit.

A fascinating look at how our DNA is built and replicated

This easy-to-understand 13-minute video dives into the wondrous molecule deoxyribonucleic acid – also known as DNA – and explains how it replicates itself in our cells.

Microplastics 101: What we know about the contaminants invading our bodies

Fifty-one trillion particles of microplastics float in our oceans. Yet there is very little science of how this affects our health. This quick 2-minute video explains the dangers of microplastics.

The science of food allergies

Why do certain substances trigger an immune response while others don't? Listen to researchers explain the science in this five-minute video. Food allergies affect around 8% of children and 2% of adults in the US, and—unlike sensitivity or intolerance—they involve the immune system mistaking certain harmless proteins in foods as dangerous invaders, triggering a rapid and sometimes severe defense response.

A primer on 5G and how it works

You see it mentioned in countless commercials, and your phone might already use it, but do you know what it is? Watch this five-minute primer on the basics of 5G.

Learn about the basic anatomy of mosquitoes

This short explainer video breaks down the mosquito's general body components, highlighting how mosquitoes breathe, fly, and more. It also touches on how experts can tell different mosquito species apart.

An overview on germ theory, the crucial framework developed by Louis Pasteur

Germ theory of disease is based on the concept that many diseases are caused by infections with microorganisms, typically only visualized under high magnification. Read this general overview to understand the basic framework which allowed for development of vaccines.

What is immunotherapy and how does it work?

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that harnesses the body's immune system to combat cancer. This video explainer from the American Cancer Society discusses various types of immunotherapies and their roles in targeting cancer cells. Still a new and quickly evoliving field, immunotherapy represents a significant advancement in cancer treatment and offers new options for patients.

What do vitamins actually do?

Vitamins are molecular tools the body needs to carry out regular cellular processes, such as wound healing. This 45-minute video dives into the science behind vitamins and their role in the body. There are 13 essential vitamins that must be...

Learn the history and science of influenza in 'This Podcast Will Kill You'

In their flu episode, cohosts Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke unpack influenza’s biology, history, and impact—explaining everything from past pandemics to modern vaccines, all with their trademark mix of science and storytelling.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

See how cholera spreads in a community

This animated video offers a comprehensive look at how cholera spreads. It makes clear why it's so difficult to stamp out this disease in communities around the world. It also details what steps can help control cholera.

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.

The US Mint created a video to show kids how coins are made

The video, made simple for children (or anyone who wants an easy-to-understand 101 video about the process coins go through to get in your wallet), outlines the entire process that a coin goes through in its lifetime, from Congress voting on new coins, to how coins are stamped, to their journey to a Reserve Bank.

How the body produces urine

Things seem so simple when nature calls. But, how does the body actually produce the urine we so regularly and thoughtlessly expel? This detailed, comprehensive animation walks viewers through every step with precise illustrations, from the kidney's filters (known as nephrons) to the direct nerve connecting the bladder to the brain. See how the body does it here.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

There's a West Nile virus prevention rap—and it's amazing

This catchy rap from biologist MC Bugg-Z and the Fairfax County government in Virginia walks people through prevention steps and the dangers of the virus, telling listeners to "rock" insect repellant and talking about the history of the disease in the US.

How heart transplants work

Heart transplants require an old heart to be removed and a new one to be installed without killing the patient. How does that work? In this easy-to-understand five-minute video, learn each step of the intricate process, from donor matching to the preservative solution a heart is doused in while it is transported.

Inflation explained in under 3 minutes

Keep seeing inflation in the news, but don't have a great grasp on what it means or how it works? This overview from 1440 breaks down how economists think about inflation, what it means for the average consumer, and how governments attempt to keep rising prices in check through various policies.

Explore this deep dive into how SSRIs work

This 101-style explainer on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors explains how they work in the brain—complete with classroom-style whiteboard drawings. It covers common SSRIs, why someone might try this medication, and a deeper discussion about potential side effects.

View a list of simple ways you can avoid catching a computer virus

Because this type of malware requires human intervention, such as plugging an infected flash drive into a computer or downloading and running an infected file, the chance of infection can be greatly reduced by being cautious about unfamiliar emails, attachments, and links. Keeping systems up to date with the latest security fixes is also crucial.

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

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

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

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.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

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

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.