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Be Smart

Why No One Can Agree What’s Really the Tallest Mountain

Season 10 Episode 9 | 8m 29s

What's the tallest mountain on Earth? It might seem like an easy question to answer, but in reality it's one that brings up more NEW questions than answers. It turns out that the way we measure mountains rests on a lot of approximations, assumptions, and averages. And when you dig into those, there's several contenders for the tallest mountain, each with their own good case for the title.

Aired: 07/21/22
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Watch • 27:32
Be Smart
How HIV Started a Century Before Anyone Noticed
How science unraveled one of the biggest myths in modern medicine...HIV's true origins.
Episode: S14 E8 | 27:32
Watch • 21:23
Be Smart
The New Kind of Heat Humans Can’t Handle
I pushed my body in a climate & sports research lab to discover what extreme heat really does to us.
Episode: S14 E7 | 21:23
Watch • 16:47
Be Smart
Scientists Finally Figured Out What Love Is For
What exactly is the evolutionary purpose of love?
Episode: S14 E6 | 16:47
Watch • 16:47
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If everything around us is made of atoms, why can’t we actually see them?
Episode: S14 E5 | 16:47
Watch • 10:51
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Infinity isn’t a number. It's something much weirder.
This video explores the bizarre mathematics that show how infinity is far stranger than a number.
Episode: S14 E4 | 10:51
Watch • 24:25
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How Gerardus Mercator later created a map that transformed navigation forever.
Episode: S14 E3 | 24:25
Watch • 22:37
Be Smart
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DNA solves crimes, but what happens when it sends innocent people to prison?
Episode: S14 E2 | 22:37
Watch • 17:13
Be Smart
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Why are stop lights red? The real story is more complicated than you think.
Episode: S14 E1 | 17:13
Watch • 14:52
Be Smart
The Intelligence Test Where Ants Beat Humans
How thousands of tiny brains, obeying simple rules, solve problems no individual can understand.
Episode: S13 E17 | 14:52
Watch • 19:50
Be Smart
Everything I Thought I Knew About Flavor Was Wrong
Joe visits a flavor lab to uncover how our senses shape our taste.
Episode: S13 E16 | 19:50