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It's Okay to Be Smart

Traffic Lights Are So Much Weirder Than You Realize

Why are stop lights red? The common explanation about red light traveling farther through fog is actually wrong. The real story involves early railroads, deadly accidents, an exploding gas traffic light, forgotten inventors, and even the evolution of primate color vision. Here’s how history and biology accidentally created the nearly perfect traffic signal.

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Season
Why No One Can Agree What’s Really the Tallest Mountain
8:29
Is Everest the tallest mountain on Earth? The answer is not as simple as you might think.
Trying to Land a Plane (to Prove a Point)
17:59
Turns out we’re all at risk of being overconfident about something.
Why You Can’t Smell Yourself?
19:10
There's an absolutely weird, but surprisingly common phenomenon called sensory adaptation.
Making a Hurricane Indoors (For Science)
11:50
Scientists in Florida can recreate a Category 5 hurricane in a box the size of a bedroom.
Are Humans Still Evolving?
10:41
Are humans still evolving? And how have our technological advances affected the process?
How Illusions Can Explain Reality
19:07
Illusions teach us how our brain constructs a three-dimensional reality using 2-D images.
Can Life Really Be Explained By Physics?
22:18
Joe talks biology with science communicator extraordinaire Prof. Brian Cox.
Why Don't Big Animals Get More Cancer?
9:42
We explore why animals like whales, elephants, and other large animals not get cancer.
What’s Actually on the Other Side of a Mirror?
10:16
The real magic of mirrors is far stranger and more interesting, as you’re about to learn.
The Unbelievable Science of How We Read
16:14
We take a look at how amazing the ability to read is.
The Weird Way That Movies Trick Your Brain
17:56
Neuroscientist David Eagleman talks about illusions that make the moving picture possible.
Here's What I Learned…
16:20
Here's what I've learned about the possible end of this pandemic.
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