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    Why can’t blindfolded people walk in a straight line? It’s a scientific mystery

    Strange as it might seem, people are incapable of walking or swimming in a straight line when they are blindfolded. Perhaps even stranger, no one seems to quite know why. This short animated video from NPR and Radiolab’s Robert Krulwich dissects one of the more perplexing and enduring mini-mysteries of science.

    Producers: Jessica Goldstein, Maggie Starbard

    Animator: Benjamin Arthur

    20 November 2015
    Abstract image showing a human face, diagrams of the brain and neural networks, and a globe with various symbols and letters.

    videoNeuroscience

    After losing her vision, a woman’s sense of sight returns in a strange new way

    4 minutes

    Illustration of two hands, one pointing, the other holding a peeled banana with a man in glasses and a shirt emerging from it.

    videoNeurodiversity

    How the ‘Island of the Colourblind’ made Oliver Sacks rethink ‘normal’

    6 minutes

    Black and white line drawing of a large protest with people holding blank signs except two which say “NO GUNS!” and “2nd AMENDMENT”

    videoKnowledge

    What wrapping a rope around the Earth reveals about the limits of human intuition

    6 minutes

    Four blue, irregularly shaped objects with black squiggly lines attached, displayed in a sequence against grey and white backgrounds.

    videoPhysics

    Is it possible to design a shape to roll along any fixed path?

    4 minutes

    Abstract painting with black-and-white swirls and a splash of dark red on a textured background.

    videoNeurodiversity

    ‘A face is a hilly landscape.’ How a face-blind artist paints what she can’t recognise

    5 minutes

    Ants forming a bridge with their bodies to connect two adjacent white plastic structures over a green background.

    videoEcology and environmental sciences

    How to maintain infrastructure – the stunning collective intelligence of ant engineers

    1 minute

    Cartoon of a green character with a serious expression in a forest area with a pond. The background appears painted.

    videoHuman evolution

    Why did our sea-dwelling ancestors leap to land? It might have been the view

    4 minutes

    Abstract illustration of a red hand holding a white object on a pink background, featuring colourful accents on the fingers.

    videoNeuroscience

    A syndrome stranger than sci-fi – how limbs can get a mind of their own

    3 minutes

    Illustration of four women around a large low-poly red apple on a blue background. One woman sits on the apple, others stand or lean.

    videoKnowledge

    Can you know everything about colour if you see in black and white? A thought experiment

    5 minutes