Awesome Kurzgesagt

Our planet is teeming with life on its surface and in its oceans, but did you know that some organisms live beneath the Earth’s crust? Kurzgesagt drills deep to explore some of the microbes and other life forms that thrive in the world’s most inhospitable environments. Scientists are just beginning to understand what’s going on in the deep biosphere.

The way you feel when you have a fever can really suck. But our bodies are doing some very important things by raising our temperature when we’re sick. Kurzgesagt explains why we get fevers and how they help fight off infections. Along the way, they explore the pros and cons of suppressing fevers with medicine.

If you’re like us, you’ve probably tried to lose weight at some point. It’s never easy to shed those pounds, and it can be frustrating to work out so much and hit a plateau. Kurzgesagt explores the science of weight loss and the way our bodies burn energy. Bottom line: cutting your food intake is critical for dropping weight, while exercise is for your overall health.

Kurzgesagt simplifies the arguments for and against humans having free will. On one hand, some argue that we don’t have free will because, according to physics, everything is either deterministic or random. On the other hand, others say that such a perspective misses the point: that we are greater than the sum of our parts, whether those be deterministic or random.

Kurzgesagt recaps some of the scientific speculations about black holes. They then explore a few thought experiments about these mysterious cosmic locations, leading up to a mind-blowing possibility. If physicists are correct and a black hole creates a universe inside it, then we could be inside a black hole, that’s inside a universe, that’s inside a…

“In a nutshell, every single one of your organs is highly stressed and suffers some kind of permanent damage.” Kurzgesagt lays out the good, the bad, and the ugly about smoking. Watch the educational channel’s usual adorable creatures turn into all sorts of monsters and die horrible deaths, all thanks to one of the most dangerous legal substances.

Astrophysicists estimate that our universe came into existence roughly 14 billion years ago, and it’s been expanding ever since. Kurzgesagt ponders the question whether the universe is truly infinite if it keeps growing, or if it has an edge somewhere that we just can’t see.

We always thought about time in very linear terms. However, scientists have theorized that the past, present, and future simultaneously exist. Kurzgesagt explores the theory that the entire history of the universe has already happened, and we’re just experiencing our tiny sliver of it. Warning: your brain might hurt after watching this.

We’ve featured many size comparison videos from channels like MetaBallStudios and RED SIDE. Kursgezagt wanted to make a different kind of comparison video, examining opposingly small and large things relative to the size of an average human, from the tiniest proton to the vastness of observable universe.

We still don’t know if there’s extraterrestrial life out there, but if there is, there’s a chance that they won’t like us Earthlings and will want to get rid of us. Kurzgesagt takes the aliens’ side in this theoretical conflict and offers strategies to help them wipe out humanity forever. Though they assume our enemies are more technologically advanced than us.

Scientists estimate that life began on Earth about 3.7 billion years ago. But it’s quite plausible that life existed before this, shortly after the Big Bang created the universe. Kurzgesagt explains why this might have been possible and what sort of life forms might have been cooking in the universe’s primordial soup.

Sixty-six million years ago, everything seemed to be going just fine for the dinosaurs. But then something changed, wiping out the thriving beasts. Kurzgesagt looks at how one seemingly minor change in the skies led to the rapid extinction of most life on Earth. It’s a dramatic reminder to live each day as if it was your last.

Kurzgesagt has a long history of exploring existential threats. Like many revolutionary changes, biotechnology can be used to improve civilization or bring it to its knees. In this video, they talk about how rapid advancements could wipe us all out by engineering an unstoppable virus, then propose some things we could do to limit those risks.

Given the vastness of the universe, it’s almost impossible to fathom that there aren’t other life forms out there. In this video from Kurzgesagt, they explore the hypothetical idea that aliens are just a few steps behind us, and will soon catch up with technology that allows them to explore space and visit other planets.

Ants are fascinating creatures. While some may battle other colonies for supremacy, there are kinds of ants that enslave others. Kurzgesagt explains how Polyergus ants raid colonies and force their offspring to do their bidding until they die. They’ve become so reliant on their slaves that they can no longer care for themselves.

We’ve always enjoyed learning about science and nature from Kurzgesagt. They explain all kinds of theoretical events and technologies with an authoritative voice. SilentSushi edited together some random bits and pieces from their videos which make absolutely no sense when taken out of context. And then there’s this video.