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Will Earth Run Out of Oxygen

Season 13 Episode 4 | 16m 53s

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.

Aired: 04/23/25
Extras
If everything around us is made of atoms, why can’t we actually see them?
This video explores the bizarre mathematics that show how infinity is far stranger than a number.
How Gerardus Mercator later created a map that transformed navigation forever.
DNA solves crimes, but what happens when it sends innocent people to prison?
Why are stop lights red? The real story is more complicated than you think.
How thousands of tiny brains, obeying simple rules, solve problems no individual can understand.
Joe visits a flavor lab to uncover how our senses shape our taste.
Here is the REAL science about "alpha males."
How did the mass extinction of the dinosaurs play out, moment by moment?
Think traits like eye color or tongue-rolling are simple genetics? Think again.
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If everything around us is made of atoms, why can’t we actually see them?
This video explores the bizarre mathematics that show how infinity is far stranger than a number.
How Gerardus Mercator later created a map that transformed navigation forever.
DNA solves crimes, but what happens when it sends innocent people to prison?
Why are stop lights red? The real story is more complicated than you think.
How thousands of tiny brains, obeying simple rules, solve problems no individual can understand.
Joe visits a flavor lab to uncover how our senses shape our taste.
Here is the REAL science about "alpha males."
How did the mass extinction of the dinosaurs play out, moment by moment?
Think traits like eye color or tongue-rolling are simple genetics? Think again.