Be Smart

Why trees look like rivers and also blood vessels and also lightning…

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.

Why trees look like rivers and also blood vessels and also lightning…

10m

  • Will Earth Run Out of Oxygen: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Will Earth Run Out of Oxygen

    S13 E4 - 16m 53s

    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 whether we can fix the biggest flaw in one of Earth’s most essential processes.

  • What’s Inside the Oldest Rocks in the World?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    What’s Inside the Oldest Rocks in the World?

    S13 E3 - 16m 40s

    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 learn more and visit our friends at The Smithsonian to examine some of these beyond-ancient rocks ourselves.

  • Why Your Grandma Is an Evolutionary Mystery: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Why Your Grandma Is an Evolutionary Mystery

    S13 E2 - 17m 11s

    This is one of the weirdest mysteries of human evolution: Why do we have grandmas? From menopause to our slow maturation and super-long lifespans, humans are quite unique in the animal kingdom. Could grandma be an evolutionary secret weapon? Or is she just a quirky side effect of living long lives?

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