Awesome Learning

Shmoxd shows us how to make recycled paper using readily available materials. He then adds texture and color to the new paper by adding different bits like plants, food and even shredded electronics. But will it blend?

We love a bowl of sweet and crunchy breakfast cereal as much as the next guy, but as Ordinary Things points out, this high-carb, low-nutritional value day-starter isn’t exactly good for you, despite what the marketing might tell us. The Stuff You Should Know episode on the Kellogg brothers is worth a listen too.

YouTuber JD Rock’s picks for the strangest engines invented or currently in development. The list includes the hypersonic harbinger SABRE, the highly scalable and versatile camless engine, and the mind-boggling EmDrive.

Pay what you want for this bundle of nine courses which will help you build your illustrative skills. By the end, you’ll know how to get the most out of ballpoint pens, colored pencils, pastels pencils, and more, while drawing everything from landscapes, to skulls, to comic book superheroes.

It’s a key sequence PC users dread having to use, but the old “Ctrl-Alt-Delete” is still in use today. Nostalgia Nerd looks back at the origin of this key combo which dates back to the 1980s. We’re sure that Apple will profess that their “Command-Option-Esc” key combo is far superior.

ChrisFix shares a number of practical tips on buying a used car, including what to ask from the owner, how to check the car’s value and how to run a VIN check for free. He also made a checklist for the test drive. You should research and ask around online as well.

Yarrrrrr! Avast, ye mateys! Shiver me timbers! That’s how we generally think that pirates spoke. But it turns out that it’s a complete fabrication. Cheddar explains where that familiar pirate speak came from, and theorizes on what they might have actually sounded like.

Derek Neutron and Barbara Proton… Usually they engage in a 3-way with Carmen Electron. Exurb1a presents a brief “educational” video, skimming over how the universe works, from tiny subatomic particles to entire galaxies. At least it’s better than this explanation.

“One of the ways you can see if you’re not getting enough anti-oxidants is by looking at your skin and seeing if it’s starting to rust.” Casually Explained digs into health foods, diet trends, counting calories, and nutrition in this snarky, yet surprisingly informative clip about taking care of out bodies.

There’s been a long-held concern that the electromagnetic radiation that emanate from cell phones, power lines, and other devices could cause harm to our bodies. But is there any truth to this concern? Kurzgesagt attempts to separate the fact from fiction in this controvertial topic.

(PG-13: Language) When you think of it, the skeletons of all creatures are a little weird looking, but some are definitely weirder than others. Tune in to this lesson from the Sam O’Nella Academy and enjoy 10 of the worst bone designs that mother nature has bestowed upon the world.

Animator Yan Dan Wong teamed up with Alain De Botton of The School of Life to explore the nature of addiction, and how most of us exhibit one if its primary traits – focusing on material things and other distractions to keep us from dealing with our emotions, hopes, and fears.

Digital fingerprinting and identity tracking is a fact of life these days. But did you know that even the pages your printer has been spewing out could be tattling on you? According to this video from Half as Interesting, printer manufacturers have been outputting a hidden serial number onto every sheet of paper for years.

Pay what you want to build your skills in other languages and cultures with this extensive bundle of digital courses, travel guides, and cookbooks from Lonely Planet and Transparent Language. There’s content for Spain, France, Italy, Germany, China, Korea, Brazil, Portugal, Thailand, Russia, Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Even the greatest TV shows have to work within budget and time constraints – some more than others. Cheddar looks back at some choice episodes where restricting expense and location either worked brilliantly, or failed spectacularly.

Sound designer Michiel de Boer presents a lesson on origins of the humble mouse cursor, as well as its evolution in both Windows and Mac. Not only did Michiel put the research in, he also has a soothing voice. Plus he made his own versions of the Windows cursors.

Ever wonder how the mechanism in those toy cars work so you simply pull them back, and then they zoom forward? Explainer of things Jared Owen’s animation shows us the inner workings of these spring-powered cars and how they store and release energy.

While cats might disagree with humans as to whether or not we’re really their masters, felines are certainly more docile than long ago. TedED’s Eva-Marie Geigl provides a brief lesson in how cats went from wild, solitary beasts to not quite as wild, solitary beasts.

Did you know that some sharks have been reported to live as long as 400 years? Us neither. Tune into this episode of Mental Floss‘ list show, as host Erin McCarthy shares 31 things you may not have known about these impressive Elasmobranchii.

Science fiction has some very specific ideas of what the world would be like if aliens existed and came to Earth. The What If channel offers their take on what might happen if creatures from another planet really did turn up without warning.

Every day of the year, thousands of flights safely take to the skies around the globe. Focusing in on a popular route between London Heathrow and Frankfurt am Main airports, Wendover Productions explains the sheer complexity of coordinating the flight of a jumbo jet, as it moves between different air traffic control centers.

WIRED continues its great series in which experts in their respective fields analyze scenes from TV shows and movies to evaluate their accuracy and likelihood in real life. Annie Onishi, a general surgery resident at Columbia University offers the play-by-play this time.

Each July, Pyro Spectactulars by Souza produces hundreds of fireworks shows to celebrate America’s Independence Day. Wired spent a little time with pyrotechnics expert Jim Souza to walk us through some of the science and magic behind the scenes of these explosive spectacles.