© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WECS · WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM · WVOF
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Why Useless Knowledge Can Be So Useful

Season 12 Episode 17 | 14m 35s

Our lizard friend the Gila monster probably has no idea that a chemical in its spit inspired one of the most important medical advancements of the 21st century. But this story is really about something bigger. Something deeper, beneath the surface. About why we do science in the first place. And about what kind of questions are the best ones for scientists to ask.

Aired: 12/18/24
Extras
Dr. M. Sanjayan investigates the largest river restoration ever attempted in the United States.
The coming-of-age story and rise of Ashley Chea, a Cambodian American basketball prodigy.
The midwives enter the 1970s, which brings with it new challenges for Nonnatus House.
Lucy investigates Queen Mary I - was she really as bloody as history suggests?
A coronation designed for Kings, presented some problems for the first Queen.
A rare glimpse of Mary as a child from 1552. There's no sign of "Bloody Mary" here?
Appraisal: Georg Jensen Gold Necklace, ca. 1960
Appraisal: 1907 E. William Gollings Oil Painting
Appraisal: 1959 Gibson ES-355 Mono Guitar
Appraisal: German Candy Container Rabbit, ca. 1890
Latest Episodes
All
  • All
  • Be Smart Season 12
  • Be Smart Season 11
  • Be Smart Season 10
  • Be Smart Season 9
  • Be Smart Season 8
  • Be Smart Season 7
  • Be Smart Season 6
  • Be Smart Season 5
  • Be Smart Season 4
  • Be Smart Season 3
  • Be Smart Season 2
  • Be Smart Season 1
Why do some people taste music or hear colors? Let’s talk about synesthesia.
These diamond makers create one of the most amazing materials on Earth — from dead people.
Learn nature’s ultimate game of hide-and-seek, and the way to win this game is all in the brain.
Nature has had to come up with some crazy ways to survive winter. None are weirder than hibernation.
Political scientist Don Green joins Joe to figure out the complex psychological and social factors t
Why do certain sounds make some of us so upset?!
Despite what you may have heard or learned in school, the sun is NOT the center of the solar system.
People see faces everywhere thanks to a quirk of the brain called visual pareidolia.
Why do the same, self-repeating patterns appear in trees, rivers, lightning, and even our bodies?
Our animal brains deal with quantities in very specific, and fascinating, ways.