Today, chilis are the most widely cultivated spice crop in the world - grown everywhere from their native home in the Americas to Europe, Africa, and Asia. But how and why did chilis evolve this weird, fiery trick in the first place? And why did we learn to love that spicy burn?
Big thanks to Julio Lacerda (twitter.com/JulioTheArtist) for the excellent Capsicum domestication illustration!
Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: seworld.info
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References: docs.google.com/document/d/1DA1qeR2Fi-sdDemikPSjwO7H6YgLvO55M1WTN3p80Hk/edit?usp=sharing
Plants: evolve capsaicin Humans: oh yeah baby hurt me Plants: O.o
I really appreciate y’all not white washing that indigenous woman 👏🏽
Hank Green for the win
Chili evolution: "So get this, right... We're gonna make ourselves painful for mammals to eat us, but see those weirdo apes over there... Those crazy guys are gonna make us stars!"
Anyone else shudder when she refers to the "fruit" of a chilli pepper? Am I the only one who pictures chilli peppers hidden in a fruit salad?
Speak for yourself. I bloody hate the burn. Why anyone wants to be in pain while they eat is beyond me 😅
Geographically their distribution coincides in particular with the Ring of Fire.
I remember my first real curry. I had to drink 6 cans of beer (more than twice as strong as American beer). I absolutely loved it. I eat curry all the time.
They did Hank so dirty with these clips bro🤣
NEXT ON EONS: Stone Age Stoners; The Prehistoric Origins of Weed and How Woolly Mamoths inspired the first dreadlocks!🤡
'plant'. not 'ply-ant'.
It’s pronounced “kap-sei-sn”
Chilli: *Task failed successfully*
"We're the only mammal not scared of the burning sensation" My dog who kept locking chili oil off forniture when we tried to use it to dissuade her from chewing it when she was a puppy: I'm going to end this woman's whole career
y'all should make a video on bees.. 👀
Video on spice and haven't mentioned india !!
Chili peppers didn’t come from India...
I've seen many goats completely destroy chili/pepper plants with seemingly zero negative impact on the goats.
Fun fact: the hot peppers Korean food is known for are *not* native to Korea. They're basically jalapeños.
Basically, Chilis brings out the masochist in us.
Yeeee
So we are all masochist by default huh?
This is why dumping ground chilies in your bird feeder is such a good way of keeping the chipmunks and squirrels out.
Common guys, Brasil is the THIRD largest producer of peppers in the planet. 102.000 Tons in 2018. Why is it left off from the map?
Thankful! I don't know how to eat alot of my food without some level of spice. Yum :)
We are masochists ...
Love the fact that you acknowledged the natives of the land
I've wondered about this for a while. When most animals bite into something that causes them pain, they stop eating it. But some human bit into 1 and was like "ooo, this would be good with some rice!"
Now you made me hungry for tacos with a lot of chile.
Make a video about thylacoleo and it's insane teeth!
Interesting and spicy video 🙂🥵👍🌶
South America gave it to the world, Indians (Asians) took it the next level. Thanks Latinos!
Central America had it too
Wheres the link to the scishow hotsauce challenge?
Look at me... Look at me! _I_ am the seed disperser now!
If you want to be more comfortable in the morning after, take psyllium half an hour before your meal. You're welcome!
Definitely addicting. I started my spice journey with a Slim Jim (Mild) at around 4 years old. My love for spicy foods grew from there. From that point on, I just worked my way up the spice ladder, eventually growing my own peppers in my teen years (jalapeno, banana, cayenne, tabasco, and habanero peppers). I used to make salsa with them. Through adulthood I have enjoyed the wide range of extra hot peppers, ghost, scorpion, and so on. Great video!
Interesting that it works in the 🌶’s fav with me not liking the spices
Wait...so chilli peppers are fruit?
I must have an overproduction of those receptors, as I can't stand anything but the mildest chilli, curry, pepper, or mint.
Interesting I never thought that it works that way
Is it true that possession of three or more Carolina Reaper plants contravenes international weapons treaties?
This reminds me of Reduction in TRPV1 is a issue , it’s similar but yet not the same as how people with type 2 diabetes have issues with insulin and high levels of glucose.
Addicting? PBS, you're better than this
Awesome! Love my hot stuff 😍
Pelecing enak nih 😁
So wait...spicy doesn’t exist?!?! It’s an illusion?
I keep wondering if this lady is Canadian. She puts a long e at the beginning of the word Epoch.
wow we’re really all masochists
Chilis are grown on 100% of North America omg
Kind of gets you high... If you eat a pepper strong enough you don't even get the pain bit, you just go straight into "chemical relief".
wat up, my fellow great ape dispersers??
Chilis aren't the only genus that has benefited greatly from humans' eating habits. There are currently more chickens than people in the world -- pretty good for a domesticated version of the red jungle fowl. Ruminants like cows, sheep, and goats are doing well, too. When vat or 3D printed meat becomes cheaper than regular meat, the population of those meat animals will plummet. Hopefully, someone will keep at least some around so that they don't go extinct.
I don't know if you guys are still looking for "good" evolution/geology jokes, but here's a treasured joke from the Pacific NW anyway: Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helen's used to be a happy couple some millennia ago. Unfortunately, Mt. Hood had an affair with the 3 Sisters and St. Helen's blew her top. Edit: grammar is hard you guys
you dont explain one thing. we got stomachache when we eat too many capsaicin, do those animal got the same problem as well?
I just love learning new things!
Came for the dinosaurs. Definitely staying for the real history of human civilization. 🔥💕🤘
all nightshade plants wreck havoc on your circulatory system
Kallie... As always, you were enlightening and extremely Charming!! It's always a joy to see you present. ....... But half this Video, all I was thinking was POOR HANK!!! 😜😂
This was surprisingly informative for such a short video, great work!
It's called HOT- the word -SPICEY- is for lite weights that don't eat them! 😁👍👍
6:43 guy is dying from the heat AND STILL EATING IT. Commitment!
Puffer fish: has poison to avoid being eaten Chilli: has capsicum so mammals can't consume . Human: i eat all
Actually my heifer Shadow LOVES doing heat shots with me. I make my own sauce's, put it on a mushroom slice. CHOMP..
Thanks for skipping New Mexico on ur map or even mentioning us known for green chili it’s the only place that green chili grows yes there may be different kinds of chilies but green chili is only growing in New Mexico I can even go to McDonald’s and get a green chili double cheeseburger if anybody’s been in New Mexico they know we put green chili on everything
Humans are really weird animals. They'll eat anything, even stuff that a sensible rat would not touch.
"Level of 2 neurotransmitters suddenly rise, endorphin and dopamine" Hmmm sounds like drugs. It is definitely a drug and I am addicted to it 😂😂😂
As a Latino I cant get enough of pique :) Chili peppers are the best! The sweet burn is awesome.
this channel should not be pbs eons, it such be "epoch"
So you're telling me that we like spices because we're all secretly masochists.... yea I can see that xD
0:55 this map is not exactly accurate, as Brazilians eat loads of pepper and many people cultivate them at home. Maybe you're talking about mass agricultural production (wich we also do).
So if the burning sensation we feel is from the body releasing chemicals to activate that receptor to make us feel that, approximately how much of pain is resulting from fire and how much is from our own bodies warning us?.
knowing the Amazon basin was a hub of domestication and interexchanging of vegetables, including spicies, and later on seeing most of if out of the map on the video hurt more than i thought imaginable.
1:40 Wait, what happened there? Teleportation?
To the generations that dedicated their lives to raising Chili peppers, THANK YOU !
The acknowledgement at the end there, made me very happy.
Rather than the silent tribute to native people's, why don't you do an episode about archaeology and native people's lands?
Please explain me that map that shows where they grow chillys nowadays! Finland is marked red while Baltic’s grey. Some kind of nonsense. Please explain if that map has some meaning or it’s just some random colouring
Love this channel..... always hard to watch the Science and history videos whenever they have that cultist who was willing to manipulate science and information I’ll because he had a horrible case of “TDS”..... maybe Mr. Greene will change his ways
Chili mimics the spicy defenses of insects that birds eat. Chili looks like an insect. Birds got used to eating spicy insects, and chili mimics the flavors of insects. Chili is like a lure, a lure for chickens to eat.
I don’t understand how people can enjoy this. It’s so painful, it’s like shoving a working chainsaw in your mouth. Why would anyone want to add pain in their food?
I feel bad for you
Making myself an egg/cheese/habanero wrap in the morning. Wish me luck!
There are no Chilis in Russia?
This girl is so gosh dang cute 😍
I am here because I too am curious as to how humans enjoy these because...well I don't.
@j r good on them! Not really relevant to my comment though.
Billions of people from many different cultures enjoy it
Maybe also because we excrete them ASAP before we can properly digest them?
Stop making me hungry scishow
I like how this implies chiles are sentient
Nope! Yes there are mammals like us that ARE afraid of that heat!!
Why Brazil is not appearing to cultivate any peppers in your maps? I’m Brazilian and a big fan of chilli peppers and they are really widespread through our culinary and largely cultivated
İf you think about it humans are literaly physchopats, we eating basically literally worst things to eat, alcohol is literaly poison, mint supposed to kill bugs and chilie is totally a fruit evolved for torture mammals...
Could u do a video on if are past relatives had the ability to talk
Watching this makes me want to eat something spicy.
Hank!
Lastly, it is a scientific fact that very hot chilies can and do burn tissue in the body. So it's not just in "the mind" as the video suggests. Chemical burn is real. People may experience swelling of bodily tissues in the mouth, lips, if they touch their eyes...and also their butthole.
I don't think it was just about thrill seeking and dopamine. I know in my family chilis are considered medicine. They help keep your digestion strong, keep pathogens in check, help move blood (circulation), and strengthen the immune system. Mexicans and people all over Latin America understand and know this to be true.
In conclusion: humans are weird. Add that to the list of weird human things like fermented beverages, bread and soap
Ancient humans to birds : Look at me , look at me .... I'm the captain disperser now
0:51 Russia, Y U no grow peppers? I'd think they'd like the extra heat during those insanely cold winters.
No real damage?! My anus tells me otherwise
9:50 Please Marry Meeee !!!
more of her pls
I'm of nordic decent, and l can't even look at one of these without pouring sweat, turning bright red and running for the fridge. No high, just pain.