Back to Show
It's Okay to Be Smart
Measuring the Universe With a 14-Billion Light-Year Ruler
Season 12
Episode 4
Since the time of the ancient Greeks, scientists have been constructing a cosmic measuring tape to measure the universe from our own backyard all the way to its ever-expanding edge: the cosmic distance ladder. In this video, we climb that ladder and explore how each rung has revealed something new and previously unthinkable about the universe we live in.
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?