Awesome Science

There’s a lot of debate as to whether the universe goes on and on forever, or if you kept going, you’d eventually reach its edge. PBS Space Time digs into this astrophysics quandary. Whether the universe is geographically-flat and infinite, or it curves in on itself, it’s still more enormous than most of us can fathom.

In this scene from the Discovery UK show Richard Hammond’s Big, the Hamster visits the Verbund Hydro Power plant in Austria. Watch as he gets up close and personal with the massive stream of water coursing out of the bottom of a hydroelectric dam, where more than 5000 gallons of water gush out per second.

Ever wonder why we add a day to the end of every fourth February? Well, as it turns out, the Earth orbits the sun every 365.242 days, so we get off by about a quarter day every year. Dr. James O’Donoghue provides a concise graphical explanation of this time tweak we do to make things right, and what would happen without leap years.

Researchers from The University of Vermont and Tufts University have created tiny “xenobots,” which use living cells manipulated to perform tasks. AI algorithms guided the microsurgery used to create these organic machines which could someday clean microplastics from oceans, or repair organs in our bodies.

When it comes to holding things together, two of your best bets are glue or tape. Elizabeth Cox and TED-Ed explore the science behind adhesives, and which are the best for specific uses. We always wondered what kept glue from sticking to its own container, and now we know.

There are thousands of videos out there showing how to make a potato cannon. But this clip from The Backyard Scientist shows how to use one to launch a glider. Working with his pal Joe – with a nod to the guys at FliteTest – they work out the most balanced and airworthy glider design.

If you’ve ever played with one of those drinking bird toys, you know it can be quite fascinating to watch as it dunks its beak in and out of a glass of water. Engineerguy Bill Hammack pops off the bird’s festive blue hat to explain the thermodynamics which make the nearly endless fun happen.

The Backyard Scientist performs yet another very dangerous experiment, as he pours a bucket of 1500ºF molten aluminum into a volcano made from sand, then ups the spectacle by adding some fireworks to the mix. Yeah, don’t ever try anything this guy does at home.

While it might not look so huge up in the sky, the sun is big enough that it could fit 1,300,000 Earths inside of it. What If ponders what might life be here on our planet if it were that huge. While we’d have way more room to roam, we’d also have some pretty insurmountable problems.

Created by Wired co-founder Jane Metcalfe, Neo.Life: 25 Visions for the Future of Our Species is an upcoming book that imagines how technology and biology might work together to change the future of humankind, featuring insights from scientists, writers, and artists as they dream of what might lie ahead for us.

If you think the search for meaning of life was difficult for humans, imagine being a tiny microorganism, scurrying about with billions of others, mindlessly performing its role in the universe. Pursuit of Wonder’s clip ponders just that.

Want to know about our genetic ancestors? American Museum of Natural History’s fascinating video takes us back to the moment where humans branched off from chimpanzees, and illustrates our progress via maps of significant archaeological discoveries.

Ever wonder what the chances were of stumbling upon naturally-occurring gold or platinum? Reigarw Comparisons returns with another infographic video to explore the probabilities of finding a randomly occurring atom of substances on Earth, from the wildly prolific oxygen, to the incredibly rare Element 118.

Over its 4-ish billion year history, the Earth has seen some dramatic changes. Algol does a great job conveying some of the milestones of our planet’s development through this animated infographic, which shows changes in the Earth’s average temperature, atmospheric composition, and day length throughout its lifetime.

You’ve probably heard of the Large Hadron Collider at some point, but do you have any idea what this gigantic machine actually does? Physics Girl visited the CERN facility in Geneva Switzerland to check out this marvel of science, digging into the experiments it’s being used for, and the questions it’s trying to answer.

Invented by Nikola Tesla, this ingenious type of valve uses a series of teardrop-shaped channels to restrict the flow of gases going one direction, by allowing smooth flow the other direction. NightHawkInLight built one such valve and demonstrates how it works by igniting propane gas flowing through it.

Just 200 years ago, the life expectancy of humans was dramatically shorter than it is today. Pursuit of Wonder pontificates on how we’ve improved our lifespans to date through science and technology, what our future might look like, and how lives are best measured by quality, rather than the quantity of years we have.

(PG-13: Language) “Science is just magic that works.” exurb1a talks us through the strange science that explains how two pickles placed apart from each other have actually traveled through time at infinitesimally different speeds. Stick around until the end and you might actually learn a thing or two about physics.

Have you ever noticed that while wolves have pointy, upright ears, most pet dogs have soft, floppy ears? Skunk Bear explores the fascinating and puzzling evolutionary biology of wild versus domesticated animals that created these distinctions among others.

Learn a little bit about the chemistry and physics that go into the construction of a basic rocket in this clip from BBC Earth Lab’s Bang Goes the Theory. The demonstration with the oxy-acetylene soda bottle rockets is neat, but is way too dangerous to try at home.

It’s been more than four decades since the U.S. sent anyone to the Moon. With its upcoming Artemis missions, NASA will return to the moon, establishing a regular presence on the lunar surface. The space agency explains how astronauts will travel to, spend time on the surface, and come home from the moon in the future.

Things are always changing in the universe, so it’s possible that someday in the distant future that the Earth could be in danger from a catastrophic force. But is there a way that we could avoid such a fate given enough notice and ingenuity? Kurzgesagt digs into a theoretical method to do just that, by moving our entire solar system.

Everyone knows atoms are really tiny. But just how small are they? After putting the scale of the universe in perspective, Wren from Corridor Crew channels his inner Vsauce, illustrating the relative size of atoms, quarks, molecules, and cells by scaling them up to something a bit easier to comprehend.