PBS_ItsOKToBeSmart

Some of the biggest evolution questions finally answered.

Ever not felt completely like yourself? There's a good reason for that. Because a large part of you isn't actually you. Our bodies are home to ten times as many microbes as human cells. We are walking ecosystems, each of us home to thousands of different species on and inside of us. Meet your microbiome!

Why is the sky blue? It's a question that you'd think kids have been asking for thousands of years, but it might not be that old at all. The ancient Greek poet Homer never used a word for blue in The Odyssey or The Iliad, because blue is one of the last colors that cultures pick out a word for.

Earth's atmosphere is big, but not as big as many people think. All the air that keeps us alive is just a thin candy shell around our planet. In this episode, echoing the words of John F. Kennedy, I'll show you the science of how we all share the same air. So let's be careful about what we're putting in it.

Wind is everywhere. The air is constantly moving, sometimes gently, sometimes violently. Why? Pressure, temperature and rotation come together to make wind. Here's how.

Bees are amazing social insects, and their relationship with flowers is one of nature's coolest examples of "mutualism". It got me wondering: How do bees see the world? Enjoy this look at how bees see in ultraviolet and even sense electric fields!

There is no sound in space. In the near-vacuum of space, there is nothing to transmit the physical waves that we need to perceive sound. But that doesn't mean we can't MAKE sound from space.

Why do we go to space? In the beginning of our space program, the answer had a lot to do with war and paranoia. But with the dawn of the space shuttle, that all changed. Where do we go from here?

Most of us have felt it before, that strange sensation that you’ve been somewhere or seen something before, as if you already remembered what’s happening. Are you psychic? Nope, that’s just déjà vu. Why does déjà vu happen? Well, scientists aren’t completely sure, but they’ve got a few good theories about it.

How many stars are there in the universe? Are there more stars out there than grains of sand on Earth? Thanks to advanced space telescopes, we’ve been able to peer farther into deep time and the distant universe than we ever thought possible, and we might finally be able to answer these mind-boggling questions.

Joe went behind the scenes at Monterey Bay Aquarium to meet the Giant Pacific Octopus, a powerful and curious creature that challenges many of our notions of intelligence!

Now you "sea" them, now you don't! Cuttlefish are more than the chameleons of the sea, these cephalopods take camouflage to a whole new level.

Before people came to Monterey Bay to watch fish, they came here to catch them. And they caught a LOT of one fish: the sardine. But when you empty one species out of the ocean, bad things can happen. Learn how one Monterey Bay scientist, with the help of his friend John Steinbeck, changed how we view our relationship with nature and helped give birth to the field of ecology.

Goats are amazing creatures, but there's a lot more than meets the eye.

Build your own cloud chamber particle detector and test relativity at home!

I took a trip to Washington D.C. to check out some of our nation's most famous monuments. Where do they come from? From the depths of the Earth to the distant reaches of the cosmos, you'll never look at history the same way again

Ever wonder what all those names on the periodic table actually mean? There's a whole lot of fascinating history on Mendeleev's table. Some carry names from antiquity, some are named for people, some are named for places, and some are named for mythical beings. Discover the etymology of the elements!

If you traced your family tree back 185 million generations, 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

They say mom's never far away, but I don't think this is what they had in mind. In this episode, learn about the mind-blowing connection you share with your mom. A little bit of you never leaves the other!

The past is different from the future. Why?

A little bit of explanation for the cycle of carbon and oxygen

As massive magnetic fusion reactors go, the sun is pretty awesome.

I smell a science storm a-comin'!!

I'm scared of spiders. I'm not afraid to admit it. I love them in a scientific sense, or from a "let me look at you from way over here" sense, but that's as close as I get. Here's a look at the science of why some of us are afraid of spiders, snakes, roaches, and other creepy crawlies. Did I evolve to be this way, or did I learn to be afraid of them? It seems to be an open question…

How does math keep a folded slice from drooping? And what does pizza have to do with the speed of light?