Awesome Learning

In this animated TED-Ed lesson, Rose Eveleth walks us through the physiology that make things seem spicy. Interestingly enough, it’s not a taste, but an aversion reaction to perceived heat. Say it with us, now: “polymodal nociceptors!”

Mental Floss’ John Green fills us in on a variety of tidbits and odd facts behind the kids’ shows we all know and love. They really should bring Schoolhouse Rock back – with actual rock bands. And Whoopass Girls was a great name.

Vsauce explores the complex science of human vision, our ability to distinguish fine details, and when the gadget megapixel/pixel density war stops mattering. And at the end of the video, Michael starts to sound a bit like Rust Cohle.

The Slow Mo Guys turn their 2,500fps camera lens towards automotive airbags to see how quickly and powerfully they explode to protect drivers. Be sure to stick around for the second explosion for the cooler of the shots.

“It is a life that carries the weight of being. An anticipation of sadness – that one day things will change.” Temujin Doran poignantly juxtaposes the life cycle of mountains with the human experience. BRB, off to hug a mountain.

Want to know why we tear up? Educator Alex Gendler and TED-Ed’s animators explain not only what makes us cry, but how we have different kinds of tears for different situations. And here we thought that onions just made us sad.

Mental Floss reminds us that some of the scientific illustrations we’ve come to know are far from accurate, from the atomic model to the ubiquitous world map. Bonus fact: Vsauce Michael can stay on topic for an entire lesson.

With the 86th Academy Awards coming up, YouTube channel alltime10s shares 10 little-known facts about the coveted trophy. Here’s what Walt Disney’s and Edgar Bergen’s special Oscars looked like.

Motion designer Amrit Pal Singh made this animated timeline showing some of the notable cellular phones in the past 40 years, from Motorola’s monstrous 1.8lb brick to the light and powerful smartphones we have today.

Here in the States, we pretty much have two headshakes – “yes” and “no” – but in India, there’s a number of different, and sometimes confusing gestures. In this short clip, YouTuber MeenFriedChickenCurry explains it all to us.

An anechoic chamber is a room that eliminates echoes by absorbing sound waves. It’s so quiet inside, some say you can go insane if you stay even a few minutes in it. Veritasium hung out in BYU’s chamber to see what would happen.

Wes Anderson’s movies are instantly recognizable. Way Too Indie presents interviews with the director as well as related footage that sheds light on his perfectionist and theatrical approach to film making. More here.

Randall Munroe used a grid of animated gifs to illustrate how often certain events, phenomena or actions occur in real time, from mundane things like someone getting a tattoo to someone dying of cancer.

(PG-13: Language) Adam Conover reminds us of one of the world’s greatest ad campaigns, i.e. outright lies. Diamond cartel De Beers duped us into thinking that engagement rings are a thing and that diamonds are precious.

Think your Instagram account is awesome? Check out chef Bart von Olphen’s Bart’s Fish Tales. It’s a cooking show where each episode is crammed into Instagram’s 15-second video limit.

Does the number of Likes on a Facebook page mean anything anymore? Veritasium presents damning evidence that Facebook’s “targeted” advertising service can be as illegitimate, useless and harmful as illegal like-boosting farms.