Back to Show
It's Okay to Be Smart
Can We Solve the Air Conditioning Paradox?
Season 11
Episode 4
As Earth warms, billions of people in the developing world will face life-threatening heat waves, raising demand for air conditioning. But powering all that cooling is going to take more energy, which will, paradoxically, require more fossil fuels burning, creating more carbon and more warming. So scientists are developing new kinds of air conditioning, including solid, refrigerants.
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By

10:44
Can trees really save us from climate change?

9:43
Could You Be a Chimera?

11:30
I went to NASA in Houston to talk to astronaut Don Pettit.

7:20
Why is ice slippery? It's a more complicated answer than it seems!

11:11
Recycling is broken. Here's how we can fix it.

14:55
People say insects are the food of the future.

11:53
Here’s a rundown of a few of the human body’s biggest evolutionary fails!

13:11
Meet your cousin: Homo naledi.

8:51
Why are trees and other plants green? The answer is full of surprises.

8:46
How do we see color in the first place?

11:20
Earth’s climate is changing in a big way.

9:36
Money. We all use it. But is it real?