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Be Smart.

Joe Hanson

We give you deep answers to simple questions about science and the rest of the universe. And also dad jokes. Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, PhD. He's a molecular biologist and an award-winning science communicator and journalist

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  • Today · 21 min

    Why Solar Eclipses Are Such a Huge Deal

    Join our Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ On April 8, 2024, the Moon’s shadow fell upon the Earth, creating a total solar eclipse across North America. If you had the chance to see it, you're surely glad you didn't miss it. It’s an amazing coincidence that total eclipses happen at all — and that we’re alive at a time when we can see and predict them. We made this video so you can learn how to watch an eclipse safely, what to look for during an eclipse, why eclipses happen, and how eclipses have helped advance scientific research. Explore this April 8, 2024 eclipse map from NASA! https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/ Find your next solar eclipse here: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas.html Learn more about the solar eclipse timer app: https://www.solareclipsetimer.com/ ----------- High fives to all our Brain Trust Patrons: Ed Eyden Jennifer Burton Charles Horton, Jr Holly, Brett, and Ashe Bullion Jaap Westera Mehdi Damou Barbora Bei Burt Humburg dani bowman David Johnston Baerbel Winkler Eric Meer Karen Haskell Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 17 min

    How Some Words Get Forgetted

    It’s the Great American Read! Vote for America's favorite novel: https://to.pbs.org/2Jes2X5 ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ English is a confusing language for many reasons. But the irregular verbs might be the most confusing part. Why is “told” the past tense of “tell” but “smold” isn’t the past tense of “smell”? It turns out that the study of irregular verbs can teach us a lot about how languages evolve. This week, we look at how the era of Big Data is unlocking secrets behind the weirdness of words. OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT: “The Zipf Mystery” - Vsauce https://youtu.be/fCn8zs912OE “Trending Artists of the 17th Century” - The Art Assignment https://youtu.be/7eq3D9Q9lUA REFERENCES: Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture - Erez Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel https://amzn.to/2MLBEHF Words and Rules - Steven Pinker https://amzn.to/2vKL1kf Lieberman, Erez, et al. "Quantifying the evolutionary dynamics of language." Nature 449.7163 (2007): 713. Michel, Jean-Baptiste, et al. "Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books." Science (2010): 1199644. Hanley, M. L., Joos, M., & Fein, T. (1937). Word index to James Joyce's Ulysses. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ----------- FOLLOW US: Twitter: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Writer: Joe Hanson Creative Director/Director: David Schulte Editor/animator: Derek Borsheim Producers: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 8 min

    Why Are Cicadas So Excellent At Math?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Subscribe so you don't miss any cool science ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Follow me to Gross Science: http://youtu.be/IDBkj3DjNSM ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Do periodical cicadas "know" how to calculate prime numbers? One of the strangest life cycles in all of biology, explained! Special thanks to Samuel Orr (www.motionkicker.com) for the beautiful cicada footage! Learn more about magicicadas at http://www.magicicada.org/ Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Our website: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://instagram.com/okaytbesmart ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 9 min

    I Tried to Strike an MLB Fastball to Learn About Sports Neuroscience

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate This episode is brought to you by Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/ Tweet this ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSbase Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSbaseFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We’ve got t-shirts! Get yours here: http://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart DISCLAIMER: I have very bad hitting form. Baseball was never my thing :) Special thanks to: The Round Rock Express Sharp End Baseball (Ben Himes, Aaron Smith, Jamie League) Genevieve Nauhaus, Ph.D and Michael D. Mauk, Ph.D. for research help References: Rob Gray “Intercepting Moving Objects: Fundamental Principles Learned from Baseball” Reviews of Human Factors and Ergonomics, June 2009 http://rev.sagepub.com/content/5/1/114.abstract Rob Gray “A Model of Motor Inhibition for a Complex Skill: Baseball Batting” J Exp Psychol Appl. June 2009 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19586249 Sean Müller & Bruce Abernethy, “Expert Anticipatory Skill in Striking Sports, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport” 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2012.10599848 Dr. Daniel Laby, Dr. David Kirschen & Tony Abbatine “A Visual Profile of Major League Hitters” http://xtremesight.com/documents/A%20Visual%20Profile%20of%20Major%20League%20Hitters.pdf Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc. Kate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: “Ouroboros” by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 4 min

    Why I ♥ PBS

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Here’s how you can get involved: 1. Tell us what you love about public media using #IlovePBS 2. Learn more about public media at http://pbs.org/value. 3. Find your representative at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 12 min

    Is Space a Thing?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try 23andMe: http://www.23andme.com/okay Don’t miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Since the days of Ancient Greece, philosophers and scientists have been wondering: What is space? Is the absence of things… a thing? These questions continued to fascinate physicists in the modern era, leading Isaac Newton, Ernst Mach, and Albert Einstein to wonder about the true nature of the fabric of the cosmos. The search for an answer led them to some of the greatest theories in physics. This week, we ask if space and time are really real, and how they come together to make “spacetime”! ----------- READ MORE: “The Fabric of the Cosmos” by Brian Greene http://amzn.to/2tF9fZO (Public library: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/681349969) ----------- FOLLOW US: Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Andrew Matthews Writer: Andrew Matthews Producer/editor/animator: Andrew Matthews Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 13 min

    Is This Why We Haven’t Found Alien Civilizations? | STELLAR

    Thank you to Draper and its Hack the Moon initiative for supporting PBS Digital Studios | Learn more at https://wehackthemoon.com Physics Girl explores how We’ll Find the Aliens in Our Solar System! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfqpYDVhXd8&t=1s Looking up at the stars makes you wonder: what and who is out there? And why haven’t we seen any other intelligent civilizations given the vast size and age of the universe? They’re complicated questions and although we haven’t met any other space-faring species we do have a way of calculating just how many alien civilizations might be out there as well as some rather frightening ideas as to why we might not have met them. This video is a bit different from most It's Okay To Be Smart videos. It's part of a new PBS miniseries called STELLAR, done in collaboration with Matt O’Dowd from PBS Space Time and Dianna Cowern from Physics Girl. Over six episodes we travel to telescopes, go inside space research centers, and chat with amazing scientists to bring you the most exciting stories about space. **I figure out how we took a picture of a Black Hole with a telescope the size of Earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUpKta9yfCk&t=237s **Matt O’Dowd exploring the oldest quasar ever seen at the Gemini Telescope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqCPnXHKO5c **Physics Girl visits LIGO to learn about gravitational waves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtp71NT0GNg You'll be able to see future episodes on the Physics Girl, Space Time and It’s Okay to be Smart YouTube channels, as well as the PBS Digital Studios Facebook page. Stellar is a part of the PBS Summer of Space. They'll be lots of awesome space related content all summer long on PBS. See what's happening at https://www.pbs.org/summer-of-space/ #SummerOfSpacePBS #astrophysics #space Hosted by Joe Hanson Written by: Joe Hanson, Andrew Kornhaber, Eric Brown Directed by: Eric Brown and Andrew Kornhaber Producer: Randa Eid Director of Photography: Eric Brouse Sound: Tobi Nova Production Assistant: Anna Bosketti Editing: Pavel Ezrohi Graphics: Murilo Lopes Assistant Editing: Daniel Sircar Produced By: Kornhaber Brown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 16 min

    Why Are So Many People Allergic To Food?

    You can learn more at https://curiositystream.com/smart Go check out Sound Field! http://bit.ly/2HH9sG1 SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub More people have food allergies than ever before. Peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, eggs, and even milk… the list of possibly dangerous foods seems to get longer every day. But why do some people’s bodies have deadly reactions food? And why are food allergies on the rise? In this video we explain what food allergies really are, and what the difference is between food allergy and food intolerance. Some fellow YouTubers tell us their stories of what it’s like to live with food allergies, and we bring you the best current science on how to prevent food allergies in kids and adults. It’s a tough nut to crack. #FoodAllergy #Allergies #FoodScience Special thanks to WheezyWaiter and Emily Graslie for sharing their food allergy stories with us! https://www.youtube.com/user/wheezywaiter https://www.youtube.com/user/thebrainscoop Want to learn more about allergies? Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqrnShjM4II ----------- REFERENCES: Anagnostou, Katherine, and Andrew Clark. "Oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy." Annual review of medicine 67 (2016): 375-385. Sathe, S. K., Liu, C., & Zaffran, V. D. (2016). "Food allergy." Annual review of food science and technology, 7, 191-220. Tyagi, Nidhi, et al. "Comparisons of allergenic and metazoan parasite proteins: allergy the price of immunity." PLoS computational biology 11.10 (2015): e1004546. Willits, Erin K., et al. "Food Allergy: A Comprehensive Population-Based Cohort Study." Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Vol. 93. No. 10. Elsevier, 2018. Wong, L., Huang, C. H., & Lee, B. W. (2016). "Shellfish and house dust mite allergies: is the link tropomyosin?." Allergy, asthma & immunology research, 8(2), 101-106. ----------- FOLLOW US for more curiosity: Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Books from our episodes: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 12 min

    Is Ultron Unstoppable? Featuring Vsauce3!

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Follow me to Vsauce3!! http://bit.ly/1zUxn7a Twitter: @okaytobesmart @jtotheizzoe Instagram: @jtotheizzoe ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Will artificial intelligence ever surpass human intelligence? And if that happens, will AI be good or bad? Is evil AI like we see in Avengers: Age of Ultron… inevitable? READ THIS FOR MORE: Wait But Why: The Road To Superintelligence Part 1: http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html Part 2: http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html The smiley face thought experiment is my take on the famous "paperclip maximizer", read more about it here: http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer Special thanks to Jake from Vsauce3! Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Google+ https://plus.google.com/+itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Dan Silver - Production Assistant Dalton Allen - Post-Production Intern Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- Last week's video: Superbugs: The Empire Strikes Bacteria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyRyZ1zKtyA More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 8 min

    Is Big Data Getting Out of Hand?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try Lynda.com: http://lynda.com/okay Best experienced in 240p or lower ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Check out Stanford’s “Raw Data” podcast: https://soundcloud.com/rawdatapodcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/r... Most numbers in the video are from this book: Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think - Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier http://amzn.to/1Vhc3Ei Sources: DNA Storage: http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i35/Sc... Square kilometer array (and other data scales): http://highscalability.com/blog/2012/... How much data does ___ store? http://techexpectations.org/2015/03/2... Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigita... Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted)​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 17 min

    Fixing Daylight Saving Time Is THIS Easy

    PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We’re on PATREON now! Join the community ►► https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Every year, hundreds of millions of people voluntarily turn their lives upside down by setting their clocks forward one hour in the spring and back one hour in the autumn on a particular date mandated by the government wherever they happen to live. Daylight saving time is a perfect example of how a few people with the best of intentions can end up annoying millions of the rest of us for the better part of a century. And it’s time we take an honest look at how we got to this place where half the world comes unstuck in time twice a year, and ask if the supposed advantages for springing forward and falling back still hold up! #daylightsavingtime #DST References: https://sites.google.com/view/fixing-daylight-saving-time/home My video about the invention of metric system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3eHHwcMVcA Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: AlecZero Brent M. Diego Lombeida Ernesto Silva George Gladding Marcus Tuepker Ron Kakar vincbis ----------- Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 9 min

    Is Your Brain Too Worn Out For Video Games?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Get your #ididascience shirt here! http://dftba.com/besmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Vintage arcade footage courtesy of: http://patrickscottpatterson.com/ Special thanks to Dreamhack Austin 2016: http://dreamhackaustin.com/ Thank you to our commentators: @Totalbiscuit https://www.youtube.com/cynicalbrit @EGiNcontroL https://www.facebook.com/GeoffRobinsoniNcontroL References: Thompson, Joseph J., Mark R. Blair, and Andrew J. Henrey. "Over the hill at 24: persistent age-related cognitive-motor decline in reaction times in an ecologically valid video game task begins in early adulthood." PloS one 9.4 (2014): e94215. Thompson, Joseph J., et al. "Video game telemetry as a critical tool in the study of complex skill learning." PloS one 8.9 (2013): e75129. Lewis, Joshua M., Patrick Trinh, and David Kirsh. "A corpus analysis of strategy video game play in starcraft: Brood war." Proceedings of the 33rd annual conference of the cognitive science society. 2011. ESA Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry 2016 http://essentialfacts.theesa.com/ ---- Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) http://www.videoblocks.com​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 7 min

    The Odds of Discovering Life and Romance

    PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ A cosmic love story, starring a guy named Carl Sagan Click here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Love is a complicated combination of brain chemicals and behavior that scientists are only just beginning to figure out. And it's remarkable that in every society that we have looked at on Earth, romantic love exists. So if love is so universal, and there are 7 billion other people out there looking for it, why can it seem like it's so hard to find? In this episode, we'll look at what we can learn about the search for love from the search for extraterrestrial life. We'll start with Enrico Fermi's paradox of why we haven't been contacted by any extraterrestrials yet, and then at Frank Drake's equation to estimate the number of civilizations that might exist in our galaxy (updated with current numbers). Finally, we'll meet a young lady named Ann and see if we can calculate how many special someones there might be out there for her. It's a cosmic love story! References for this episode: http://dft.ba/-4bBW Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Written and hosted by Joe Hanson Produced by Painted On Productions (http://www.paintedon.com/) Clips from this episode: Carl Sagan - All the -illions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZmafy... Music from this episode: Johnny Ripper's "Family." http://freemusicarchive.org/music/joh... ----------- Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 8 min

    Could Planet Minecraft Possibly Exist?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate This episode is brought to you by Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/ Tweet ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSmcraft Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSmcraftFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Gravitational field of a cubic planet: Chappell, James Michael, et al. "The gravity field of a cube." Physics International 3.2 (2012): 50. http://search.proquest.com/openview/6c982d4a364d8b7d7829ec389e2a907e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar More: http://www.askamathematician.com/2011/05/q-what-would-earth-be-like-to-us-if-it-were-a-cube-instead-of-spherical-is-this-even-possible/ https://possiblywrong.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/if-the-earth-were-a-cube/ 1884 claim of cubic planet discovery: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940DE5D91038E033A25755C1A9679D94659FD7CF Hats off to the Minecraft wiki community at Gamepedia for collecting stats about the Minecraft world! http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Minecraft_Wiki Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc. Kate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: “Ouroboros” by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted)​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 8 min

    Why Salt & Pepper Became Fixtures On Every Table

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Join the #AnythingButPepper movement! Tweet this video ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSsp Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSspFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Get yourself an awesome IOTBS shirt! http://dftba.com/besmart “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky http://amzn.to/29vj9m4 “Pepper: A History of the World’s Most Influential Spice” by Marjorie Shaffer http://amzn.to/29BORCW ---------------- Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) http://www.videoblocks.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 11 min

    Can You Crush a Human Using the Atmosphere?

    Try Audible for 30 days visit https://www.audible.com/ok or text ok to 500 500! SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Air. I bet you never even notice that it’s there. Yet you are swimming in an ocean of it every day. If there’s a literal ton of air pressing down on you all the time, so why don’t we feel it? We look back at the history of physics to learn how we figured out air pressure, why vacuums don’t suck, and how people like Galileo, Torricelli, and Otto von Guericke changed science forever with a few simple experiments. #AirPressure #Physics #Atmosphere DISCLAIMER: Do not perform the trash bag experiment without adult supervision. Always have a helper nearby so you don’t get trapped in the bag. And never ever put your head inside a trash bag, ever. Here’s how to try it yourself: https://exploratorium.edu/snacks/feeling-pressured ----------- REFERENCES: Walker, Gabrielle. An Ocean of Air: Why the Wind Blows and Other Mysteries of the Atmosphere. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. ----------- FOLLOW US for more curiosity: Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Books from our episodes: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 7 min

    How An Igloo Protects You From Cold

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Building a perfect igloo takes cool science! Don’t miss the next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓ More info and sources below ↓ If you ever find yourself stranded in the snowy Arctic (or bored in Minecraft), you’re gonna need to know how to build an igloo. But how can building a house made of ice keep you warm? The science behind building an igloo is the same reason that otters and reindeer don't freeze to death! LEARN MORE: There really ARE 50 Eskimo words for snow: http://wapo.st/2iwThf3 PBS Idea Channel - An Infinite Number of Words for Snow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX6i2M4AoZw Why there’s no such thing as cold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akd7MMRKDwc How early humans settled the Arctic: https://uaf.edu/files/olli/Denbigh-Slides_lowres.pdf How to build a scientifically perfect igloo: http://www.popsci.com/how-to-build-an-igloo It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 5 min

    How Many Heartbeats Are We Given?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Science really gets my heart going… Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Ever wonder how the heart symbol came to stand for the actual heart? And why do we speak of the heart as the seat of love, when love really happens in our brains? Is it true that animals only get a billion heartbeats? This week, we give you enough cool cardiac science to make your heart skip a beat Origin of the heart symbol: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2006/02/the_shape_of_my_heart.html History of silphium trade: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4256173?sid=21105598276993&uid=3739256&uid=3739920&uid=4&uid=2 What causes the pain of heartbreak? http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-chest-pains/ The heartbeat hypothesis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbeat_hypothesis The quarter power scaling principle: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12877984 http://hep.ucsb.edu/courses/ph6b_99/0111299sci-scaling.html http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/longevity.htm Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced for PBS Digital Studios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics Katie Graham - Director of Photography John Knudsen - Gaffer Dalton Allen - Post-Production Intern Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock ----------------- Last week's video: What is Déjà Vu? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut8mYGi0YRs More videos: Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Why Did We Blow on NES Games? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gf9mtXnJfM The Science of Game of Thrones - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utu-LpJn3Is There Was No First Human - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdWLhXi24Mo How The Elements Got Their Names - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtg9p6A6xnY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 8 min

    CHAOS: Why It's So Hard To Foresee the Weather

    Why is the weatherperson wrong? Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ What is El Niño? Why can’t we predict the weather? Just a few slight changes in global climate patterns can drastically shift the weather. Thanks to chaos theory, even our smartest meteorologists can’t predict weather correctly. Cool demonstration of the Butterfly Effect: http://www.exploratorium.edu/complexity/java/lorenz.html 2:20 El Niño graph by Jan Null: http://ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @DrJoeHanson Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc. Kate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: “Ouroboros” by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Today · 8 min

    Barrage of the Cosmic Space Junk!

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate No Sandra Bullocks were harmed in the making of this video. Tweet this video ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSjunk Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSjunkFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Window chip in the ISS: http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/05/Impact_chip The extent of space debris: http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2013/04/Space_debris_story Where did all that debris come from? http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/where-did-all-that-space-debris-come-from/ USSTRATCOM space surveillance fact sheet: https://www.stratcom.mil/factsheets/11/Space_Control_and_Space_Surveillance/ This is cool: http://stuffin.space/ Every satellite orbiting Earth, visualized: http://qz.com/296941/interactive-graphic-every-active-satellite-orbiting-earth/ 8 weird pieces of space junk: http://www.wired.com/2009/02/spacestuff/ Project West Ford: http://www.wired.com/2013/08/project-west-ford/ STK animation courtesy of Analytical Graphics, Inc. Get yourself an awesome IOTBS shirt! http://dftba.com/besmart ---------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Snapchat: YoDrJoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) http://www.videoblocks.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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