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On April 8, 2024, the Moon’s shadow fell upon the Earth, creating a total solar eclipse across North America. If you had the chance to see it, you're surely glad you didn't miss it. It’s an amazing coincidence that total eclipses happen at all — and that we’re alive at a time when we can see and predict them. We made this video so you can learn how to watch an eclipse safely, what to look for during an eclipse, why eclipses happen, and how eclipses have helped advance scientific research.

Explore this April 8, 2024 eclipse map from NASA! https://science.nasa.gov/eclip....ses/future-eclipses/

Find your next solar eclipse here: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas.html

Learn more about the solar eclipse timer app: https://www.solareclipsetimer.com/

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Ever feel like you aren't totally yourself? Well, maybe you aren't. In this video, we explore the idea of human chimeras. In mythology, the "Chimaera" was a beast made from different animals combined into one. But in biology, a chimera is a single organism whose body is made from parts of two or more genetically distinct individuals of the same species. Biological chimeras were once thought to be rare, but modern genetics has shown us that these genetic mashups are so common, that you yourself may actually be a chimera. And even if you don't have part of another body in you, your body is certainly not just one thing. We also discuss the idea of mosaicism and how it relates to cancer, Tasmanian devils, and circus sideshow attractions. #genetics #chimera

Special thanks to Dr. Emily Zarka, our favorite monsterologist!

SOURCES: https://sites.google.com/view/....human-chimeras-refer

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This time, we're the asteroid.

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Read "The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert: http://amzn.to/1xGKn0K

Rodolfo Dirzo et al. "Defaunation in the Anthropocene" http://bit.ly/1H7JQdw
Stuart Pimm et al. "Biodiversity of Species and Their Rates of Extinction" http://bit.ly/1A5UZJM

Get to know an endangered species: http://discover.iucnredlist.org/

Half of world's wildlife has died off in past 40 years: http://bit.ly/1BHl8jR

Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below!

Produced for PBS Digital Studios

Joe Hanson - Host/Writer
Joe Nicolosi - Director
Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc
Kate Eads - Associate Producer
Katie Graham - Director of Photography
Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics
Dalton Allen - Post-production intern
John Knudsen - Gaffer

Theme music:
"Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod

Stock images by Shutterstock

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Hold on to your butts. This episode is about… butts. The science and evolutionary history of your rear end, the down-low on your derriere, shining a little light where the sun don't shine… you get the picture. But(t) seriously, we don't talk about this all-important hole enough, and how, from an evolutionary perspective, it might be the most important orifice on your body.

References: https://sites.google.com/view/....briefhistoryofbutts-

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You can be a human computer too. Our cheat sheet: http://bit.ly/2rftqkv

Want to go NEXT LEVEL? Learn how to adjust for Julian calendar and BC dates

You might think that computers are the only things that run algorithms, but you're wrong. Here's a neat mental trick for calculating the day of the week for any day ever, developed by famous mathematician John H. Conway

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READ MORE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_rule

Martin Gardner, "The Universe in a Handkerchief: Lewis Carroll's Mathematical Recreations, Games, Puzzles, and Word Plays"

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It's Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Director: Joe Nicolosi
Writer: Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Producer/editor/animator: Jordan Husmann
Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox
Produced by PBS Digital Studios
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Check out What Do I Do With This? from @NinePBS and our full Earth Month playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL_gYWba5NM&list=PLnNZYWyBGJ1F8ofFm4H9UTrHxqU8zngK4&index=6
↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓

Plants eat sunlight and air to make life. But the key enzyme behind it all, called rubisco, isn’t actually all that great at its job. Let’s talk about how photosynthesis really works, why oxygen isn’t coming from where you think, and whether we can fix the biggest flaw in one of Earth’s most essential processes.

References and further reading: https://sites.google.com/view/....fixing-photosynthesi

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This video was supported by Bill and Melinda Gates. You can check out the Gates Annual Letter here: http://b-gat.es/2lhhtmJ.
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We’re proud to collaborate with Bill and Melinda Gates for this week’s video! It may sometimes seem like things are getting worse, but there’s lots of reasons to be optimistic about the future. More people have access to toilets and sanitation than ever before. Thanks to public health improvements like this, since 1990, 122 million children’s lives have been saved. Diseases like polio are nearing eradication. Women have more access to health care and education than ever before.

But our work is not done. How can YOU help make the future better for the world’s poorest?

SPECIAL THANKS:
Bill and Melinda Gates
Francisco de los Reyes (watch his TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/fran....cis_de_los_reyes_san

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LEARN MORE:

George, Rose. “The Big Necessity: The unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters.” 2008.

Perdew, Laura. “How the Toilet Changed History” 2016.

Ferriman, A. (2007). BMJ readers choose the “sanitary revolution” as greatest medical advance since 1840. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 334(7585), 111. http://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39097.611806.DB

CDC Global WASH statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywat....er/global/wash_stati

WHO Toilet/Sanitation Fact Sheet: http://www.who.int/mediacentre..../factsheets/fs392/en

WaterAid “We Can’t Wait”: http://www.wateraid.org/what-w....e-do/our-approach/re

Unilever “Toilets for Health” https://www.unilever.com/Image....s/sd_toilets-for-hea

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It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Director: Joe Nicolosi
Writer: Joe Hanson
Editor/animator: Andrew Orsak
Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox

Produced by PBS Digital Studios
Music via APM
Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com

Is autism really on the rise—or are we just recognizing it more? This video breaks down what ASD is, explores real vs rumored causes, and examines how science separates fact from fiction. A clear, evidence-based look at autism amidst the noise from media, government officials, and online speculation.

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References: https://sites.google.com/view/....be-smart-autism-refe

0:00 Intro - Autism myths vs. science
1:18 Is the autism epidemic real?
2:57 What IS autism anyway?
4:54 The untold history of autism
7:21 Is it really just changes in diagnosis?
9:23 The trend we CAN’T explain
10:03 How much of autism is genetic?
15:37 Maybe it’s our environment too
17:07 Environmental factors: What we know
18:16 Autism and pregnancy
19:05 Pre-term birth
20:27 Pollution
21:16 Pesticides and heavy metals
22:53 Tylenol and pharmaceuticals
27:14 SSRIs
27:51 Vaccines
32:08 Gut microbiome
33:09 PFAS/plastics/pthalates
33:27 Why do we care?
34:13 Figuring it all out (conclusion)

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Evolution doesn’t pick a side!
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In almost every animal species on Earth, equal numbers of males and females are conceived. Why is that? Especially in populations like lions or elephant seals, where most males don’t get to mate? That’s survival of the laziest, not survival of the fittest. It turns out that in most cases, an equal balance of the sexes is the evolutionary stable strategy. From Charles Darwin to Ronald Fisher to W.D. Hamilton to Richard Dawkins, the question of why there’s as many males as females has fascinated biologists. Today, we’ll explain why that is the way it is.

READ MORE:

Fisher, R. A. “The genetical theory of natural selection”

Dawkins, Richard “The Selfish Gene” http://amzn.to/2omkuFr

Hamilton, W. D. (1967). Extraordinary sex ratios. Science, 156(3774), 477-488.

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It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Director: Joe Nicolosi
Writer: Stephanie Keep
Creative Director: David Schulte
Editor/animator: Karl Boettcher and Derek Borsheim
Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox

Produced by PBS Digital Studios
Music via APM
Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com
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Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate

This episode is brought to you by Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/
Tweet ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSplacebos Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSplaceboFB
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How does the placebo effect work? Here's how your brain tricks itself when it comes to medicine

Follow me to Reactions to learn what is (and isn’t) in those vitamin supplements: https://youtu.be/9gQoG0AT3kY

We’ve got t-shirts! Get yours here: http://store.dftba.com/collect....ions/its-okay-to-be-

References:
Niemi, M. B. (2009). Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind: Scientific American.Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind: Scientific American.

Price, D. D., Finniss, D. G., & Benedetti, F. (2008). A comprehensive review of the placebo effect: recent advances and current thought. Annu. Rev. Psychol.,59, 565-590.

Finniss, D. G., Kaptchuk, T. J., Miller, F., & Benedetti, F. (2010). Biological, clinical, and ethical advances of placebo effects. The Lancet, 375(9715), 686-695.

Marchant, J. (2015). Strong placebo response thwarts painkiller trials. Nature News http://www.nature.com/news/str....ong-placebo-response

Dr. Ben Goldacre's book "Bad Science" http://amzn.to/1TZ5WUE

Harold Pashler "Encyclopedia of the Mind" http://amzn.to/1HT7RJ4

Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below!
Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart
http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe
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It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe
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For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com
Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios

Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer
Joe Nicolosi - Director
Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc.
Kate Eads - Producer
Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation
Katie Graham - Camera
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Theme music: “Ouroboros” by Kevin MacLeod

Other music via APM
Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted)

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Life’s been around on Earth for at least 3.7 billion years. But for most of that time, it was incredibly boring — just simple little cells squirming around in water. It only got interesting in the last few hundred million years. And that might never have happened without the help of a deadly, but also life-giving, element.

References: https://sites.google.com/view/....great-oxygenation-re

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Why do we see rainbows in soap bubbles? What makes an oil slick so oddly beautiful? Iridescent colors, which transform depending on the angle you look at them, are all over nature. How does physics make these shifting rainbows? We’re going to find out with the help of the National Museum of Natural History's most spectacular specimens – from bird feathers and beetle wings to fossils and gemstones.

Check out some of my other videos about color in nature:
In search of the blackest thing on Earth https://youtu.be/86P03RlegBM
Why is blue so rare in nature? https://youtu.be/3g246c6Bv58

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If you traced your family tree back 185 million generations through evolution, you wouldn't be looking at a human, a primate, or even a mammal. You'd be looking at a fish. So where along that line does the first human show up? The answer may surprise you!

Inspired by Richard Dawkins' "The Magic of Reality" http://amzn.to/1eFPE0v
Also check out Richard Dawkins' "The Ancestor's Tale" http://amzn.to/1fbf17e

Images of prehistoric species used in this episode:
Tiktaalik, Procunsul, Plesiadapsis, Juramaia, Hylonomus - by Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com/)
Homo erectus (by Tim Evanson) http://bit.ly/1uwI5zu

Joe Hanson - Host and writer
Joe Nicolosi - Director
Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer
Katie Graham - Director of Photography
Andrew Matthews - Editor and motion graphics
John Knudsen - Gaffer

Music:
"Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod

Produced for PBS Digital Studios
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Another YouTube #shorts from Dr. Joe! Subscribe for more fun science stories.

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The famous painter who was half-honeybee
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Claude Monet had a very unique eye, and it can teach us a bit about the science of vision
More reading:

Monet's Eye at Download the Universe:
http://www.downloadtheuniverse.....com/dtu/2012/04/mon

Simulation of Monet's Cataracts:
http://archopht.jamanetwork.co....m/article.aspx?artic

More:
http://petapixel.com/2012/04/1....7/the-human-eye-can-
http://www.skepticalartist.com..../2013/06/25/claude-m

Music:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Goldberg Variations

(From The Open Goldberg Variations, by Kimiko Ishizaka
-----------------

Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below!

Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe
Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart
For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com

Joe Hanson - Host and writer
Joe Nicolosi - Director
Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc
Kate Eads - Associate Producer
Katie Graham - Director of Photography
Andrew Matthews - Editor and motion graphics
John Knudsen - Gaffer

Produced for PBS Digital Studios
-----------
Last week's video:
The Science of Snowflakes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUot7XSX8uA

More videos:
The Universe In A Glass of Wine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3_n7TDL7lc
Why We Cook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpfwu__PF7Y
Ghosts of Evolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWW5OuxlKec

Check out American Veteran on @pbsvoices ►► https://youtu.be/P8bt1bwllZg
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The biggest thing that has ever lived on Earth… is a tree? Hard to believe, but it’s true. Travel with me to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to go inside a giant aspen clone, the most massive species on our planet, and learn what unique and special evolutionary adaptations let them get so big.

Thanks to Dr. Jeffry B. Mitton (UC-Boulder) for sharing his years of research into giant quaking aspens and for telling us where to go see such pretty fall colors

References:

Mitton, J. B. & Grant, M. C. Observations on the Ecology and Evolution of Quaking Aspen, Populus tremuloides, in the Colorado Front Range. 9 (2021).

Mitton, J. B. & Grant, M. C. Genetic Variation and the Natural History of Quaking Aspen. BioScience 46, 25–31 (1996).

Grant, M. C., Mitton, J. B. & Linhart, Yan. B. Even larger organisms. Nature 360, 216–216 (1992).

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It’s the Great American Read!
Vote for America's favorite novel: https://to.pbs.org/2Jes2X5
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English is a confusing language for many reasons. But the irregular verbs might be the most confusing part. Why is “told” the past tense of “tell” but “smold” isn’t the past tense of “smell”? It turns out that the study of irregular verbs can teach us a lot about how languages evolve. This week, we look at how the era of Big Data is unlocking secrets behind the weirdness of words.

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:
“The Zipf Mystery” - Vsauce https://youtu.be/fCn8zs912OE
“Trending Artists of the 17th Century” - The Art Assignment https://youtu.be/7eq3D9Q9lUA

REFERENCES:

Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture - Erez Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel https://amzn.to/2MLBEHF

Words and Rules - Steven Pinker https://amzn.to/2vKL1kf

Lieberman, Erez, et al. "Quantifying the evolutionary dynamics of language." Nature 449.7163 (2007): 713.

Michel, Jean-Baptiste, et al. "Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books." Science (2010): 1199644.

Hanley, M. L., Joos, M., & Fein, T. (1937). Word index to James Joyce's Ulysses. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

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It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Writer: Joe Hanson
Creative Director/Director: David Schulte
Editor/animator: Derek Borsheim
Producers: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox

Produced by PBS Digital Studios
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Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com

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It's not the size of the month that matters…
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Why does February have 28 days when all the other months get 30 or 31? The answer is part superstition, part politics, and parts astronomy. (Basically, it's the Romans' fault)

Special thanks to Dr. Jen Ebbeler from the University of Texas Classics department for walking me through the history of the Roman calendar
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:

Wikipedia's "Roman Calendar" page is really good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar
More:
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/T....hayer/E/Roman/Texts/
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~....grout/encyclopaedia_
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~....grout/encyclopaedia_


Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below!
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It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe
Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart
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For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com
Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios

Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer
Joe Nicolosi - Director
Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer
Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation
Katie Graham - Director of Photography
John Knudsen - Gaffer
Dalton Allen - Post-Production Intern

Theme music:
"Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod

Other music via APM

Stock images from Shutterstock

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Last week's video:
Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys

More videos:
Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA
Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8
Why Did We Blow on NES Games? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gf9mtXnJfM
The Science of Game of Thrones - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utu-LpJn3Is
There Was No First Human - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdWLhXi24Mo