Awesome Learning

Kurzgesagt’s latest thought experiment explores what might happen to us if we somehow managed to load up bits of the Sun brought them right here to Earth. Depending on which part you captured, it could simply vanish, or destroy life as we know it.

SciShow host Hank Green answers the question none of us were asking, as he explores the rather ludicrous sounding idea of sending our garbage to the nearest volcano, and then just dumping it in. We don’t really need to explain why this is a bad idea, do we?

You might think that ending a song with a fade out is a bit of a cop out, rather than finding a conclusive way to wrap up the tune. Vox explores the theory that beyond making songs end less abruptly, gently fading out a piece of music has a positive impact on listeners.

RealLifeLore and Half as Interesting wondered if it would be possible to build a road around the world. The answer… is a resounding “no.” Even at their most optimistic, they’re not even willing to consider the thought. But they did uncover interesting roadblocks along the way.

Mike Boyd has picked up 25 unique skills in the past 2 years – not by using or doing anything special – you can see the evidence on his channel. Here he shares the steps he takes to learn a new skill. It all comes down to being a disciplined but practical student.

Wendover Productions used the recent events in Charlottesville to explain the basics of riot control. Security officers intend to slowly but surely separate opposing parties and arrest violence – not people. It’s a calculated but ultimately idealistic endeavor.

The always educational Captain Disillusion takes a break from debunking viral videos and questionable crowdfunding to kick off a new series about the masters of visual effects. The first episode looks at the ahead-of-their-time visuals in the Back to the Future trilogy.

The School of Life reminds us that no one is perfect or “the one” for us. The person, condition, or object we pine for has downsides just like everyone and everything else. Focusing on the potential troubles we avoided will make it easier to move on.

AsapSCIENCE compared the health, habits and consumption of the average American with the rest of the world to see what would happen if we all behaved similarly. The average global lifespan would increase, but we would also need much more food and create more waste.

ElectroBOOM’s Mehdi Sadaghdar is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore. After seeing way too many videos of fake science and “lifehacks,” he decided to do something about it, and debunked a few of the more heinous ones.

Mark Rober spoke with a couple of scientists to find out the average amount of pee in a swimming pool. The giveaway is the amount of artificial sweetener in pool water. And the unmistakable pool smell. Skip to 8:21 for the simplified formula.

(PG-13) Before it became Always Someone Better: The Franchise, the adventures of Son Goku started off on a nobler foot. Dragon Ball was partially inspired by Journey to the West. Wisecrack explains the influence of Buddhist philosophy in both artworks.

Microscopic computers and batteries. Wireless power. Affective computing. Isaac Arthur compares the typical day of someone from 1717, 2017 and 2077 to guess what emerging technologies will fundamentally alter our daily routines. Skip to 7:07 for the future.

Kurzgesagt simplifies two thought experiments stemming from black holes. The universe being a “hologram” is too literal though. Saying that you can describe a cube by drawing a cube is not the same as saying that a cube is indistinguishable from a drawing of a cube.

(PG-13, SPOILERS) Wisecrack presents the questions of justice raised in the excellent supernatural detective series Death Note. Is justice peace and equality at all costs? Or is it simply anything that counters injustice as it happens?

Did you know that “Wi-Fi” doesn’t stand for anything and is actually a trademarked term? Or that using your microwave could slow down wireless Internet connections? All that and more in Nat & Friends’ trivia video about our beloved technology.

(PG-13) Cut asked a translator and several hearing impaired folks to show how cuss words and phrases are done in American Sign Language. The good news is that they’re fairly obvious. The bad news is that they’re done so fast you’ll be burned before you know it.

Switzerland is known for its landscape, banks, and chocolate. But Real Life Lore reminds us that it’s also a country filled with defensive facilities. To paraphrase Narcos, that’s not being paranoid. That’s being smart.

(PG-13: Language) Mike Boyd’s latest goal was to do a manual on a bicycle for at least 165ft. It sounds like a straightforward challenge, but it proved to be his most frustrating one to date. Remember folks, when it seems like you’ve hit a wall, a cup of tea can work wonders.

Dad hats never really went away, but now everyone’s wearing them. Shmoxd has a handy guide on how you can take an existing cap, remove the existing embroidery if needed, and add your own design. It takes a bit of time, but it’s cheap and you get a unique cap out of it.

MinuteEarth teamed up with their sister channel MinutePhysics to dig into how astronomers define something as a “moon,” and how we probably need to have better size and movement parameters before every random speck of space dust is called the same thing.

Casually Explained stops talking about love and life for a moment to dish out some hard science. Fiction. Watch his breakdown of our celestial neighborhood, which includes Earth’s hot sister, Elon Musk’s homeworld, and yo momma.

(Gore) Having a great day so far? Good. Meet Craig. He’s about to have the opposite fate. Sam O’Nella Academy tries its best to put the fun in “slaughterhouse” as he explains how American cattle are raised and then “processed.” Sorry, Craig.