SciShow
The Parasite That Makes You King
Being infected with a parasite is bad, right? So why are wolves in Yellowstone National Park infected with Toxoplasma gondii some of the most successful individuals
Amoeba Sisters
Genetic Engineering
Explore an intro to genetic engineering with The Amoeba Sisters. This video provides a general definition, introduces some biotechnology tools that can be used in genetic engineering, and discusses some related vocabulary (such as...
SciShow
Early Earth Microbes May Have Eaten Raw Meteorites
Is it possible that life on earth began with an out of this world rock buffet?
PBS
Did An Ancient Pathogen Reshape Our Cells?
There is one - and only one - group of mammals that doesn’t have alpha-gal: the catarrhine primates, which are the monkeys of Africa and Asia, the apes, and us.
PBS
These Fossils Were Supposed To Be Impossible
Hidden in rocks once thought too old to contain complex life we may have found the animal kingdom’s oldest known predator.
PBS
These Creatures Were Darwin's Greatest Enemy
They may not look like much, but beneath that shell lies an evolutionary mystery - one that stumped the biggest names in natural history for over a hundred years.
PBS
The Invisible Barrier Keeping Two Worlds Apart
In between two of the islands of Indonesia, there’s an ancient line that is both real and…not real.
PBS
A Natural History of Mars
While Earth’s natural history has been playing out over the last few billion years, another epic planetary saga has also been unfolding right next door.
PBS
The Real Story Of The Dodo Bird's (Current) Extinction
What’s the real story of the dodo? How did such a unique bird even evolve in the first place? And are we really responsible for its extinction?
Be Smart
How Much Of You Is ACTUALLY Alive?
You’re alive right now… at least I’m pretty sure you are. But you’re not TOTALLY alive. Bits of you are always breaking down, being thrown out, and being replaced. Even right now, parts of you are dying. Some of your cells even died...
Be Smart
The Amazing (and Deadly) Science of Jumping Spider Vision
Why do spiders have 8 eyes? It’s a seemingly simple question with a surprisingly complex answer. We’ll be hanging out with some jumping spiders (the cutest of all spiders) and some jumping spider researchers to investigate how a...
Be Smart
In Search of the Blackest Thing on Earth
There are some startlingly black animals out there, whether they’re in the deep ocean or in the darkest corners of the rainforest. But humans have created some stunningly black substances too, using science and engineering. So who wins,...
Be Smart
I Tried Eating Bugs… Here's What I Learned
People say insects are the food of the future. They’re more environmentally sustainable and more humane than other sources of animal protein. Can they really catch on in western diets? I’m a pretty adventurous eater, but I’ve never...
Be Smart
How Your Brain Makes Its Own Electricity
Here’s a thought: What IS a thought? I know it involves my brain, and my brain is made of neurons. And my brain’s neurons are listening to other neurons all over my body. But how do those neurons actually work? Maybe you’ve heard that it...
Be Smart
You Are An Upside-Down Lobster
Our bodies are mirror images of lobsters and other arthropods from back to belly. We've know since the early 19th century that our guts and nervous systems are inverted from theirs, but only recently has molecular biology shown us why....
Be Smart
Why do Trees Talk to Each Other?
Walk into any forest, and beneath your feet is an elaborate social network that helps make life on Earth possible. It’s called the “Wood Wide Web”, a massive and intricate network of fungi that exchange water, nutrients, and chemical...
Be Smart
Why Are There As Many Males As Females?
In almost every animal species on Earth, equal numbers of males and females are conceived. Why is that? Especially in populations like lions or elephant seals, where most males don’t get to mate? That’s survival of the laziest, not...
Be Smart
The Evolutionary Purpose of Fun
Animals as simple as bees and as complex as you and me… like to have fun. But what’s the point of fun? Do all animals have fun? And for that matter, what is fun?
Be Smart
Inside the Lab That Invented the COVID-19 Vaccine
Here we are, just a year after the first news of the coronavirus we now call SARS-CoV-2 and the global pandemic known as COVID-19… and scientists have already developed more than one safe & effective vaccine. How did they do that so...
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 Universe in a Glass of Wine (Richard Feynman Remixed)
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...
Be Smart
Is Your Eye Color Real?
The eyes are often the first thing we see when we look at someone. And when you look at them up close, everyone’s eye color is a kaleidoscope of shapes and hues. How does eye color work? The answer involves some very cool physics, and...
Be Smart
Is There Life on Earth?
If we lived light years from Earth, how would we know there’s life here? Let’s take a look at the search for extraterrestrial life on habitable exoplanets, and discover what biosignatures would show someone else that we’re here.