Awesome Learning

(PG-13: Language, Gore) Crime scene analyst and veteran investigator Matthew Steiner sat down with Wired to comment on crime scene investigations in movies and tv shows. He pointed out common mistakes, dangerous moves and impossible findings.

Insider takes us through one of Vans‘ factories to show how their sneakers are made. While many of their processes have been modernized, the way they make their world-famous vulcanized rubber waffle outsole remains mostly the same since the 1960s.

We’ve all gotten so used to seeing maps of the world in cylindrical and pseudo-cylindrical projections, that our sense of where things are placed and their sizes is pretty distorted compared to reality. RealLifeLore explains many misperceptions of our nation’s geography.

Here’s another life lesson from YouTube’s most crudely-drawn adult educational series. This time, you’ll learn about the challenges that face you as you grow up and eventually have to move out of your parents’ basement and get your own place.

Most of the footage of SpaceX’s rockets are shot from far away, with little to no context to their size. Corridor Crew thought it would be nice to stack them up next to buildings so we can appreciate just how amazing it is that these babies can land and be reused.

How to Make Everything went to a dentist and read up on toothbrushes and toothpastes to find out how to make the cleaning items from scratch. Needless to say, the results were nasty. The pig hair toothbrush alone was bad, but the toothpastes…

Serial learner Mike Boyd received a challenge from trickster Chris Ramsay. It seems such a simple and non-essential move, but card springing, where you pop out playing cards from one hand to the other in a controlled spray, is actually a very difficult trick to pick up.

Andrew Saladino aka The Royal Ocean Film Society is an aspiring director. He wanted to find out if he’s on track at becoming successful in his chosen career, so he looked at the ages of 750 directors to find out the average age at which they debuted.

Build your skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, InDesign, After Effects and more with this series of online lessons designed to help beginners advance to the next level using Adobe’s ubiquitous and useful suite of tools for digital artists. Save 95% in The Awesomer Shop.

“Kiss a pangolin French style, and it can tell you what you ate yesterday.” Totally amateur naturalist Zefrank1 schools us on more of natures stranger creations – Myrmecophagidae and various other critters who enjoy a delicious dinner of ants and termites.

TierZoo’s latest analysis focuses on the top dog of the meta: humans. We are severely lacking in defense and stealth, but out bipedal stance, speech, tool use, and of course intelligence more than make up for our weaknesses. Get rekt world!

In many sitcoms, everything is in focus and brightly lit, and the camera angles are similar as well. It’s all thanks to a system that was developed nearly 70 years ago so that studios could keep filming in front of a live audience.

It’s been a long time since we sent astronauts to the Moon, but if we ever decide to explore Earth’s natural satellite again, what would it be like to live there for an extended period of time? TED-Ed’s Alex Gendler explores the challenges of establishing and maintaining a lunar base.

Science Friday introduces us to marine biologist Kim Stone, who specializes in cultivating a diverse array of living coral reef for the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. Beyond maintaining captive environments, her team is working to improve life for coral in its natural habitat.

If you’re squeamish about the possibility of having a surgery, one look at Sam O’Nella Academy’s history lesson on how these procedures worked before modern medicine should give you plenty of perspective and a more positive outlook on your prognosis.

Because not much is known about the map or its inhabitants, TierZoo found it impossible to come up with a ranking of deep sea creatures. They did, however, identify two traits that are of utmost importance to surviving this weird and unforgiving environment.

Elon Musk is often hailed as a visionary, and his companies Tesla and SpaceX are often looked upon favorably. But a decade ago, both companies were days away from going bankrupt, with no brilliant solution in sight. Of course, those wouldn’t be his only challenges.

TED-Ed shares this riddle that will test your probability skills and your courage. You are faced with two wizards, whose powers work only most of the time. You are given a choice between three wands with abilities that have different success rates. Which do you choose?

Adam Savage gave a speech at the 2018 Maker Faire Bay Area that focused on sharing creations, and more importantly ideas. Savage reminds us that we don’t create in a vacuum, and even if we did, it is only right that we share for the betterment of others and the world.

Cruise ships seem to offer a lot of bang for your buck, and some do sell tickets at a loss. PolyMatter points out some of the many ways that cruise ship companies make or save money, such as flying under different flags, offering one-way trips and having casinos.

Amateur naturalist Zefrank takes a few minutes to explore the strange and wonderful interactions of ant colonies, and how they work together to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts, along with some of the odd behaviors these insects exhibit.

Whether you ate spicy food, sprinted a mile, are anxious, or have a fever, your body is going to make some sweat. But what science is at play here? TED-Ed’s John Murnan explores the complicated inner workings of our bodies which cause perspiration.

Become an expert in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator with this extensive series of online courses in the world’s most popular photo editing, layout, and digital drawing tools. In all, there’s nearly $1200 worth of lessons here, so it’s quite a bargain.