How did the universe begin? | Big Think Explainers @marvinliyanage The first video from our new Big Think Explainer series (in collaboration with Pop Chart).

The co-inventor of CRISPR on what it's built, and what it costs | Jennifer Doudna Made in partnership with the John Templeton Foundation @templeton_fdn

The truth about back pain | Rachel Zoffness Dr. Rachel Zoffness is a pain scientist and the author of "Tell Me Where It Hurts". In this clip from our longer interview she explains the shocking fact that 90% of chronic back pain has no structural cause. Our current model and treatment for back pain is built on a myth that pain = tissue damage. The truth is that pain is biopsychosocial. It's affected by your emotional state, your expectations, how much you slept, and the quality of the relationships you have.

How we think about pain is wrong. We assume pain = tissue damage. Something in our body is broken — that’s where pain comes from. We treat pain with surgery or pain drugs. Not only has that gone horribly wrong...but it’s an insufficient understanding of how pain works. The truth is pain is created by your brain. 90% of back pain isn’t correlated to actual tissue damage. Pain is dependent on biopsychosocial ingredients like sleep, emotions, stress, and even our thoughts. That means just learning about pain can change the pain we feel.