Hank talks about population genetics, which helps to explain the evolution of populations over time by combing the principles of Mendel and Darwin, and by means of the Hardy-Weinberg equation.

Check out the fascinating ways orchids trick insects into pollinating, using sexual deception, pheromones and mimicking the shapes of other plants. -- Nearly 28,000 species of orchid grow all around the world, bearing every imaginable...

Paul Andersen shows you how to construct a cladogram from a group of organisms using shared characteristics. He also discusses the process of parsimony in cladogram construction. He then explains how modern cladograms are constructed and...

Evolution doesn't care about ethics - it cares about surviving and getting your alleles out there as much as possible. From that perspective, cannibalism can seem like a pretty good idea to some creatures. Hank introduces us to three...

Imagine aliens land on Earth a million years from now. What will these curious searchers find of us? They will find what geologists, scientists, and other experts are increasingly calling the Anthropocene, or new age of mankind. David...

Yapoks are cute aquatic marsupials, and they're the only living creatures that need pouches for their sacs.

Hank explains the evolutionary basis for altruistic behavior in animals, including vampire bats!

Hank talks about three scientific reasons why cute things make us a special kind of crazy.

Some of the biggest evolution questions finally answered.

Paul Andersen describes how free energy is used by organisms to grow, maintain order, and reproduce. A brief discussion of the first and second law of thermodynamics is also included. Disruptions in the amount of free energy can cause...

Did humans evolve from monkeys or from fish? In this enlightening talk, ichthyologist and TED Fellow Prosanta Chakrabarty dispels some hardwired myths about evolution, encouraging us to remember that we're a small part of a complex,...

In the past 3,000 years, many populations have evolved genetic adaptations to their local environments. People in Siberia and the high arctic are uniquely adapted to survive extreme cold. The Bajau people can dive 70 meters and stay...

Inside our cells, each of us has a second set of genes completely separate from our 23 pairs of chromosomes. And this isn't just true for humans— it's true of every animal, plant, and fungus on Earth. This second genome belongs to our...

High elevations can be a problem for humans. Since the air is thinner, you get less oxygen with every breath, leading to all kinds of negative side effects. But there are millions of people around the world who spend their whole lives at...

More than 90% of the plants on Earth are angiosperms, flowering plants whose seeds are enclosed inside fruit. And they’re everywhere -- but exactly how and when these plants came to be so ubiquitous is one of the most stubborn questions...

Your genetic code is neat, but could be better!

Paul Andersen shows you how to solve simple Hardy-Weinberg problems. He starts with a brief description of a gene pool and shows you how the formula is derived. He then shows you how to solve a couple of sample problems.

Thanks to the St. Croix Watershed Research Station for sponsoring this video! To learn more about their work, visit https://www.smm.org/scwrs/. Aquatic cyanobacteria first oxygenated earth’s air, making human life possible; now, due to...

When living underground leaves them vulnerable to attack, burrowing owls have a trick up their sleeve—they’ve developed the ability to mimic rattlesnake sounds that scare off predators!

Nothing is guaranteed in life except death, taxes, and entropy. What do other life forms have to teach us about staying alive as we get old, and will we ever conquer death?

Paul Andersen explains the current classification system that we use in Biology. He starts with a brief history of taxonomy. He explains how the goal of classification is to reflect evolutionary relationships. He then explains how each...

Hank continues our exploration of animal phyla with the more complexly organized annelida and arthropoda, and a biolography on insects.

How does one species evolve into two within the same habitat? Discover the details behind a rare type of evolution: sympatric evolution.

Hank discusses the process by which organisms grow and develop, maintaining that, in the end, we're all just tubes.