Awesome Learning

YouTuber ChrisFix teaches us how to look for a parts car – a cheap vehicle that you’re going to strip for parts for your existing cars. You’re going to have to do a fair amount of research, but it could save you a lot of money.

While most of the world measures temperature in Celsius, we here in the US are one of a handful of places which still use Fahrenheit, a system in which water freezes at 32º rather than zero. Veritasium explores the convoluted story behind this unusual measuring system.

“He knew that the task of the writer was to ensure that the most serious ideas should achieve mass popularity.” The School of Life sums up the life and philosophy of Eric Arthur Blair, more famously known as the champion of ordinary people, George Orwell.

The rubber duckie is a fairly ubiquitous bathroom accessory, but why is it that we have these floating yellow ducks in our bathtubs? Today I Found Out explores the history of these squeaky playthings, and proves that everything sounds more important with a British accent.

For their wedding anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. SmarterEveryDay went to Iceland and tried drysuit diving at Silfra, Iceland. It’s the only place in the world where you can dive between two continental plates, and has incredibly clear and clean water.

(PG-13: Language) While there’s a very good chance that there is or has been other life in the universe, why is it that we’ve yet to run into any of it? YouTuber exurb1a tackles the frustrating search for extraterrestrial life with his usual wit and cynicism.

Do quick snap decisions outperform carefully studied ones? AsapSCIENCE explores how our brains can work in different ways to help reach conclusions either methodically or intuitively.

After debunking a wireless charger, Captain Disillusion ElectroBoom takes on another viral video that shows miraculous electronics at work. This time it’s a guy who supposedly powers a light bulb with his butt. The things people do for Internet fame.

Can marijuana impair your thinking? Of course it can. But so can alcohol, yet beer is served in stadiums and weed is sold in parking lots because of – wait for it – politics and racism. Adam Ruins Everything traces Western society’s devolving outlook on the herb.

Andrew Rea’s web cooking show Binging with Babish sees him recreating dishes from movies and TV shows. It’s lighthearted but educational, and he has the YouTuber’s secret sauce: a great voice. Here he makes the Moistmaker sandwich from Friends.

Did you know that Memphis is named after an Egyptian city? Or that Atlanta used to have the badass name Terminus? All that and more in Mental Floss’ trivia about the origins of US city names. Mr. Green, say it with us: “Gua-da-lu-pe.”

(PG-13: Language) The latest lesson from the Sam O’Nella Academy teaches us about a few of the crazier ways we’ve measured things over the years, then comes up with his own system of measurement. In other news, we don’t ever want to be stung by a bullet ant.

While we’ve seen all eight of the optical illusions featured in SciShow’s video before, what makes this clip most interesting is the how much you’ll learn about human vision and perception.

Grant Thompson shows us a surprisingly simple method to crack through the tough outer husk of a coconut, then cleanly through its shell so we won’t starve to death the next time we’re stranded on a desert island.

YouTuber RealLifeLore gives us a terrifying idea of just how deep the Earth’s oceans can be by pointing out some of the human and animal milestones at various depths. Good ol’ land is the bee’s knees.

“Snapchat is goth… if you use the right filter.” Pitchfork reminds us that Goth started off as more than just dark eye makeup, with a look back the subculture’s earliest days in the late 1970s as an offshoot of the UK punk scene. In other news, we miss old Ministry.

“Being family is the qualification.” CGP Grey – who seems to be auditioning to become a text-to-speech voice – builds on his cynical guide to ruling with a discussion about dynasties. Supporters would rather stay under someone who’s familiar in more ways than one.

TL;DW: most likely. Unless all your ancestors are from sub-Saharan Africa, you’re almost certainly part Neanderthal. RealLifeLore points out that scientists have found plentiful evidence that our species – homo sapiens – mated with Neanderthals.

Vox shares an anecdote from math professor Joe Mazur’s book Fluke. It’s about a seemingly miraculous reunion between a lady and her book. Mazur points out that investigation and statistics will reveal that such coincidences are not as rare as we think.

Destin of SmarterEveryDay has long wondered why water droplets sometimes bounce or slide off of a body of water instead of immediately coalescing with it. He consulted astronaut and chemical engineer Don Pettit and got two answers: air and vibration.

(PG-13: Language) The Sam O’Nella Academy presents a brief look at some of the highly creative and nasty ways you could be killed back in medieval times. Though we do think an actual giant ape tossing boulders would have been more intimidating than the Warwolf.

CGP Grey simplifies the lessons from The Dictator’s Handbook to present an incredibly depressing yet ultimately pragmatic picture of how leadership – be it of a country or a family – is achieved and sustained. Our robot overlords can’t get here soon enough.

Mehdi Sadaghdar takes on a fake life hack that’s gotten roughly 48 million views because it supposedly shows how to make a wireless smartphone charger that works from up to 50 feet away. He contemplates giving in to fakery, but ends up turning into the hero we need.