Joe Hanson

Be Smart.

We give you deep answers to simple questions about science and the rest of the universe. And also dad jokes. Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, PhD. He's a molecular biologist and an award-winning science communicator and journalist

Author

Joe Hanson

Category

Education

Latest episode

Jul 11, 2026

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Episodes

The Science and Grace of Auroras 06.07.2026

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ The science behind Earth's nocturnal light showClick here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Space might seem like an empty place, but the area surrounding Earth is constantly being bombarded by waves of charged particles released by the...

MILLION Year-Old Spider and the Science of Silk Webs 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Don't miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Check it out: BrainCraft visits another MacArthur Genius! https://youtu.be/ewPeAFQWg3s ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Living things have engineered some pretty awesome materials, but I'm not sure anything me...

Why Are Cicadas So Excellent At Math? 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Subscribe so you don't miss any cool science ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Follow me to Gross Science: http://youtu.be/IDBkj3DjNSM ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Do periodical cicadas "know" how to calculate prime numbers? One of the strangest life cycles in all of biology, expl...

Why Is The Universe So Empty? (ft. PHD Comics!) 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate A collaboration with Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. Their book: http://www. WeHaveNoIdea.com Don’t miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Why is the universe organized the way it is? And why is it so empty? From planets...

How Many Heartbeats Are We Given? 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Science really gets my heart going… Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Ever wonder how the heart symbol came to stand for the actual heart? And why do we speak of the heart as the seat of love, when love really happens in...

Is Ultron Unstoppable? Featuring Vsauce3! 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Follow me to Vsauce3!! http://bit.ly/1zUxn7a Twitter: @okaytobesmart @jtotheizzoe Instagram: @jtotheizzoe ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Will artificial intelligence ever surpass human intelligence? And if that happens, will AI be good or bad? Is evil AI like we see in Avenge...

Barrage of the Cosmic Space Junk! 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate No Sandra Bullocks were harmed in the making of this video. Tweet this video ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSjunk Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSjunkFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Window chip in the ISS: http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/05/Impact_chip The extent of spac...

Are You Sharing a Breath From Isaac Newton? 06.07.2026

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We all breathe the same air. Literally. Click here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Take a deep breath. Smell that? It could be a little eau de Einstein. Or maybe a whiff of Cleopatra. Here's an amazing thought: every time you breathe,...

Why Salt & Pepper Became Fixtures On Every Table 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Join the #AnythingButPepper movement! Tweet this video ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSsp Share on FB ⇒ http://bit.ly/OKTBSspFB ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Get yourself an awesome IOTBS shirt! http://dftba.com/besmart “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky http://amzn.to/29vj9m4 “...

Your Salad Is Attempting To Murder You 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate The dose makes the poison… Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @jtotheizzoe @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ CORRECTION: @2:14 we showed the wrong Paul Ehrlich (guy on the left). Instead of Paul Ehrlich the German doctor, we meant to show Paul Ehrlich the...

The Odds of Discovering Life and Romance 06.07.2026

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ A cosmic love story, starring a guy named Carl Sagan Click here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Love is a complicated combination of brain chemicals and behavior that scientists are only just beginning to figure out. And it's remarkabl...

What’s The Hottest Hot and Coldest Cold? 06.07.2026

Want more cool physics? Check out Physics Girl! http://youtube.com/physicsgirl Be cool and SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ The hottest and coldest temperatures in our universe are rarely witnessed, but in these rare spots, our understanding of physics is challenged. Weird things happen at extreme hot and absolute cold. References: Clark, J. B., Lecocq, F.,...

Traffic Lights Are So Much Weirder Than You Realize 06.07.2026

Thank you to Squarespace for supporting PBS. Go to https://www.squarespace.com/besmart for a free trial and use code BESMART to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓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 explod...

When Will We Stop Consuming Oil? 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Check out our whole series on ENERGY! http://bit.ly/1BnH5zu Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We've heard news of "peak oil" and "the end of the oil age" for years now, but we keep coming up with ways to find and pump mo...

Why Did We Blow On Nintendo Consoles? 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Check out http://youarenotsosmart.com/ for more on cognitive biases Books by David McRaney: http://amzn.to/1pQqmQh and http://amzn.to/1qrGRpM Did blowing on NES cartridges actually do anything? http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-ni...

The Foundations of Energy 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Check out our whole series on ENERGY! http://bit.ly/1BnH5zu Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ The world of energy is a confusing place. What's better, nuclear or solar? What's the difference between fluorescent bulbs and...

Building Music From Space! 06.07.2026

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Check out some beautiful music made from space itself Click here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub 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. B...

Why Do Clouds Hover Aloft? 06.07.2026

There's nothing wrong with having your head in the clouds! Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Subscribe to It's Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Big thank you to my favorite cloud scientist Dione Rossiter for help researching this episode! "The Cloudspotter's Guide" by Gavin Pretor-Pinney http://amzn.t...

Where Did Life Come From? (feat. PBS Space Time and Eons!) 06.07.2026

Follow us to PBS Space Time: https://youtu.be/GcfLZSL7YGw And Eons: https://youtu.be/pk213XSSktQ ↓↓↓ More origin of life info and sources below ↓↓↓ The origin of life is one of the most important mysteries in all of science. When did life begin? How did life first evolve from chemistry? Where did life get started? In some primordial soup or somewhere else? Let’s journey back to the origin of life,...

How Atom Bombs Can Help Us Detect Art Forgery 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Want more cool art videos? Check out The Art Assignment http://bit.ly/ArtAssnmt Don’t miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ It’s been estimated that 1 in 10 works of fine art are forged or misattributed. The truth is, no...

Do You Really Have Two Brains? 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you ) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate You're gonna lobe this video Don't miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Are you a left-brained person or a right-brained person? Spoiler: You're neither. Each of us uses both sides of our brain for most of what we do. Bu...

You Are Chiefly Microbe! 06.07.2026

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Your body is essentially a walking home for trillions of bacteria Click here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Ever not felt completely like yourself? There's a good reason for that. Because a large part of you . . . isn't you. Our bodie...

How Did We Work Out What Light Is? 06.07.2026

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try CuriosityStream today: http://curiositystream.com/smart Here's a bright idea: Subscribe ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Beyond what we can touch, taste, smell, and hear, we experience the universe through light. But how did we come to discover li...

Why Contacting Extraterrestrials Could Be Risky (Dark Forest Hypothesis) 06.07.2026

Learn more about Surfshark with Incogni at: https://incogni.com/besmart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ There are hundreds of billions of planets in our galaxy. Scientists now think hundreds of millions of them have conditions where life could arise. What do scientists think are the best ways of reaching out to them? And why do so...

Space is Overflowing with Junk. Here's How to Clean It Up… 06.07.2026

Join our Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ We know pollution is a problem on earth, but we’re filling space with our junk too. And if we don’t figure out a way to clean up space junk, we could end our interstellar dreams before they even get started. Today, we’re visiting s...

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