This video is part of our Brilliant Breakthroughs series: our new 20-episode mini-series exploring the “Eureka!” moments and proud accomplishments of the greatest scientific minds of our time. Join us …

Stuff happens. The weather forecast says it’s sunny, but you just got drenched. You got a flu shot—but you’re sick in bed with the flu. Your best friend from Boston met your other best friend from San Francisco. Coincidentally. What are the odds?

What made Albert Einstein one of the greatest scientific geniuses the world has ever known? His scientific breakthroughs revolutionized the way we understand the universe.

By 2050, one of every four people on Earth will go hungry unless food production more than doubles. Science-based agriculture has proposed unconventional new tools—earthworms, bacteria, and even genes from sunny daffodils—to meet this towering challenge. But will such innovative ideas be enough?

Today, cryptography has moved beyond the realm of dilettantes and soldiers to become a sophisticated scientific art—combining mathematics, physics, computer science, and electrical engineering. It not only protects messages, but it also safeguards our privacy. From email to banking transactions, modern cryptography is used everywhere.

Have you ever spent hours looking for something you just know is there, only to be doubted? In 1987, most astronomers thought there was nothing in the outer solar system, …

So you thought nobody could know what you’re thinking? Well, you’re right. For now. But fMRI brain research, identifying patterns linked to thoughts, is moving forward at a pace that’s surprising even experts.

Why are we drawn to symmetry? Because it provides order in a seemingly chaotic world? Because our brains are the product of the very same laws that yield the flower, the snowflake and the solar system?