Be Smart.

Joe Hanson
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Education
  • Updated Daily

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. 35m ago

    The Essential Question

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate The book: “The Fly Trap” by Fredrik Sjöberg http://amzn.to/1TlWrkw 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: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Music: Monkeys Spinning Monkeys Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Essential Question

  2. 35m ago

    Who Has Your Birthday?

    PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. Support your local station at: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ In case you have a strange new desire to get an IOTBS shirt: http://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart#_=_ See if you share a famous birthday (I got Tom Hiddleston): http://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/which-celebrity-shares-your-birthday#.mnPknbWyK Explore the math behind Birthday Paradox #1: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-and-combinatorics-topic/probability_combinatorics/v/birthday-probability-problem Explore Birthday Paradox #2: http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_development/mathematics/probability/birthday_problem.htm#My_Birthday_Paradox The “Facebook Birthday Problem” is a variant of the Coupon Collector’s Problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon_collector%27s_problem 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: @okaytobesmart @drjoehanson http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: @okaytobesmart @drjoehanson ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.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 Inc. Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Who Has Your Birthday?

  3. 1h ago

    How Do Squirrels Recover Their Nuts?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Try Squarespace: http://squarespace.com/itsokaytobesmart You’d have to be nuts not to love this video! Special thanks to Jason Goldman (@jgold85) for help with this episode! References: Jacobs, Lucia F., and Emily R. Liman. "Grey squirrels remember the locations of buried nuts." Animal Behaviour 41.1 (1991): 103-110. Delgado, Mikel M., et al. "Fox squirrels match food assessment and cache effort to value and scarcity." PloS one 9.3 (2014): e92892. Raby, Caroline R., et al. "Planning for the future by western scrub-jays."Nature 445.7130 (2007): 919-921. Dally, Joanna M., Nathan J. Emery, and Nicola S. Clayton. "Food-caching western scrub-jays keep track of who was watching when." Science312.5780 (2006): 1662-1665. Clayton, Nicola S., Joanna M. Dally, and Nathan J. Emery. "Social cognition by food-caching corvids. The western scrub-jay as a natural psychologist."Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 362.1480 (2007): 507-522. 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/DrJoeHanson Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/DrJoeHanson ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigita... Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted)​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    How Do Squirrels Recover Their Nuts?

  4. 1h ago

    What is Farthest Away?

    You can learn more at https://curiositystream.com/smart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ The edge of everything used to be the edge of the map. But now, thanks to what we know about astrophysics and the universe, the edge of everything might not even exist… REFERENCES: http://www.pnas.org/content/15/3/168 https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5476 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_world_maps https://cosmology.carnegiescience.edu/timeline ----------- FOLLOW US: Twitter: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart SEND US STUFF: It’s Okay To Be Smart PO Box 303356 Austin, TX 78703 USA BOOKS WE’VE FEATURED: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Mara Johnson-Groh Creative Director: David Schulte Editor/animator: Derek Borsheim Producers: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. 2h ago

    The Equinox Isn't What You Suppose It Is

    Is the equinox really when day = night? Don’t miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Calculate day length where you live for any date: http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/ Very cool solar angle simulator: http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/coordsmotion/eclipticsimulator.html 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/DrJoeHanson Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/DrJoeHanson ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted)​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Equinox Isn't What You Suppose It Is

  6. 2h ago

    How Do Hot Air Balloons Float?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate This episode is brought to you by Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/ Tweet ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBShotair Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBShotairFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We uploaded another version of this video on 11/9 but it had a big mistake in it. So we fixed it. This version is full of 100% real science! Sorry for the error. In the interest of transparency, if you want to watch that wrong version and see what I was wrong about, here's the link: https://youtu.be/qR9hucj02u0 We’ve got t-shirts! Get yours here: http://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Special thanks to: The 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta http://www.balloonfiesta.com/ Pilot Doug Gantt and the Ham-let balloon team http://www.whenpigsfly.bz/ 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 Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.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 Inc. Kate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: “Ouroboros” by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted)​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    How Do Hot Air Balloons Float?

  7. 3h ago

    Inside a DELIGHTFUL Sea Otter Adoption Program!

    You really otter subscribe! http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Otters are more than just cute, adorable little fuzzballs, they are one of the greatest conservation success stories of all time. Sea otters are a keystone species, meaning that an entire ecosystem depends on their presence. After they were nearly hunted to extinction for their dense fur, sea urchins (the otters' favorite food) nearly destroyed the Pacific kelp forests, a habitat that hundreds of species rely on for food and shelter. Thanks to the hard work of conservation scientists at places like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, sea otter populations are on their way back. Here's the story of one orphaned sea otter pup's journey back to the wild (Whale illustrations by Nobu Tamura/CC-BY-3.0) 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 Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/okaytobesmart Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Inside a DELIGHTFUL Sea Otter Adoption Program!

  8. 3h ago

    How Did Giant Pterosaurs Fly?

    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 ↓ The largest pterosaurs like Quetzalcoatlus were closer in size to airplanes than birds. No flying animal alive today comes close to their huge size. So did giant pterosaurs actually fly? I went to see the fossil bones of the largest pterosaur that ever lived so I could learn how these winged giants actually took to the skies. Special thanks: Michael Habib, Ph.D. https://twitter.com/aeroevo Matthew Brown/University of Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collection References: https://sites.google.com/view/giant-pterosaurs-references/home SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: AlecZero Diego Lombeida Dustin Ernesto Silva George Gladding Jay Stephens Marcus Tuepker Megan K Bradshaw Peter Ehrnstrom Ron Kakar vincbis 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

See All (306)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Joe Hanson
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    306