Science and Nature

Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer

Discover the little-known story of the innovations in science and medicine that doubled the human lifespan in less than a century, and celebrate the unsung heroes of public health who believed change was possible and acted on it.

Using Behavioral Psychology to Encourage Healthy Habits

4m 14s

Advertising agencies employ behavioral scientists to use psychology to persuade people to make healthy lifestyle choices. They've discovered key insights into how the human mind works when faced with a call to action. Behavioral scientists used a universal human trait — fear of shame or social rejection — to encourage workers at a food factory to improve their hand washing habits.

Extras + Features

  • Florence Nightingale Used Creativity to Alter Hygiene Habits: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Florence Nightingale Used Creativity to Alter Hygiene Habits

    S1 E4 - 4m 15s

    Florence Nightingale hypothesizes that poor hygiene causes disease, and the data confirms it. In an ingenious move, she creates a colorful rose diagram to catch the attention of the general public so that they pay heed to her findings. Her diagram was fundamental in persuading people to change their hygiene habits.

  • Using Behavioral Psychology to Encourage Healthy Habits: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Using Behavioral Psychology to Encourage Healthy Habits

    S1 E4 - 4m 14s

    Advertising agencies employ behavioral scientists to use psychology to persuade people to make healthy lifestyle choices. They've discovered key insights into how the human mind works when faced with a call to action. Behavioral scientists used a universal human trait — fear of shame or social rejection — to encourage workers at a food factory to improve their hand washing habits.

  • Alexander Fleming's Messy Desk Leads to a Major Discovery: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Alexander Fleming's Messy Desk Leads to a Major Discovery

    S1 E3 - 4m 58s

    Alexander Fleming's untidy desk becomes the key to a major scientific breakthrough when a particle of bacteria from his laboratory floats onto a petri dish on a desk in his study. This accident in a petri dish leads to his discovery that naturally-occurring mold could be a bacteria killer, setting the stage for the invention of penicillin further down the line.

  • How Gertrude Elion Became a Pioneer of Modern Medicine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Gertrude Elion Became a Pioneer of Modern Medicine

    S1 E3 - 5m 3s

    Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings were a drug-making dream team. They built highly efficient, targeted synthetic drugs to perform specific tasks. Elion and her team built a new antiviral drug in the 1970s to treat herpes, ushering in a new age of medicine and paving the way for designer drugs that could treat a huge range of illnesses.

  • The Impact of COVID-19 On Different Ethnicities In London: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Impact of COVID-19 On Different Ethnicities In London

    S1 E2 - 5m 7s

    Dr. Vanessa Apea researched the impact of COVID-19 on different ethnicities in London. She found that Black and Asian ethnicities had a greater risk of death despite being a younger and fitter population due to environmental, rather than biological, factors.

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