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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

314 episodes
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English

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Yesterday · 7 min
Where Do Birds Go During Winter?
And where do they keep their suitcases? Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Subscribe to It's Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub As winter approaches, V-shaped flocks glide overhead as the world's birds begin their long treks to warmer climates. Humans used to have some pretty crazy theories about where birds went for winter, like the moon, or to the bottom of the ocean. How did we learn the real story? And where DO birds go for winter? What are the longest bird migrations? How do birds store up energy for their long journey? How do birds navigate? Why do they fly in a V-shape? Find out in this week's video! Charles Morton's theory of birds on the moon: http://wrd.cm/1xMKc5k Read Charles Morton's original 1703 pamphlet! http://bit.ly/1C5AKhk The story of the stork with a spear in its neck: http://bit.ly/11PgkIs Aristotle's theory of bird transmutation: http://bit.ly/1uwQwHX The "barnacle goose" http://bit.ly/1C5BiUg The Arctic tern's record-breaking migration: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2836663/ The bar-tailed godwit's fat-fueled migration: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v115n01/p0196-p0203.pdf Ruby-throated hummingbird mighty migration: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1325055/ The avian aerodynamics of the "flying V" http://bit.ly/1vFFlUs The many senses that birds use to find their way: http://bit.ly/11qN9vr How birds use magnetic fields to navigate: http://bit.ly/1r2jYLy Produced for PBS Digital Studios Joe Hanson - Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Katie Graham - Director of Photography Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics Dalton Allen - Post-production intern John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Stock images by Shutterstock ----------- 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
Yesterday · 13 min
Humans Are Smart. Why Are Babies So Dumb?
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 ↓ Check out Antarctic Extremes on @pbsterra : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvRAuy1ZmTc 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 The first thing a baby giraffe experiences after being born is a 2 meter fall straight down to the ground. But within an hour, it’s standing, walking, and nursing on its own. And a blue whale calf, after nearly a year growing inside mom, can swim to the surface moments after being born. Human babies on the other hand? We’re born unable to move or eat on our own, we can’t communicate or fully sense our world, and we leak EVERYWHERE. If humans are so smart, why are our babies so… un-smart? You may think it’s all about head size, but the real science is more complex. References: https://sites.google.com/view/why-babies-helpless-references/home Note: In videos like this one, we use the terms male and female to refer to biological sex and typical secondary characteristics seen across the human population. Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: AlecZero Bob Rosset Brent M. Diego Lombeida 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
Yesterday · 11 min
Nature's Most Awesome Animal Superpowers
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 ↓ Comic book heroes ain't got nothin' on evolution. Click here to SUBSCRIBE and get more great science, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Evolution has come up with some pretty amazing ways to get things done when it comes to animals, plants and microbes. From radiation-resistant bacteria (like Dr. Manhattan) to geckos who climb glass using atomic adhesion (like Spider-Man) to a shrimp that can shoot a bubble the temperature of the sun (like Aquaman), nature is pretty super! Watch more YouTube Geek Week videos at http://youtube.com/geekweek Clips from this episode: http://bit.ly/15aWwcF Written and hosted by Joe Hanson Produced by Painted On Productions (http://www.paintedon.com/) Special thanks to Dragon's Lair Comics & Fantasy in Austin, TX ----------- 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
Yesterday · 25 min
We've never seen an atom. But we know what they look like.
The first 100 people to join @planet-wild with the code SMART5 will get the first month paid for: https://planetwild.com/r/besmart/join If you want to get to know them better first, check out their mission stopping ocean plastic: https://planetwild.com/r/besmart/m34 ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ If everything around us is made of atoms, why can’t we actually see them? From ancient philosophy to quantum mechanics, electron microscopes, and the strange limits of human perception, let’s explore one of science’s deepest questions: what does it really mean to “see” something? Be Smart explores science questions you didn’t even know you wondered about. It is hosted and produced by Joe Hanson, PhD. We post new videos all the time, so please subscribe! If you enjoyed this video, hit the ‘like’ button, leave a comment, or watch another of our videos! CONNECT WITH ME ____________________________________ Website: https://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart/ https://www.instagram.com/drjoehanson/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/itsokaytobesmart A big thanks to our Brain Trust patrons: Baerbel Winkler, Bernadette Etienne, Brent Lopez, dani bowman, David Johnston, Ed Eyden, Eric Meer, Greg Olson, Jaap Westera, Karen Haskell, Marcus Pingel, Mike and Patty Loftis, Reuben Brewer SPONSORSHIP INQUIRIES ____________________________________ Please email biz@itsokaytobesmart.com Stock video and images provided by Shutterstock, Artlist, and MotionArray Music provided by APM Written Joe Hanson Edited by Steven Simone Produced by Least Square Media and Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 13 min
How To Bend Light Using Just Your Finger
Learn more about CuriosityStream at https://curiositystream.com/smart Don’t miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ The other day I got bored and noticed this weird thing happened when I held my finger up to my eye, so I had to science it and figure it out! Let me know if you try these light-bending experiments too, especially that last one that I can’t quite explain yet… ----------- FOLLOW US: Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter:@DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Creative Director: David Schulte Editor/animator: Karl Boettcher and Derek Borsheim 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
Yesterday · 7 min
Why Does The Earth Have Levels?
...or why do we live on an onion made of magma? Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Subscribe to It's Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Thanks to Miles Traer and Mike Osborne for geophysics help on this one! Why does Earth have a liquid core, and how do we know? http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2011/09/28/why-does-the-earth-have-a-liqu/ How many pennies would you have to stack to melt the one on the bottom? http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/2g8jj9/how_many_pennies_need_to_be_stacked_before_the/ Why are the inner planets rocky and the outer ones are gas giants? http://www.quora.com/Why-are-the-inner-planets-rocky-and-the-middle-planets-large-gas-giants Produced for PBS Digital Studios Joe Hanson - Host and writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Katie Graham - Director of Photography Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics John Knudsen - Gaffer Dalton Allen - Post-production Intern Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Stock images via Shutterstock ----------- 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
Yesterday · 12 min
The Impossible Hugeness of Deep Time
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 ↓↓↓ Humans have a hard time with really big numbers, especially when it comes to DEEP TIME. The history of the Earth took a lot longer than you think, trust me. But I’m here to help you put it in perspective. With some string. REFERENCES: http://bit.ly/DeepTimeRefs ----------- FOLLOW US: Twitter: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Instagram: @DrJoeHanson https://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/ Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart 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 Researcher: Sarah Jenevein Creative Director: David Schulte Editors/animators: 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
Yesterday · 13 min
How Do We Actually See Color?
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 ↓ Thank you to LEGO City for supporting PBS. To discover more go to http://lego.build/CITYSpace 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 What color is a banana? Duh, it’s yellow. But what is yellow? Now that you mention it, how do we see color in the first place? That’s the series of questions that led me to making this video. It started simple and took me down a rabbit hole of decoding our visual system. Turns out it’s way more interesting than I ever thought possible. You might even call it complex. In fact, it’s a wonder it even works. Biology… wow, right? Thanks to vision researcher Dr. Jay Neitz from the University of Washington for helping us break down this complex science. Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: AlecZero Bob Rosset Brent M. Diego Lombeida ----------- 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
Yesterday · 7 min
Shadows of Evolution
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 ↓ What does a ginkgo tree have in common with a dinosaur? SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Every fall, in cities like New York, the smell of vomit fills the crisp air. The culprit? The pungent seeds of the ginkgo biloba tree. So why would a tree evolve such a disgusting and revolting way to disperse its genes and make baby trees? Why not be more like the delicious apple? Join me for an evolutionary ghost story. We'll find out why the ginkgo is so weird, visit with some prehistoric beasts, and learn how an avocado is a bit like a dodo bird Check out "Ghosts of Evolution" by Connie Barlow: http://amzn.to/1iLBpsb Why the avocado should have gone the way of the dodo: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2013/10/why-the-avocado-should-have-gone-the-way-of-the-dodo/ More about evolutionary anachronisms: http://sydkab.wordpress.com/tag/evolutionary-anachronism/ The ginkgo is Earth's oldest tree: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/peter_crane_history_of_ginkgo_earths_oldest_tree/2646/ Janzen and Martin's 1982 paper "Neotropical Anachronisms: The Fruits the Gomphotheres Ate": http://bit.ly/1aO0qiY Joe Hanson - Host and writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer Katie Graham - Director of Photography Andrew Matthews - Editor and Motion Graphics Kate Eads - Production Manager Filmed at Onion Creek Productions in Austin, TX Thanks to Dan Silver for the footage of ginkgo trees in NYC Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios ----------- 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
Yesterday · 8 min
The Science Behind Kissing
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 ↓ Pucker up. I'm gonna lay some science on you! When you really think about it, kissing is an odd human behavior. You know, all the rubbing of our faces all over each other. So there must be a good reason why we do it, right? From motherly comforts to testing the genetic compatibility of your "mate", the science of kissing is pretty awesome. Learn more about "The Science of Kissing" by Sheril Kirshenbaum at http://amzn.to/Nuy0TE Sheril's book has an extensive bibliography if you'd like to look more closely at any of these studies, but here's a couple that I mentioned: Study of facial features and attractiveness ("men prefer fuller, redder lips"): http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/68/2/261/ Claus Wedekind's famous "t-shirt" study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7630893 "Why do mothers cradle their babies on the left?" by Sieratzki and Woll, 1996 http://www.researchgate.net/publication/14543476_Why_do_mothers_cradle_babies_on_their_left/file/60b7d51558c9d65700.pdf Want to know more about the famous Austin mural where we shot this? http://www.austin360.com/news/entertainment/share-your-i-love-you-so-much-photos/nTzPW/ Did you catch the cameo from Julia Wilde? http://www.youtube.com/user/wildescience Joe Hanson - Host and writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Katie Graham - Director of Photography Andrew Matthews - Editor and motion graphics John Knudsen - Gaffer Isaac Hammons - Sound Produced for PBS Digital Studios ----------- 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
Yesterday · 5 min
It's Okay To Be Smart is on Patreon!
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 ↓ SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub 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/ Books from our episodes: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 4 min
Astounding Deep Sea Oddities!
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate There's some strange creatures down in the deep … Tweet ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSdeep Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSdeepFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We know more about some other planets than we do about the deepest corners of Earth's oceans, and the species we've found there are almost alien. Here's some of the most unbelievable oddities ever observed! Special thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) for help with this video! Twitter/Instagram: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Facebook: facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart (Whale illustrations by Nobu Tamura/CC-BY-3.0) 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
Yesterday · 10 min
Are the Nobel Prizes Still Meaningful in the 21st Century?
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 ↓ The Nobel Prizes reward the greatest accomplishments of the human race. Right? Then why haven't they changed much in 100+ years? Do they really represent how science is done? And why so few women? References and more: Molly Oldfield - The Secret Museum http://amzn.to/173lLpj Georgia Lupi Nobel Prize infographic: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/11/29/giorgia-lupi-noble-prizes-visualization/ Alfred Nobel's will: http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/will/will-full.html Top 10 Nobel snubs: http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=10-nobel-snubs Nobel Prize controversies (like Johannes Fibiger) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_controversies Women who have won science Nobels http://mentalfloss.com/article/53186/14-women-whove-won-science-nobel-prizes-marie-curie The Nobel ignores how modern science works: http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/astrophysics/nobel-for-higgs-boson-discovery-ignores-how-modern-science-works Nobel prize and myth of the "lone genius" http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2013/10/08/nobel-complexity/ Thomas Edison on success: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/02/11/thomas-edison-on-sleep-and-success/ Steve Jobs on creativity: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/jobs_pr.html Open letter to Nobel committee: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17863-open-letter-to-the-nobel-prize-committee.html#.Ul8DHWT5n6Q Thumbnail art via catwalker/Shutterstock ----------- 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
Yesterday · 36 min
Something Strange Happens When You Flatten the Earth…
Thank you to Squarespace for supporting PBS. Go to https://www.squarespace.com/besmart for a free trial and use code BESMART to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Follow me to @pbsterra and watch Overview to celebrate Earth Month with PBS: https://youtu.be/ivoV1rwiYJk PBS Earth Month Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnNZYWyBGJ1F8ofFm4H9UTrHxqU8zngK4 Imprisoned for heresy, Gerardus Mercator later created a map that transformed navigation forever. We explore why his projection distorts the world, how it solved a deadly problem for sailors, and the astonishing mystery of how he used math that hadn’t even been invented yet to do it all. Be Smart explores science questions you didn’t even know you wondered about. It is hosted and produced by Joe Hanson, PhD. We post new videos all the time, so please subscribe! If you enjoyed this video, hit the ‘like’ button, leave a comment, or watch another of our videos! References: https://sites.google.com/view/mercator-mystery-references/home 0:00 A Prisoner of the Inquisition 1:52 The Navigation Crisis 4:22 Who Was This Mercator Guy, Anyway? 8:02 Globes & Heresy 10:45 Why Flat Maps Are Mathematically Impossible 13:27 The Math Mystery Behind the Mercator Map 16:11 How Mercator Used Math That Didn't Exist Yet 19:40 You're Using This Map Right Now 22:56 Is This Map Harmful? CONNECT WITH ME ____________________________________ Website: https://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart/ https://www.instagram.com/drjoehanson/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/itsokaytobesmart A big thanks to our Brain Trust patrons: Baerbel Winkler, Brent Lopez, dani bowman, David Johnston, Ed Eyden, Eric Meer, Greg Olson, Holly, Brett, and Ashe Bullion, Jaap Westera, Karen Haskell, Marcus Pingel, Mike and Patty Loftis, Paul Weir, Reuben Brewer SPONSORSHIP INQUIRIES ____________________________________ Please email biz@itsokaytobesmart.com Stock video and images provided by Shutterstock, Artlist, and MotionArray Music provided by APM Written Joe Hanson Edited by Steven Simone Produced by Least Square Media and Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 7 min
How Some Animals Engineered Air Conditioning
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Thanks to the non-profit edX.org for sponsoring this video. Go to http://bit.ly/edXSmart to learn more from some of the top universities in the world. ↓↓↓More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Here’s a cool idea: SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Are humans nature’s greatest architects? When we look elsewhere in nature, we find some pretty amazing animal architects. Species like ants, termites, prairie dogs, birds, and more have engineered some incredible structures. This week we look at how a few of these species have mastered physics to install air conditioning in their homes! Special thanks to Dianna Cowern AKA Physics Girl for helping us get the physics right in this video! https://www.youtube.com/user/physicswoman ----------- REFERENCES: Gould, James L., and Carol Grant Gould. Animal architects: building and the evolution of intelligence. Basic Books (AZ), 2007. Hansell, M. (2007). Built by animals: the natural history of animal architecture. OUP Oxford. Cosarinsky, M. I., & Roces, F. (2012). The construction of turrets for nest ventilation in the grass-cutting ant Atta vollenweideri: import and assembly of building materials. Journal of Insect Behavior, 25(3), 222-241. Kleineidam, C., Ernst, R., & Roces, F. (2001). Wind-induced ventilation of the giant nests of the leaf-cutting ant Atta vollenweideri. Naturwissenschaften, 88(7), 301-305. King, H., Ocko, S., & Mahadevan, L. (2015). Termite mounds harness diurnal temperature oscillations for ventilation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(37), 11589-11593. Vogel, S., Ellington, C. P., & Kilgore, D. L. (1973). Wind-induced ventilation of the burrow of the prairie-dog, Cynomys ludovicianus. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 85(1), 1-14. Bahadori, M. M. (1978). Passive cooling systems in Iranian architecture. Sci. Am.;(United States), 238(2). ----------- 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: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Joe Hanson 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
Yesterday · 8 min
What's The Most Lethal Creature On Earth?
Besides humans, of course. ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Subscribe to It's Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Gates Foundation info on the world's deadliest animal, mosquitoes: http://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week Bill Gates' TED talk on malaria and education: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mosquitos-malaria-and-education-bill-gates Meet the people who are trying to eradicate Dengue mosquitoes using bioengineering: http://www.radiolab.org/story/kill-em-all/ Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-mosquitoes-bite-some-people-more-than-others-10255934/ FULL close-up video of a mosquito biting: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/06/heres-what-happens-inside-you-when-a-mosquito-bites/ Why don't we just kill all the mosquitoes? http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/why-dont-we-just-kill-all-the-mosquitoes/277859/ http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html Half of all people may have been killed by malaria: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/17/science/parasites-take-the-biological-spotlight.html Mosquitoes just hate the smell of DEET: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2518096/ Joe Hanson - Host and writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Katie Graham - Camera Editing/Motion Graphics - Andrew Matthews Gaffers - John Knudsen/Philip Sheldon Intern - Dalton Allen Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Stock images via Shutterstock Produced for PBS Digital Studios ----------- 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
Yesterday · 11 min
Why Do You Love Your Family?
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Don't miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub You can learn more about your personal DNA story by going to https://23andMe.com/okay ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Why do we love people we're related to? Compared to strangers, why do we feel such a deep sense of connection with our family members? Sure, they're nice to us, we take care of each other, and we often live with them, but there has to be a deeper biological reason. That reason, unsurprisingly is evolution. In this video, I explain why taking care of our family, or even dying for them, makes sense in the eyes of evolution. SOURCES: This video covers more than a half century of evolutionary biology theory and observation, but here's some reading if you'd like to learn more: Dawkins, Richard. (1976) "The Selfish Gene" http://amzn.to/2Dhd257 Fisher, R. A. (1930). "The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection" http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/880368061 Haldane, J.B.S. (1932). "The Causes of Evolution." London: Longmans, Green & Co. Hamilton, W. D. (1963). "The evolution of altruistic behavior." The American Naturalist, 97(896), 354-356. Hamilton, W. D. (1964). "The genetical evolution of social behaviour I." Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7(1), 1-16. ----------- 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: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Stephanie Keep Producer/editor/animator: Andrew Orsak 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
Yesterday · 9 min
CRISPR and the Future of Human Advancement
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Part 4 of our special series on Human Ancestry. Watch it all ►► http://bit.ly/OKTBSHuman Watch Mutant Menu on BrainCraft: https://youtu.be/NrDM6Ic2xMM ↓↓↓More info and sources below ↓↓↓ In part 4 of our special series on human ancestry and evolution, we look into the future. Now that genetic engineering tools like CRISPR allow us to edit our genes, how will that impact human evolution going forward? Are designer babies or eugenics around the corner? Welcome to a world of nonrandom mutation and unnatural selection. ----------- REFERENCES: WHO fact sheet on obesity risks and death vs underweight: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ Jinek, M., Chylinski, K., Fonfara, I., Hauer, M., Doudna, J. A., & Charpentier, E. (2012). A programmable dual-RNA–guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity. Science, 337(6096), 816-821. Knoepfler, P. (2015). GMO Sapiens: the life-changing science of designer babies. World Scientific. Enriquez, J., & Gullans, S. (2015). Evolving Ourselves. Oneworld Publications. ----------- 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 ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Joe Hanson 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
Yesterday · 11 min
There's Proof of Evolution Hiding in Your DNA
Learn more about your personal DNA story by going to https://23andMe.com/okay Don't miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Humans are special, and we got that way thanks to evolution and natural selection. The proof is right there in our bodies! From anatomy to genes, here are some stories of how you got to be the way you are. References: Miller, Kenneth R. "The Human Instinct: How We Evolved to Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will" Simon & Schuster (2018) https://amzn.to/2JD3d3c Booth, H. A. F., & Holland, P. W. (2004). Eleven daughters of NANOG. Genomics, 84(2), 229-238. Brawand, D., Wahli, W., & Kaessmann, H. (2008). Loss of egg yolk genes in mammals and the origin of lactation and placentation. PLoS biology, 6(3), e63. Freyer, C., & Renfree, M. B. (2009). The mammalian yolk sac placenta. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution, 312(6), 545-554. Yunis, J. J., & Prakash, O. (1982). The origin of man: a chromosomal pictorial legacy. Science, 215(4539), 1525-1530. ----------- FOLLOW US: Twitter: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart 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: Joe Hanson, Ph.D. 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
Yesterday · 4 min
The Universe in a Chalice of Wine (Richard Feynman Remixed)
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 poet once said, "The whole universe is in a glass of wine." We will probably never know in what sense he said that, for poets do not write to be understood. But it is true that if we look in glass of wine closely enough we see the entire universe There are the things of physics: the twisting liquid which evaporates depending on the wind and weather, the reflections in the glass, and our imagination adds the atoms. The glass is a distillation of the earth's rocks, and in its composition we see the secrets of the universe's age, and the evolution of the stars. What strange array of chemicals are in the wine? How did they come to be? There are the ferments, the enzymes, the substrates, and the products. There in wine is found the great generalization: all life is fermentation. Nobody can discover the chemistry of wine without discovering the cause of much disease. How vivid is the claret, pressing its existence into the consciousness that watches it! If in our small minds, for some convenience, divide this glass of wine, this universe, into parts - physics, biology, geology, astronomy, psychology, and so on - remember that nature does not know it! So let us put it all back together, not forgetting ultimately what it is for. Let us give one more final pleasure: drink it and forget it all! Get Feynman's Lectures on Physics in book form: http://bit.ly/OKfeynman "The Universe in a Glass of Wine" ... a poem by Richard Feynman, as delivered in the Feynman Lectures on physics. Watch them all here: http://io9.com/watch-a-series-of-seven-brilliant-lectures-by-richard-f-5894600 Clips used in this video: http://bit.ly/1ckkLsz Joe Hanson - Host Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc Katie Graham - Director of Photography Bryan Poyser - Editor Sound Design - Lyman Hardy, Stuck On On Produced for PBS Digital Studios ----------- 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

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