Skip to main content

Up Next

What Is Nothing?

What Is Nothing?

Season 9 Episode 15
14:06
Why Do We Dream?

Why Do We Dream?

Season 9 Episode 16
14:29
Here's What I Learned…

Here's What I Learned…

Season 9 Episode 18
16:20
The Unbelievable Science of How We Read

The Unbelievable Science of How We Read

Season 9 Episode 20
16:14
Why Don't Big Animals Get More Cancer?

Why Don't Big Animals Get More Cancer?

Season 10 Episode 2
9:42
How Illusions Can Explain Reality

How Illusions Can Explain Reality

Season 10 Episode 4
19:07
Are Humans Still Evolving?

Are Humans Still Evolving?

Season 10 Episode 5
10:41
Back to Show
It's Okay to Be Smart

Sand Dunes Shouldn’t Exist (Here’s Why They Do)

Season 9 Episode 13

How can sand, blown by the wind, form such intricate and beautiful patterns as ripples and dunes? The answer is a surprising secret of self-organization. In this video, we travel to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado to climb the largest sand dunes in North America and bring you the science of how wind and sand combine to create ordered landforms out of chaos. The science must flow.

Support Provided By
Season
The Scientific Lie That Damaged Generations of Men
20:05
Here is the REAL science about "alpha males."
Inside the Vault Where They Keep the Dinosaur Apocalypse
22:36
How did the mass extinction of the dinosaurs play out, moment by moment?
(Almost) Everything You Learned About Genetics Is Wrong
12:37
Think traits like eye color or tongue-rolling are simple genetics? Think again.
Mars Used to Be Blue... Then Something Happened
11:08
Why is the Martian sky red by day… but blue at sunset?
Be Smart about Autism
36:47
Is autism really on the rise—or are we just recognizing it more?
Why Seedless Fruit Is a Disaster Waiting To Happen
14:51
Seedless fruits are delicious, convenient… and completely unnatural.
The Randomness Crisis Threatening the Internet
21:13
What does randomness really mean? And why your digital life depend on it?
Blood Types Are Weirder Than You Think
16:20
Why do we have different blood types? And why do we have blood at all?
How Feathered Dinosaurs Accidentally Invented Flight
16:18
How did dinosaurs become birds—and what good is half a wing?
What Could We See with a Planet-Sized Telescope?
16:00
Just how big would a telescope need to be to actually see an alien world in detail?
The Argument for De-Extinction: Explained
26:19
Dire wolves are back—sort of.
Will Earth Run Out of Oxygen
16:53
The key enzyme behind photosynthesis isn’t actually all that great at its job.
Active loading indicator