Awesome Learning

AsapScience talks about how today’s cellphones send and receive text messages, how we still receive texts even when they were sent hours before, why the system can cause our phones to use more power, and more.

Avid learner Mike Boyd figured out how to solve a Rubik’s cube. Since it would take him a long time to be a speedsolver, he instead aimed to solve the puzzle cube in under 2 minutes. It took him 16 hours over 23 days to achieve that speed.

Now You See It made an abridged history of the movie-making capital. Hollywood started as a rebellious albeit greedy movement, then devolved into a monopoly of studios. The rise of the internet and affordable equipment could finally put an end to the blockbuster factory.

Kurzgesagt’s happy little video looks at the science of Gamma Ray bursts, and how these extraordinarily powerful beams of energy that are capable of ripping apart the very atomic bonds that keep together everything in our universe, including all life on Earth.

Mobile phones have us staring at tiny screens, hunching over, and typing with our thumbs. It’s only a matter of time before they start having profound effects on our well-being. While we wait for evolution to catch up, we probably should put down our phones now and then.

(PG-13: Language) YouTuber Exurb1a schools us on the history of rockets with the rapid-fire lyrical patterns of Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic tune I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General, though we wouldn’t exactly call what he’s doing “singing.”

Want to build your own Android apps? Head to The Awesomer Shop and sign up for this extensive series of online training to help get started. By the end of the 31 hour course, you’ll build 14 apps, and learn to submit them to the Google Play Store. A $199 value.

RocketJump Film School talks about the importance of movie screenings, where a small group of people watch and critique a “finished” movie before its wide release. If Stanley Kubrick was humble enough to accept others’ opinions of his work, then we should do the same.

Destin of SmarterEveryDay risks his life to show us just how important it is to put your own oxygen mask first before helping others when you’re in an airplane that’s losing air and pressure. If you try to be a hero, you could pass out and die in seconds.

Veritasium talks about cognitive ease, which is our tendency to prefer ideas that are familiar and simple. The challenge is to be self-aware about why we think something is true or good, and whether it’s a no-brainer or requires further thought.

Like water, graphite is a plentiful and incredibly useful material. It’s a form of carbon like diamond or coal, but it’s a great conductor of heat and electricity. So yes, ElectroBOOM both zaps and singes himself in this video. Learn more on his website.

Computer scientist Mike Pound uses software called “HashCat” and a workstation loaded with graphics cards designed for parallel processing to make quick work of hacking a database of encrypted passwords. Now you know why complex and unique passwords are a necessity.

Practical Engineering offers up an informative look at how water pressure and depth are strongly interconnected, why self-feeding pet bowls don’t spill everywhere, how barometers work, and how to boil water at room temperature.

Ralph J. Teetor was blinded at age 5 due to an accident, but he went on to become a successful mechanical engineer. He came up with the cruise control system in the 1940s because of his lawyer’s habit of slowing down while talking and speeding up while listening.

“The point… is paradoxically not to find out what’s going on outside. It is rather, an exercise in discovering the contents of our own minds.” The School of Life reminds us that introspection and daydreaming can be as productive as purposeful activities.

Errant Signal compares the social elements of Overwatch and its inspiration, Team Fortress 2. Like iOS compared to Android, Blizzard opted for a safer and more user friendly experience, whereas Valve gave players more freedom of expression and ways to find their niche.

(PG-13 Language) Rudimentary and rude video maker GradeAUnderA shares some actually very useful advice on preventing hackers from messing with and/or stealing your sh*t. P.S. It’s “authentication”, not “authentification,” Grade.

Minute Earth explains how poorly coded software can lead to the error it calls Null Island, in which unknown coordinates are replaced with 0º, 0º.  On a related note, people with “Null” in their names can also get screwed by software.

(SPOILERS) CineFix takes a close look at three of the many stunning scenes from Game of Thrones’ climactic battle between the Starks and the Boltons and appreciates them from a technical standpoint. Marvel and DC should watch this.

SciShow looks at one of the more annoying aspects of life on the Internet – people who post inflammatory remarks to get a rise out of others. While we’re all for freedom of speech, we strongly prefer that asshats save their hateful thoughts for their inner voice.

Tom Scott introduces us to Victor Gruen, the architect recognized as the inventor of the shopping mall. Except what we ended up with and what he envisioned were significantly different. Victor could still have the last laugh though.

“Inner space is as mysterious and deep as outer space.” Vsauce gives Bugatti a new slogan, ruins tofu, dives deep into what we think we know about how we think and advices us to keep moving, keep learning and keep hugging.

Now You See It’s simple deconstruction explores the cultural and historical origins of American and British humor. We’d like to add that British humor tends to be reserved while Americans love to put on a show – The Black Knight and Ace Ventura.