The world is full of color, but how do our eyes see it? In this episode we’ll explain how color vision works, complete with a journey to a jazz club in the back of your eye. We’ll also look at the cultural meanings of the color red, we’ll find out about a new type of blue, and we’ll find out why stoplights use green to mean go. Our Moment of Um tackles the q ... Show More
Oct 2023
How many colors can we see?
It’s a colorful world out there! When light from the sun hits surfaces on Earth, those surfaces reflect different wavelengths of light. Our eyes collect those waves and send them to our brains, which interpret the waves as colors! It’s an incredible process, and it happens in…wel ... Show More
5m 49s
Sep 2024
Curious About Traffic Lights
<p>In episode 269, we get curious about traffic lights for Parker and Alex from Arizona. We learn about the history of traffic lights, why traffic lights are so important, and how we selected green, yellow, and red to be the traffic light colors. Noah also joins us to share fiv ... Show More
13m 37s
Aug 2025
Ep115 "What is color? Part 1: Why hunters wear orange"
Why do birds and bees choose different flowers? Why do mammals' eyes seem to be optimized for moving around at night, and what does that have to do with hairless humans getting angry? What does any of this have to do with road signs, camouflage, mantis shrimp, the sun, the dress ... Show More
37m 36s