Be Smart.

Joe Hanson

We give you deep answers to simple questions about science and the rest of the universe. And also dad jokes. Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, PhD. He's a molecular biologist and an award-winning science communicator and journalist

  1. HACE 53 MIN

    Why Don't Ants Get Stuck In Traffic?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Go to http://Raceforretirement.com and see how the action gap affects you. Tweet this video ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBStraf Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBStrafFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ CGP Grey "The Simple Solution to Traffic" https://youtu.be/iHzzSao6ypE ASAPscience "How Not To Get Stuck In Traffic" https://youtu.be/APkpiO0QQ_k Book recommendation! "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do" by Tom Vanderbilt http://amzn.to/2durlGP References: INRIX 2015 traffic stats: http://inrix.com/scorecard/key-findings-us/ Couzin, Iain D., and Nigel R. Franks. "Self-organized lane formation and optimized traffic flow in army ants." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 270.1511 (2003): 139-146. Fourcassié, Vincent, Audrey Dussutour, and Jean-Louis Deneubourg. "Ant traffic rules." Journal of Experimental Biology 213.14 (2010): 2357-2363. Hönicke, C., P. Bliss, and R. F. A. Moritz. "Effect of density on traffic and velocity on trunk trails of Formica pratensis." The Science of Nature 102.3-4 (2015): 1-9. Larson, Richard C. "There's More to a Line than its Wait." Technology Review 91.5 (1988): 60-67. Maister, David H. The psychology of waiting lines. Harvard Business School, 1984. Perna, Andrea, et al. "Individual rules for trail pattern formation in Argentine ants (Linepithema humile)." PLoS Comput Biol 8.7 (2012): e1002592. ---------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Snapchat: YoDrJoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    9 min
  2. HACE 1 H

    What's The Most Successful Species on Earth?

    PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Life. There's just so MUCH of it! Click here to SUBSCRIBE -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub There are now more than 7 billion human beings on Earth, and that got me wondering: How successful are we compared to other species? I take a look at out how our numbers stack up to some other domains of life. It turns out that biomass, or what things weigh, can be more important than how many of something there are. Find out how our numbers stack up against everything from bugs to bacteria, and get ready for some mind-blowing numbers! For more on the numbers in the video, check out the blog: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/41790778768/episode-extra-life-by-the-numbers-how-do-we-know Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Written and hosted by Joe Hanson Produced by Painted On Productions (http://www.paintedon.com/) Music: Whalehawk: http://vimeo.com/musicstore/track/137257 Clips from this episode via: "Aspens" by Altitude Filmworks: http://vimeo.com/50345182 "Golden Aspen Meadow" by David Huting: http://vimeo.com/9695494 Red-billed queleas by Antero Topp: http://youtu.be/3_zLeu5n4yM Bacterial growth: http://youtu.be/gEwzDydciWc Dengue virus infection: http://youtu.be/0PUsdv1kDTc ----------- Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    5 min
  3. HACE 6 H

    Could We Clone Ourselves?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Just be yourself! Or be your other self. Whichever. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Is the science of Orphan Black realistic? Could we clone humans, or engineer them to have customized traits? We take a look at today's genetic engineering technologies to find out if designer babies and human cloning is, or should be, a reality BOOKS! For more on the modern science of cloning and genetic modification, read the book "Frankenstein's Cat" by Emily Anthes: http://amzn.to/1zsVizw Chinese scientists have edited the genome of human embryos (sadly this news came out after we had filmed): http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/23/8477491/human-genome-editing-embryo-china-crispr How CRISPRs work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pp17E4E-O8 Scientists call for a moratorium on human gene editing: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/science/biologists-call-for-halt-to-gene-editing-technique-in-humans.html?_r=1 Three-parent babies: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/magazine/the-brave-new-world-of-three-parent-ivf.html Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Google+ https://plus.google.com/+itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Director of Photography John Knudsen - Gaffer Dalton Allen - Post-Production Intern Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- Last week's video: Is Ultron Inevitable? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Irmtk5QG8s More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    8 min
  4. HACE 7 H

    Is Ultron Inevitable? Featuring Vsauce3!

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Follow me to Vsauce3!! http://bit.ly/1zUxn7a Twitter: @okaytobesmart @jtotheizzoe Instagram: @jtotheizzoe ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Will artificial intelligence ever surpass human intelligence? And if that happens, will AI be good or bad? Is evil AI like we see in Avengers: Age of Ultron… inevitable? READ THIS FOR MORE: Wait But Why: The Road To Superintelligence Part 1: http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html Part 2: http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html The smiley face thought experiment is my take on the famous "paperclip maximizer", read more about it here: http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer Special thanks to Jake from Vsauce3! Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Google+ https://plus.google.com/+itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Dan Silver - Production Assistant Dalton Allen - Post-Production Intern Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- Last week's video: Superbugs: The Empire Strikes Bacteria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyRyZ1zKtyA More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    10 min
  5. HACE 8 H

    The Odds of Finding Life and Love

    PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ A cosmic love story, starring a guy named Carl Sagan Click here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Love is a complicated combination of brain chemicals and behavior that scientists are only just beginning to figure out. And it's remarkable that in every society that we have looked at on Earth, romantic love exists. So if love is so universal, and there are 7 billion other people out there looking for it, why can it seem like it's so hard to find? In this episode, we'll look at what we can learn about the search for love from the search for extraterrestrial life. We'll start with Enrico Fermi's paradox of why we haven't been contacted by any extraterrestrials yet, and then at Frank Drake's equation to estimate the number of civilizations that might exist in our galaxy (updated with current numbers). Finally, we'll meet a young lady named Ann and see if we can calculate how many special someones there might be out there for her. It's a cosmic love story! References for this episode: http://dft.ba/-4bBW Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Written and hosted by Joe Hanson Produced by Painted On Productions (http://www.paintedon.com/) Clips from this episode: Carl Sagan - All the -illions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZmafy... Music from this episode: Johnny Ripper's "Family." http://freemusicarchive.org/music/joh... ----------- Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    5 min
  6. HACE 9 H

    When Will We Stop Using Oil?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Check out our whole series on ENERGY! http://bit.ly/1BnH5zu Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We've heard news of "peak oil" and "the end of the oil age" for years now, but we keep coming up with ways to find and pump more of it to the surface. Rising CO2 levels and the changing climate that results from burning fossil fuels mean that we should probably stop using oil sooner rather than later, though Let's take a look at history and see how we've used different fuels, so that we might figure out when and how to make oil a thing of the past LEARN MORE: Special thanks to Sheril Kirshenbaum and the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin for their help with this series. http://www.webberenergygroup.com/ Check out their awesome online course "Energy 101" to learn about energy and energy policy from A to Z! http://www.energy101.com/ And to find out what people think about energy, check out the UT Energy Poll: http://www.utenergypoll.com/ Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Google+ https://plus.google.com/+itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Director of Photography John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- Last week's video: Does the Moon Orbit the Earth? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cJ3AemeUFM More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    6 min
  7. HACE 10 H

    Is Your Brain Too Old For Video Games?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Get your #ididascience shirt here! http://dftba.com/besmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Vintage arcade footage courtesy of: http://patrickscottpatterson.com/ Special thanks to Dreamhack Austin 2016: http://dreamhackaustin.com/ Thank you to our commentators: @Totalbiscuit https://www.youtube.com/cynicalbrit @EGiNcontroL https://www.facebook.com/GeoffRobinsoniNcontroL References: Thompson, Joseph J., Mark R. Blair, and Andrew J. Henrey. "Over the hill at 24: persistent age-related cognitive-motor decline in reaction times in an ecologically valid video game task begins in early adulthood." PloS one 9.4 (2014): e94215. Thompson, Joseph J., et al. "Video game telemetry as a critical tool in the study of complex skill learning." PloS one 8.9 (2013): e75129. Lewis, Joshua M., Patrick Trinh, and David Kirsh. "A corpus analysis of strategy video game play in starcraft: Brood war." Proceedings of the 33rd annual conference of the cognitive science society. 2011. ESA Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry 2016 http://essentialfacts.theesa.com/ ---- Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) http://www.videoblocks.com​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    9 min

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We give you deep answers to simple questions about science and the rest of the universe. And also dad jokes. Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, PhD. He's a molecular biologist and an award-winning science communicator and journalist