Awesome Learning

Adam Ruins Everything talks about the U.S. Electoral College. It was intended to give less populous states a voice and avoid problems should states support regional candidates. But it ended up being an undemocratic mess where a citizen’s vote hardly matters.

The Film Theorists’ Frame by Frame explains that Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak is a grand homage to horror pioneer Mario Bava. The prolific Italian filmmaker loved to use contrasting lighting, elaborate sets and period plots, all of which are in del Toro’s film.

(Flashing lights) Screen Rant talks about 10 popular children’s shows, including Sailor Moon, Tiny Toons and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which had episodes banned for various reasons, not all of them reasonable.

The tape measure seems like a self-explanatory tool. But as Leah of See Jane Drill points out, it has several features that can make using it a lot easier, such as the slot and the serrated edge of its hook.

Despite Screen Rant’s aggressive title, these scenes were not actually illegally reused. They were acquired with permission, which wasn’t that hard since most of them were from the same studio anyway. Still, it’s interesting to know.

Adam Ruins Everything kills any possibility of Listerine ever being a sponsor, as he questions the idea that most of us even need mouthwash, and how marketing, and clever use of the ominous word “halitosis” convinced us otherwise. Well, it can always clean your floors.

For its Halloween episode, HouseholdHacker shows us how to make realistic fake blood using off-the-shelf items. All you need is flour, corn syrup, red and blue food coloring and 60 seconds.

Auto enthusiast Salomondrin gives us an idea how much it costs to maintain a Bugatti Veyron. Obviously if you can afford to buy a $3 million car, these things won’t matter to you, but it doesn’t make a $20,000 oil change any less insane.

Adam Ruins Everything points to two experiments where wine experts were easily fooled by cheap tricks. We don’t think all connoisseurs are frauds, but the truth is that it’s impossible to be purely objective when it comes to tasting food and drink.

Adam Ruins Everything points out that some of the salmon served in restaurants could be cheaper… but you probably wouldn’t eat it. Then there’s the problem with tuna dishes: half the time, they don’t contain tuna at all.

“I think there’s an artist hidden in the bottom of every single one of us, and here we will try to show you how to bring that artist out.” The Bob Ross company now has full episodes of The Joy of Painting on its YouTube channel. Learn, relax and be inspired by some happy little trees.

“Have a reason to cut.” RocketJump Film School talks about how movie editing is about controlling information. You can hide something to promote tension, focus on one thing for emphasis, or give the audience time to feast their eyes on what’s happening onscreen.

Ad agency Panoply made this irreverent 3D animated short to talk about dopamine and oxytocin. These hormones are crucial in feeling happiness or satisfaction (among other things), but there are healthy and destructive ways to trigger them.

(SPOILERS) Birdman‘s seemingly seamless single shot perspective is one of its most appealing aspects. The Film Theorists point out how Alejandro G. Iñárritu and his crew achieved the illusion using classic filmmaking techniques and VFX. Regardless, it’s still awesome.

Beat Breakdown shows us how producer Nineteen85 turned Timmy Thomas’ Why Can’t We Live Together? into the beat for Drake’s Hotline Bling. You may not get all the jargon, but the video is a good reminder of hip hop’s underappreciated depth.

Did you know that Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm, who spent 20 years in MLB, hit his only home run on his first time at bat? Or that college football coaches make bank? Okay we already knew about the latter, but Mental Floss has more sports trivia.

What makes humans humans was the result of thousands of years of evolution. However, science may accelerate things. AsapSCIENCE looks at how we might be different 1,000 years from now. We’re guessing our necks will be bent forward to adapt to texting.

A handful of YouTubers make a lot of money by making prank videos. But Cracked reminds us that many of these so-called practical jokes are actually forms of violence, bullying, harrassment or sometimes just lying, but with a disclaimer and a camera.

Despite its mass media acceptance, Adam Ruins Everything would like to remind us that the polygraph test is more of a placebo than an accurate device. Even its inventor thought so, and you certainly don’t need a clean conscience to screw with its results.

Channel Criswell does a marvelous job of breaking down Hayao Miyazaki’s approach to filmmaking, from characterization through movement to the acknowledgment that people and life in general are not purely good or evil.

Shoelace fanatic Ian “Professor Shoelace” Fieggen shows us a method that lets you tie your shoelaces more quickly than ever before, and is easy for lefties, righties, kids, and adults alike. Learn this technique and 17 other ways to tie your shoes at Ian’s website.

Adam Conover of Adam Ruins Everything takes an cynical and amusing look at how the early days of the automobile industry managed to turn something as innocuous as crossing a street into a criminal act.

Subway’s footlongs were actually lessthanafootlongs, a man sued himself to get free money and a woman thought Frozen was based on her life. All that and more in Mental Floss List Show’s rundown of absurd and frivolous lawsuits.