Awesome Learning

“You’ll notice that alcohol quickly makes you better at many things…” Mr. Explained explains how booze lives up to its “liquid courage” nickname, and how confidence times ounces consumed is inversely proportional to the intelligence of your actions.

Introduced in 1973, the power symbol may not be the most intuitive icon, but it actually has a very simple explanation. It’s a combination of “1” and “0”, and is meant to convey that the same button turns a device on and off. More in Lazy Game Reviews’ video.

“A man whose fear is greater than his desire… cannot be a pivotal character.” Lessons from the Screenplay breaks down the basics of a TV pilot – the episode that is used to sell the show to networks – and how Vince Gilligan pulled it off for Breaking Bad.

A look inside Brooklyn, New York’s Sims Materials Recovery Facility, a high-tech recycling operation which uses automation to separate a wide variety of metal, glass, and plastic materials based on their weight, size, shape, and even molecular composition.

This video from Grunge makes a good point about how with radio DJs no longer being the main way we hear new music, many fans have no idea how bands’ names are pronounced. We bet there’s at least one band name in here that you’ve been getting wrong all along.

(PG-13: Language) American sign language interpreter Amber Galloway Gallego spoke with Vox about how traditional ASL is not suited to translating music, whether it be wordplay or melody. That’s why she injects creativity and motion to help the deaf appreciate music.

Real Engineering presents the first in a series of videos which look at future airplanes which could disrupt the commercial airline industry which has been locked up tight by Boeing and Airbus for years. First up, the Aurora D8, an unusual jet with a “double-bubble” fuselage.

(PG-13) Kaptainkristian tips his hat to Tom Fulp’s Newgrounds. Not only did the website pioneer several social and commercial features for online content creators, its continued independence and creator-friendly atmosphere makes it a great home for aspiring artists.

Fortunately, it’s starting to gradually warm up in most of the Northern Hemisphere, but when it is cold out, you just want to get somewhere warm as quickly as possible. Minute Physics ponders whether or not it’s better to proceed slowly when you’re freezing your butt off.

Kurzgesagt sums up the basics of genetically modified organisms or GMOs. Technically, we’ve been modifying the genes of plants and animals for thousands of years, from corn to dogs. GMOs are powerful tools – it’s how and why we wield them that matters.

CGP Grey explains how Americans have been forced to use their Social Security numbers as identification despite it being completely unfit for the purpose. You can get off the grid, but only under very specific circumstances.

Racing seats improve safety and stop your body from jostling around when cornering. ChrisFix recently went out to buy a racing seat and used it as an opportunity to explain the basics of the equipment: their types, materials, how it should fit you and your car, and more.

“We’re idiots now, we’ve been idiots in the past, and we’ll be idiots again in the future… and that’s okay.” Lazy Chief created this charming animation for School of Life which reminds us that if we simply let go of our fears of looking foolish, that we can achieve great things.

We all know that sleep is an essential part of keeping our minds and bodies sharp and restored. But is the typical 7 or 8 hours more or less than we should get? Life Noggin explores the human body’s need for rest, and how it changes as we age. TL;DW: Go take a nap.

“Go ahead and buy sweet and succulent tree fetuses. They’re just gonna rot on your counter anyway.” Cracked and Roger the educational Satan are back to explain how groceries use psychology and statistics to make us spend and eat more.

The robots are here to take our jobs. Fortunately, money is on our side: businesses can’t thrive on unemployed customers. That’s where basic income comes in. Unless of course the rich figure out how to stay rich by catering only to each other and their robots.

It’s a question many of us who have worn glasses have pondered – does the simple fact that we started wearing glasses when our eyes were only slightly blurry make our vision worse, or is it just age working against us? SciShow explores this myth and sets the record straight.

AlternateHistoryHub teaches us that there’s actually already a place that could have qualified as another continent, though the one big problem is that the majority of Zealandia sits underwater. He then imagines what might have happened if it hadn’t been submerged.

In the US, the top three last names account for around 2% of the population. But in China, the dominance of the top three surnames is already at 21%. The Rest of Us examines the origin of surnames, and whether all but one of them will eventually disappear.

After exploring cost as a limiting factor in the speed of commercial airplanes, Wendover Productions looks at how despite us all arriving at the same place at the same time, the bigger seats, drinks and meals of premium classes are big moneymakers for airlines.

Reigarw presents a comparison of all kinds of matter in the universe, from the tiniest subatomic particles to giant superclusters of galaxies, you’ll quickly feel insignificant right after we zoom past the human race. The voiceover is a bit silly, but it’s still amazing.

Named after James Clerk Maxwell’s famous thought experiment, Corrado Carlevaro’s Maxwell the Demon is a series of ’30s style animated shorts that summarize the fundamental laws of physics. Sadly, the series appears to be in limbo.

This excerpt from a 2013 episode of Begin Japanology talks about Japan’s love for calculators. Despite the prevalence of computers and spreadsheets, Japan still has calculator clubs in some high schools and holds calculator speed competitions.