Instructional Video10:14
Be Smart

Maybe We've Already Made First Contact…

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video14:15
Be Smart

Why NASA Punched an Asteroid

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video12:04
Be Smart

Space is Full of Junk. Here’s How to Clean It Up…

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video15:03
Be Smart

Why the 2024 Solar Eclipse is Such a Big Deal

12th - Higher Ed
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 —...
Instructional Video12:40
Be Smart

Computers Can Predict When You're Going to Die… Here's How

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video15:10
Be Smart

The Real (Weird) Way We See Numbers

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video9:46
Be Smart

Why Trees Look Like Rivers and Also Blood Vessels and Also Lightning…

12th - Higher Ed
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.
Instructional Video10:05
Be Smart

Why You See Faces in Things

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video16:14
Be Smart

Why Do We Hate Certain Sounds

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video12:28
Be Smart

The Paradox of Voting

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video11:05
Be Smart

Why Don’t Humans Hibernate?

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video12:04
Be Smart

How Scientists Cracked the Secret To Making Diamonds

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video12:15
Be Smart

What Synesthesia Feels Like

12th - Higher Ed
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.
Instructional Video10:53
Be Smart

The Weird Science That Lets Insects Fly in the Rain

12th - Higher Ed
Imagine the scale of raindrops if you were the size of a small bird. Or mosquito. Flying through a drizzle should be deadly! Like flying through falling cars and boulders. And yet it’s not, because nature has given them a...
Instructional Video16:27
Be Smart

What’s Inside the Oldest Rocks in the World?

12th - Higher Ed
The oldest rocks on Earth are more than just ancient—they’re time machines, holding clues to Earth’s missing history and revealing what happened in the unknown times after the Big Bang. We’ll work with our Adam and Joss from Howtown to...
Instructional Video16:37
Be Smart

Will Earth Run Out of Oxygen

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video15:54
Be Smart

How Feathered Dinosaurs Accidentally Invented Flight

12th - Higher Ed
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.
Instructional Video16:07
Be Smart

Why Are Blood Types a Thing?

12th - Higher Ed
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...
Instructional Video12:37
Amoeba Sisters

Menstrual Cycle Walkthrough: Phases & Hormonal Regulation

12th - Higher Ed
In this menstrual cycle video, explore the ovarian cycle and uterine cycle with the Amoeba Sisters! This video will walk through major events in phases of the ovarian cycle (follicular phase and luteal phase) and phases of the uterine...
Instructional Video9:35
Amoeba Sisters

Intro to Cladograms and Phylogenetic Trees

12th - Higher Ed
Join the Amoeba Sisters as they introduce the basics about cladograms and phylogenetic trees. The Amoeba Sisters walk through the process of building a basic cladogram and mention vocabulary such as: shared ancestral character, shared...
Instructional Video7:57
Amoeba Sisters

Angiosperm (Flowering Plants) Reproduction

12th - Higher Ed
Join the Amoeba Sisters as they introduce angiosperms (flowering plants) before exploring flower parts, pollination, and double fertilization in angiosperms! This video also talks about the importance of pollinators.
Instructional Video10:55
Amoeba Sisters

Action Potential

12th - Higher Ed
Join the Amoeba Sisters as they explore the action potential. This video discusses resting membrane potential before going into the phases of the action potential including vocabulary such as depolarization, repolarization, and...
Instructional Video8:54
SciShow

The Secret To Saving The Oceans Is In… Clams?

12th - Higher Ed
There's a complex, mysterious current running throughout the Atlantic Ocean, and it's in trouble. But to help save it, researchers need to understand it, and finding ways to study it has been a challenge. But it turns out that the...
Instructional Video9:52
SciShow

Seaweed, Pineapple, and Other Things You'll Soon Be Wearing

12th - Higher Ed
Today, a lot of us walk about in leather, cotton, or other boring fabrics. But researchers are working to make the future way cooler, with flame retardant seaweed fabrics, self-healing sea silk, and polar bear inspired de-icing...