Why Are Certain Creatures Venomous?

Why Is Sex Such a Thing?

We’re on PATREON! Join the community ►► https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Why does sex exist? You might think the obvious answer is “reproduction” but there are plenty of organisms on Earth that don’t require sex to reproduce. And the more that scientists examined sex, they more they realized that it’s an expensive and inefficient way to get your genes to the next generation. The true purpose of sex is actually one of the longest-standing mysteries in evolutionary biology. But scientists are closer than ever to finding the answer. Here’s what we know about the evolutionary enigma of sex. References: https://sites.google.com/view/evolutionofsex-references/home ----------- Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: Burt Humburg DeliciousKashmiri Mario Orso Brian Chang Roy Lasris Javier Soto dani bowman David Johnston Salih Arslan Baerbel Winkler Robert Young Amy Sowada Eric Meer Peter Ehrnstrom Dustin Marcus Tuepker Karen Haskell AlecZero 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 [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Why BEAVERS Are The Smartest Thing In Fur Pants

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Leave it to beavers! Don’t miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Beavers have done more to shape North American landscapes than any animal beside humans. We don’t notice them much today because there aren’t many left, but before colonization, North America was home to hundreds of millions of these furry engineers. This week, we show you why Earth’s second largest rodent is more amazing than you ever knew, and why they’re the smartest thing in fur pants. Special thanks to Josh Cassidy from KQED’s Deep Look for joining me in Alaska and shooting this episode! ► https://www.youtube.com/user/KQEDDeepLook Filmed under a Special Use Permit on the Juneau Ranger District, Tongass National Forest Special thanks to Chuck Caldwell and Juneau Beaver Patrol ----------- READ MORE: “Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver” - Francis Backhouse http://amzn.to/2tfmLTZ “The Beaver: Natural History of a Wetlands Engineer” - Dietland Müller-Schwarze and Lixing Sun http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/977989893 ----------- FOLLOW US: Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Shaena Montanari Camera: Josh Cassidy Producer/editor/animator: Andrew Matthews Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Why Are We The Only Humans Surviving?

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try 23andMe at: http://www.23andme.com/okay Part 2 of our special series on Human Ancestry. Watch it all: http://bit.ly/OKTBSHuman ↓↓↓More info and sources below ↓↓↓ In part 2 of our special series on human ancestry, we ask why we are the only surviving branch on the human evolutionary tree. Just 50,000-100,000 years ago, Earth was home to three or four separate human species, including our most famous cousins: the Neanderthals. New research has shown that Neanderthals were not the brutish, unintelligent cavemen that cartoons make them out to be. They were creative, smart, social, and perhaps even had complex language. So why did they go extinct as soon as Homo sapiens moved into their territory? Does any trace of them live on today? Why don’t we have Neanderthal neighbors? ----------- REFERENCES: Papagianni, Dimitra, and Michael A. Morse. The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science Is Rewriting Their Story. Thames & Hudson, 2015. http://amzn.to/2oov6GG (Library: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/923279213) Stringer, Chris. “Lone survivors: How we came to be the only humans on earth.” Macmillan, 2012. http://amzn.to/2oIFg3q (Library: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/855581724) Tattersall, Ian. “Masters of the planet: the search for our human origins.” Macmillan, 2012. http://amzn.to/2pOZrKS (Library: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/733231407) Walter, Chip. “Last ape standing: the seven-million-year story of how and why we survived.” Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2013. http://amzn.to/2pP2liy (Library: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/872121723) ----------- FOLLOW US: Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Joe Hanson Producer/editor/animator: Andrew Matthews Producer: 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 [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

How Many Trees Are Growing?

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Tweet this ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBStree Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBStreeFB Try Squarespace: http://squarespace.com/itsokaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Crowther, T. W., et al. "Mapping tree density at a global scale." Nature 525.7568 (2015): 201-205. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/... Learn more about forest habitats: http://www.worldwildlife.org/habitats... And let’s hear it for John Denver… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBEkj... 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/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 [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

I Tried to Strike an MLB Fastball to Learn About Sports Neuroscience

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 this ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSbase Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSbaseFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We’ve got t-shirts! Get yours here: http://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart DISCLAIMER: I have very bad hitting form. Baseball was never my thing :) Special thanks to: The Round Rock Express Sharp End Baseball (Ben Himes, Aaron Smith, Jamie League) Genevieve Nauhaus, Ph.D and Michael D. Mauk, Ph.D. for research help References: Rob Gray “Intercepting Moving Objects: Fundamental Principles Learned from Baseball” Reviews of Human Factors and Ergonomics, June 2009 http://rev.sagepub.com/content/5/1/114.abstract Rob Gray “A Model of Motor Inhibition for a Complex Skill: Baseball Batting” J Exp Psychol Appl. June 2009 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19586249 Sean Müller & Bruce Abernethy, “Expert Anticipatory Skill in Striking Sports, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport” 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2012.10599848 Dr. Daniel Laby, Dr. David Kirschen & Tony Abbatine “A Visual Profile of Major League Hitters” http://xtremesight.com/documents/A%20Visual%20Profile%20of%20Major%20League%20Hitters.pdf 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 [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]