Be Smart
Evolution FAILS in the Human Body
If you were taking an engineering class in school and you turned in the human body for your final exam… you would get like, a C+. Or maybe a B- at best. That’s because the human body is full of design flaws. Except they aren’t really...
Curated Video
COVID-19 & Mask Myths DEBUNKED!
Bottom line: Masks work. They are safe for almost everyone to wear, and the more people that wear them along with adhering to physical distancing and other strategies, then that's more lives we'll save. But there's still a lot of...
Be Smart
Could You Be a Chimera?
Ever feel like you aren't totally yourself? Well, maybe you aren't. In this video, we explore the idea of human chimeras. In mythology, the "Chimaera" was a beast made from different animals combined into one. But in biology, a chimera...
Be Smart
Can You Crush a Human Using the Atmosphere?
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...
Be Smart
Can Illusions Teach Us How the Mind Works?
Optical illusions are fun, but they can also teach us a lot about how our brains work. In particular, how our brains accomplish the incredible feat of constructing a three-dimensional reality using nothing but 2-D images from our eyes. A...
Be Smart
Ask Joe Stuff #4
You have questions, I have answers! In this edition of Ask Joe Stuff, you'll find out what the date really is according to Earth's age, why we get chills up our spine, what my favorite planet is, why hair grows (or doesn't), and why root...
Be Smart
If We Plant 1 TRILLION Trees Can We Stop Climate Change?
Can trees really save us from climate change? For eons, nature has relied on photosynthesis as a big way to keep carbon dioxide levels from getting out of control. But as we have put more carbon into the air, we’ve also cut down many of...
Be Smart
Are Humans Still Evolving?
We’re living longer. Dying less. Human life expectancy has doubled in just a couple centuries. Machines and meals and medicines keeping us alive long past the age where we can make babies. Does this mean our species is no longer under...
Be Smart
Apollo’s Most Important Discovery (Inside NASA’s Moon Rock Vault!)
Fifty years ago, we sent the first astronauts to walk on the moon’s face. But what they brought back is just as important as what got them there. I’m talking about moon rocks, guys. And I got to go visit NASA’s lunar sample vault to...
Be Smart
A Brief (Scientific) History of Butts
Hold on to your butts. This episode is about… butts. The science and evolutionary history of your rear end, the down-low on your derriere, shining a little light where the sun don't shine… you get the picture. But(t) seriously, we don't...
Curated Video
7 Scientific Urban Legends Debunked!
It sounds like such an incredible fact. “Our own cells are outnumbered by our microbes 10 to 1!” I don’t remember where I first heard it. But I read it in science papers and articles by journalists, so I believed it without question. I...
Be Smart
4 Ways the Universe Might End (All of Them Are Bad)
I don’t want to alarm you, but the world is going to end. All of this. Gone. And scientists are certain all of this will happen. On the bright side this isn’t going to happen for 4-5 billion years. It makes me wonder: In a universe...
Be Smart
Do Other Planets Have Seasons Too?
Earth has seasons, but what about the rest of the planets in the solar system? Let’s take a tour from Mercury to Pluto and see what seasons would be like on all our planetary neighbors. Bring a sweater!
Be Smart
Are You Afraid of Holes?
Honeycomb. Strawberries. Flower pods. Some people find these things incredibly scary. We call this extreme fear trypophobia. But why does it exist?
Be Smart
How Blind People See With Sound… with @MollyBurkeOfficial!
I met Molly Burke a few months ago. She’s awesome. I absolutely love what she’s done on YouTube to bring awareness to living with disability, and turning it into ability. And her guide dog Gallop is awesome too! When Molly and I first...
Be Smart
Glass is Solid… So Why Is It Clear?
Glass is made of sand, which is a kind of rock. But glass is transparent, and rocks aren’t transparent. What’s up with that? Why is glass clear? And why can I sit on a chair? And why can we touch anything? Today we zoom down to the weird...
PBS
How to Weigh a Fart | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios
EVER WANTED TO WEIGH A FART? Well, it isn't easy, but Gabe from PBS Space Time walks us through the math, physics, and science behind farts and explains how to measure them!
PBS
New Results in Quantum Tunneling vs. The Speed of Light
Paradoxically, the most promising prospects for moving matter around faster than light may be to put a metaphorical brick wall in its way. New efforts in quantum tunneling - both theory and experiment - show that superluminal motion may...
TED Talks
TED: The world's rarest diseases — and how they impact everyone | Anna Greka
Physician-scientist Anna Greka investigates the world's rarest genetic diseases, decoding the secrets of our cells through "molecular detective work." She explains how her team is using new, advanced technology to solve decades-old...