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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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  • October 13 · 7 min

    How Thomas Jefferson Delivered America With a Dead Moose

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate E pluribus moose-um Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @jtotheizzoe @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ America's first great science battle wasn't the space race or the atom bomb, it was fought between Thomas Jefferson, a French nobleman, and in the middle… a giant moose. Some people call Jefferson our only scientist-President, and T.J. himself said that "Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight." Here's the story of how Jefferson used science to help a young nation make its mark Check out the book "Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose" by Lee Dugatkin!!! http://amzn.to/1RMFScF 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: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart ----------------- 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 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 - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Director of Photography John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 13 · 18 min

    How Did Giant Pterosaurs Fly?

    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 ↓ Uploaded 09-06-20 The largest pterosaurs like Quetzalcoatlus were closer in size to airplanes than birds. No flying animal alive today comes close to their huge size. So did giant pterosaurs actually fly? I went to see the fossil bones of the largest pterosaur that ever lived so I could learn how these winged giants actually took to the skies. Special thanks: Michael Habib, Ph.D. https://twitter.com/aeroevo Matthew Brown/University of Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collection References: https://sites.google.com/view/giant-pterosaurs-references/home SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: AlecZero Diego Lombeida Dustin Ernesto Silva George Gladding Jay Stephens Marcus Tuepker Megan K Bradshaw Peter Ehrnstrom 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 13 · 6 min

    Could You HONESTLY Survive Being Shrunk?!

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you ) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate It's okay to be… small? Tweet this video ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSshrunk Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSshrunkFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Want more shrunken YouTubers? Check out this video on Vsauce3 about the science of Ant-Man! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkvo-DrU2gM Get yourself an awesome IOTBS shirt! http://dftba.com/besmart Here's a fun read: The Physics of B-Movie Monsters http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/2/21701757/ ---------------- 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/drjoehanson http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/DrJoeHanson 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

  • October 13 · 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

  • October 13 · 7 min

    Is Sugar a Drug?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Uploaded 10-10-16 Here’s a sweet idea: Subscribe! http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Tweet this video ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSsug Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSsugFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Want to wear your love for science? We’ve got merch: http://dftba.com/besmart American sugar consumption: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db122.pdf http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/sugar-and-sweeteners-yearbook-tables.aspx#25512 http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf Avena, Nicole M., Pedro Rada, and Bartley G. Hoebel. "Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake." Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 32.1 (2008): 20-39. Breslin, Paul AS. "An evolutionary perspective on food and human taste."Current Biology 23.9 (2013): R409-R418. Goodman, Jarid, and Mark G. Packard. "Memory systems and the addicted brain." Frontiers in psychiatry 7 (2016). Kearns, Cristin E., Laura A. Schmidt, and Stanton A. Glantz. "Sugar industry and coronary heart disease research: a historical analysis of internal industry documents." JAMA Internal Medicine (2016) Lerma-Cabrera, Jose Manuel, Francisca Carvajal, and Patricia Lopez-Legarrea. "Food addiction as a new piece of the obesity framework." Nutrition journal 15.1 (2016): 1. Mintz, Sidney. "Sweetness and power: the place of sugar in world history."Viking, New York (1985) Volkow, Nora D., Gene-Jack Wang, and Ruben D. Baler. "Reward, dopamine and the control of food intake: implications for obesity." Trends in cognitive sciences 15.1 (2011): 37-46. ---------------- 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 13 · 7 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

  • October 13 · 6 min

    Who Has Your Birthday?

    PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. Support your local station at: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ In case you have a strange new desire to get an IOTBS shirt: http://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart#_=_ See if you share a famous birthday (I got Tom Hiddleston): http://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/which-celebrity-shares-your-birthday#.mnPknbWyK Explore the math behind Birthday Paradox #1: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-and-combinatorics-topic/probability_combinatorics/v/birthday-probability-problem Explore Birthday Paradox #2: http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_development/mathematics/probability/birthday_problem.htm#My_Birthday_Paradox The “Facebook Birthday Problem” is a variant of the Coupon Collector’s Problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon_collector%27s_problem 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: @okaytobesmart @drjoehanson http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: @okaytobesmart @drjoehanson ----------------- 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. Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer 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

  • October 13 · 9 min

    What is Farthest Away?

    You can learn more at https://curiositystream.com/smart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Uploaded 06-11-18 The edge of everything used to be the edge of the map. But now, thanks to what we know about astrophysics and the universe, the edge of everything might not even exist… REFERENCES: http://www.pnas.org/content/15/3/168 https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5476 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_world_maps https://cosmology.carnegiescience.edu/timeline ----------- FOLLOW US: Twitter: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart SEND US STUFF: It’s Okay To Be Smart PO Box 303356 Austin, TX 78703 USA BOOKS WE’VE FEATURED: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Mara Johnson-Groh Creative 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 13 · 6 min

    How Many Odors Can You Smell?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate How do we smell? Great! Thanks for asking! Subscribe to It's Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DrJoeHanson Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/DrJoeHanson We walk through life led by our noses. Literally. Because they're on the front of our faces. The sense of smell might be one of the oldest, but how does the science of smell work? How sensitive are our noses? Why are smell-related memories so vivid? How many different smells could we possibly smell? Find out in this week's It's Okay To Be Smart! Check out this amazing essay on smell from Lewis Thomas (1980), it's a beautiful piece of science writing: http://cplab.net/heap/on-smell/ Evolution of human olfactory receptor genes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC218742/ Pseudogenes in olfactory system: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12644552 The nose as an emotional time machine: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/science/05angier.html?_r=2& Smell memories are often the most vivid: http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/why-is-food-so-potent-in-evoking-the-memories-of-childhood/ Sperm olfactory receptors: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16413109 How many smells can we smell? https://neuroecology.wordpress.com/2014/11/04/how-many-smells-can-a-smelly-person-smell-1-trillion-or-10/ http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6177/1370 You and Your Senses, starring Jiminy Cricket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxcy6uMVH74 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.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 for PBS Digital Studios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc Kate 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 12 · 15 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 ↓↓↓ Uploaded 14-08-18 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., and 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showing 361–370 of 370 episodes