Be Smart
Humans Are Smart. Why Are Babies So Dumb?
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,...
Be Smart
The Mystery of Earth's Disappearing Giants | IN OUR NATURE
Seemingly distant ecosystems, even half a world apart, are connected in surprising ways. In this special limited series, Emily Graslie and Trace Dominguez join me as we explore the universal rules of life that tie together Earth’s living...
Be Smart
Why Is Sex a Thing?
Why does sex exist? You might think the obvious answer is “reproduction” but there are plenty of organisms on Earth that don’t require sex to reproduce. And the more that scientists examined sex, they more they realized that it’s an...
Be Smart
Why Is Our Skeleton On the Inside?
Having bones is pretty cool. They make our blood, let us hear, and keep us from being just a squishy puddle on the floor. But for every species with bones, there are at least 20 species on Earth with exoskeletons instead. And those...
Be Smart
Why Does Every Animal Look Like This?
In the race to survive, both predators and prey use visual tricks to get ahead. One nearly universal trick is countershading, a color pattern that helps animals erase their own shadows or blend into different backgrounds. It’s worked...
Be Smart
Why Are We Warm-Blooded?
A human with the metabolism of a hummingbird would need to eat about 80,000 calories a day to survive. That’s because staying warm by making your own heat takes a ton of energy. And that brings up a paradox, because creating your own...
Be Smart
What Is A Dinosaur And What Isn’t a Dinosaur?
There’s a lot of confusion out there about what is and isn’t a dinosaur. And you’d be forgiven for being kinda confused. Maybe paleontologists are just messing with us. Or… maybe the question of what is and isn’t a dinosaur goes deeper...
Be Smart
This Face TOTALLY Changes the Human Story
Greetings, fellow Homo sapiens. Our species is the only remaining member of the genus of upright, walking apes known as Homo. Where did we come from? Our history just got a whole lot more complicated (in a good way) thanks to some...
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...
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
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...
TED Talks
TED: The "adjacent possible" -- and how it explains human innovation | Stuart Kauffman
From the astonishing evolutionary advances of the Cambrian explosion to our present-day computing revolution, the trend of dramatic growth after periods of stability can be explained through the theory of the "adjacent possible," says...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why did Megalodon go extinct? | Jack Cooper and Catalina Pimiento
20 million years ago, the ocean housed a creature so colossal that its stomach could reach volumes of almost 10,000 liters— big enough to fit an entire orca. It was the megalodon, the biggest shark to ever live. So, what was it like when...
TED Talks
TED: How life on Earth adapts to you and me | Shane Campbell-Staton
We tend to think of evolution as a slow, gradual process playing out over millions of years. But evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton says nature is now changing at breakneck speed to keep up with the world humanity has built....
SciShow
Were Long Necks Also Tall Necks?
Long-necked sauropod dinosaurs are some of the most striking animals that ever lived. But we don't know what they used their long necks for, and whether they held them high in the air or parallel to the ground. Here's what we do know.
SciShow
Will Climate Change Turn More Reptiles Female?
We hear all the time about the ways that climate change could disrupt the world. But thanks to a quirk of reptile biology called temperature-based sex determination, it could also mean a surge in the numbers of female reptiles.
SciShow
Half of All Plants Are Invisible
If you see an acorn sprout under an oak tree, you're seeing that tree's grandchild. Here's why half of all higher plants are invisible, and why it works for them.
SciShow
The Earth's "Boring Billion" Years Were Anything But
About 1.8–0.8 billion ago, the Earth went through a period known as the Boring Billion, where not a lot changed in terms of geology, evolution, or even the number of hours in a day. Some scientists call it “the dullest period in Earth’s...
SciShow
These Animals Lost Their Stomachs. Why?
What do a platypus, a pufferfish, and a seahorse have in common? Why, they all managed to evolve themselves out of having a working stomach! The reasons why might vary, as well as how they manage to live their lives without them, but...
SciShow
This Squid Glows… To Make Itself Invisible
When you live in the ocean, it can be hard to find ways to keep hidden from predators, or from your own prey. But these three animals have found clever ways to stay hidden, by using light to their advantage. One of them even /makes...
MinuteEarth
How Caffeine Accidentally Took Over The World
Plants don't make caffeine just for us, so what DO they make it for?
MinutePhysics
How to Simulate the Universe on your Laptop
One Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in one minute!
SciShow
This Sturgeon-Paddlefish Hybrid Shouldn't Exist | SciShow News
Chromosome shenanigans have resulted in some unexpected hybrid fishes. Also, this record-breaking mouse lives at a ridiculous altitude.