PBS_ItsOKToBeSmart

…or why we live on an onion made of magma

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?

There's nothing wrong with having your head in the clouds

We've got two perfectly good hands attached to two perfectly good arms, so why do most people prefer to use one over the other for common tasks?

This time, we're the asteroid

My tribute to Curiosity, both the NASA rover and the human desire to discover, featuring words from some of science's greatest minds and LEGO's special edition Mars rover set

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that our climate is changing, Earth is getting warmer, sea levels are rising, and it's primarily because of humans putting lots of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yet 4 in 10 Americans aren't convinced. Here's what psychologists and sociologists have to say about why some people don't believe in climate science.

Our bodies do a lot of weird things, and many of them are completely involuntary. Why do we often jerk our bodies awake right before falling asleep? Why do we yawn? Why do we hiccup? Why do some people sneeze when they look at the sun? And why does your eye twitch? This week we'll look at the science behind these crazy involuntary behaviors!

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 our brains? Is it true that animals only get a billion heartbeats? This week, we give you enough cool cardiac science to make your heart skip a beat

We teamed up with Amy Poehler's Smart Girls to ask you who your #sciencewoman heroes are. Here's what you told us!

How do you make a Grand Canyon? I was in Arizona recently for Phoenix Comic-Con, and had the amazing pleasure of seeing one of Earth's greatest natural wonders… the Grand Canyon. More than a mile deep, and several miles across, it just defies belief. But I couldn't help but think, the Colorado River down at the bottom isn't that big. How did it cut a canyon so massive? How old is the Grand Canyon?

It's Okay to Be Smart: Is Sugar A Drug?

When you stare up at the night sky, you might think that the universe is really black, but that's just because our eyes aren't sensitive enough to see the billions and billions of multicolored stars out there. Ever wonder why certain stars are certain colors? And what color is our sun, really? If we looked at enough stars, could we figure out the average color of the universe?

Will artificial intelligence ever surpass human intelligence? And if that happens, will AI be good or bad? Is evil AI like we see in Avengers: Age of Ultron… inevitable?

Is the science of Orphan Black realistic? Could we clone humans, or engineer them to have customized traits? We take a look at today's genetic engineering technologies to find out if designer babies and human cloning is, or should be, a reality

What is the loudest possible sound? What about the quietest thing we can hear? And what do decibels measure, anyway? In this video you'll learn what makes sound

According to Newton's law of gravitation, the sun should "pull" way harder on the moon than the Earth does. So does the moon actually orbit the Earth? Why?

Find out why more species live near the equator!

It's Okay to Be Smart! Ants!

We use a LOT of energy, but we waste a lot too. Where that waste happens might surprise, you though. We don't just waste energy when we leave the lights on or the thermostat cranked down too low. It happens at the dinner table and the water faucet as too!

Bees and flowers have an amazingly close relationship. Flowers need bees in order to reproduce, and bees need flowers to feed their colonies. Take away one, and the other would disappear too. It begs the question: When it comes to evolution, which came first, the bees or the flowers?

They have some of the best caterpillars in Peru. The best.

Bees, wild and domesticated, are in big trouble. Bee colonies are dying off at alarming rates, and the cause isn't clear. Pesticides, habitat loss, disease… there's a laundry list of likely culprits. We rely on these tiny pollinators for a majority of our fruits, veggies, and nuts… if they disappear, could we be next?

Plants are the most important source of nutrients for pretty much all of Earth's animals, and many of the planet's bacteria and fungi too. Humans like them so much that we line them up in salad bars so we can feast upon their crunchy cronch by the plate full.