Robert Krulwich
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Jupiter has a large red dot on its surface. I, too, have a dot on my surface. It's on my cheek. Jupiter just got lucky with its dot. Me? Not.
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Thank heavens it's not pretty, not thirsty, not useful, not a bother, not nearby. It looks like a mess of rope. But, oh my, is this plant old. Really, really old.
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It's dry. Empty. Rocks everywhere. About 10,000 feet up in the Andes. Then, all of a sudden, you see an enormous, lime green, tasty-looking lump. Should you lick it?
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Let me tell you a story — a history story — that's all numbers, only numbers, and still packs an emotional wallop. Button up. It's 1812. In Russia. It's cold.
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Johannes Kepler, one of the world's great mathematicians, decided to marry in 1611. He made a list of 11 women to interview, and he wanted, of course, to choose the best. Here's the formula.
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Simon Singh spotted the equation on a Homer Simpson blackboard. Had Homer just solved one of the toughest puzzles in math? His solution, crazily, seemed "valid" — so Singh checked Homer's numbers.
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Is the largest creature on Earth a tree or a tree strangler? Both are candidates. Both are plausible. Neither is a blue whale.
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Why is it that in thousands of portraits done all over the world, artists emphasize the left side of the subject's face? There's a bias here, and it's hiding in our brains.
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They are so sleek, so graceful, with such gorgeous eyes, tufted ears — but then they speak. And you think, "Oh no! Why? Why?"
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How come so many species of domesticated animals — dogs, pigs, cows, ducks, geese, rats, horses — have smaller brains than their wild ancestors? Oh, and humans too!