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Maybe We've Already Made First Contact…
There are hundreds of billions of planets in our galaxy. Scientists now think hundreds of millions of them have conditions where life could arise. What do scientists think are the best ways of reaching out to them? And why do some...
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Why NASA Punched an Asteroid
Where did life come from? It’s one of the biggest questions humans have ever asked — and the answer might be locked in ancient space rocks that were around before life began. To find out, NASA pulled off one of its most ambitious...
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Space is Full of Junk. Here’s How to Clean It Up…
We know pollution is a problem on earth, but we’re filling space with our junk too. And if we don’t figure out a way to clean up space junk, we could end our interstellar dreams before they even get started. Today, we’re visiting some...
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Why the 2024 Solar Eclipse is Such a Big Deal
On April 8, 2024, the Moon’s shadow will fall on Earth, creating a total solar eclipse across North America, and if you have the chance to see it, you don’t want to miss it. It’s an amazing coincidence that total eclipses happen at all —...
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Computers Can Predict When You're Going to Die… Here's How
Predictive analytics uses math and historical data to make predictions about the future. It’s used in commerce, sports, politics, social media and tons of other places. And as it turns out, people have been using math to predict people’s...
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The Real (Weird) Way We See Numbers
Would it surprise you to learn that fish and birds count in pretty much the same way that we do? And that infants can do math? Our animal brains deal with quantities in very specific ways, from quick counts of a few dots to how we...
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Why Trees Look Like Rivers and Also Blood Vessels and Also Lightning…
Why do the same, self-repeating patterns appear in trees, rivers, lightning, and even our bodies? Is there some essential, hidden rule of nature that makes these intricate designs appear all over the place? Let’s talk about fractals.
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Why You See Faces in Things
Have you ever looked at a cloud and seen a face? Or the front of a car and seen a face? Or an electrical outlet and seen a face? You definitely have. We all see faces everywhere we look thanks to a fun quirk of the human brain called...
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Why Do We Hate Certain Sounds
Ever wonder why certain sounds make us cringe or even feel sick? Join Joe as he reacts to some of the most hated sounds, from nails on a chalkboard to the infamous "moist," and explores the science of why these sounds are so unbearable...
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The Paradox of Voting
Political scientist Don Green joins Joe to figure out the complex psychological and social factors that motivate us to vote - or not to. They discuss how and why this decision making process may be in conflict with certain scientific...
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Why Don’t Humans Hibernate?
Nature has had to come up with some crazy ways to survive harsh winters. But none are weirder than hibernation. Turns out there is more than one kind of hibernation, and studying all these ways that life slows down in the cold might help...
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Camouflage Isn't What It Appears To Be
Camouflage is nature’s ultimate game of hide-and-seek, and the secret to winning this game is all in the brain. By studying the masters of disguise, we can see how they trick the brain to make themselves invisible — and what this can...
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How Scientists Cracked the Secret To Making Diamonds
For centuries, diamonds were one of the most mysterious materials on Earth. They were beautiful, indestructible, and completely unexplained. Today, we’re exploring how scientists unlocked their secrets, and how one lab recreates the...
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Why Useless Knowledge Can Be So Useful
Our lizard friend the Gila monster probably has no idea that a chemical in its spit inspired one of the most important medical advancements of the 21st century. But this story is really about something bigger. Something deeper, beneath...
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What Synesthesia Feels Like
Did you know some people 'see' letters in color or 'taste' music? In this video, we’ll talk about synesthesia, how it works in the brain, and why some people experience these fascinating sensory connections while most of us don’t.
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Will Earth Run Out of Oxygen
Plants eat sunlight and air to make life. But the key enzyme behind it all, called RuBisCO, isn’t actually all that great at its job. Let’s talk about how photosynthesis really works, why oxygen isn’t coming from where you think, and...
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Why Are Blood Types a Thing?
Across life on Earth, blood comes in red, blue, green, purple, even clear. But why? And what makes your blood different from mine? This video will teach you everything you need to know about the strange world of blood—what it does, why...
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When the CIA Spied on Planet Earth
In 1995, a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a top-secret, first-of-its-kind US spy satellite program was declassified, leading to the unexpected story of how former enemies would become scientific allies, and technology...
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I Don’t Know How to Feel About 2023
2023 was a wild year with everything from scorching temperatures to massive wildfires. Even with more renewable energy than ever, 2023’s climate data still seems really bad. So how should we think about climate change today? And what can...
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The Surprising Power of Sex in Evolution
We all know Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, right? Natural selection? But what about his lesser-know theory of evolution: sexual selection. Let’s talk about how animals like peacocks, whose eye-catching physical traits make them...
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How Feathered Dinosaurs Accidentally Invented Flight
How did dinosaurs become birds—and what good is half a wing? Join Joe and a few brave chickens as they recreate a brilliant experiment that helps solve one of evolution’s greatest mysteries: the origin of feathered flight.
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Why Paleontologists Can’t Stop Fighting About Spinosaurus
What does it mean to be a “semi-aquatic” dinosaur? Was it wading in the shallows, or could it have been a skilled swimmer? Each scenario paints a very different picture of Spinosaurus, and the discovery of new fossils has paleontologists...
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The Great Oxygenation
Life’s been around on Earth for at least 3.7 billion years. But for most of that time, it was incredibly boring — just simple little cells squirming around in water. It only got interesting in the last few hundred million years. And that...
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Can a Billion Oysters Save New York City?
When people picture New York City they see skyscrapers, subways, and a concrete jungle. But the Big Apple is really a seaside city built on an archipelago. In the wake of a century of industrial pollution and climate change-fueled...