Awesome Physics

Professor Dan Burns uses a sheet of spandex, some bearings, marbles and weights to demonstrate the basic principles of gravity, and how planetary orbits were established. It’s how to play with the fabric of space, literally.

BBC Sport explains how downforce and the aerodynamic design of Formula 1 cars not only help them tear through tracks but also make them capable of driving upside down. So… why aren’t F1 cars racing upside down yet again?

YouTube experimenter Tao Fledermaus decided to see what would happen if you submerge a sponge in mercury. The ensuing demo shows the impressive surface tension encountered when dipping a foreign object in the liquid metal.

One of the biggest risks boats face is capsizing from large waves. Check out this amazing technology which creates inverse waves inside the boat to keep it from rocking. The boat model on the left has the system in place.

While you can now buy your very own Half-Life 2 Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator, we much prefer the version that actually picks stuff up – even if it is just through the magic of special effects from the guys at Corridor Digital.

A reboot of Carl Sagan’s classic series, this epic 14-part documentary stars astrophysics badass Neil deGrasse Tyson – and is produced, surprisingly, by Seth MacFarlane. Coming to FOX in 2014. (Thanks, Wille from Feber!)

We’ve seen a hovering superconductors before, but this nifty neodymium magnet-covered track propels a floating vehicle along a looped surface, infinitely twisting upon itself, the vehicle floating both above and below the track.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from experimenter Brusspup. Here, he not only shows off the nifty effect of vibrations on sand, but that he’s a musician – having created the ethereal backing track, Dark Wave.

MinutePhysics answers a question we never knew was worth asking – do you really feel the temperature of other objects when you touch them? Unless you’re a physicist, the answer might surprise you.

You may be familiar with the practice of strapping propellants to household objects and placing NPCs in/on them in HL2 physics sandbox Garry’s Mod. If not, this video by Brandon J. La might not make much sense. Or maybe it will.

Chris Hadfield may already have returned to Earth, but before he left the ISS, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage designed a zero-G game for the astronauts for their rare bit of downtime. Care for a round of Space Darts?

If you’ve ever wondered just how sturdy the concrete pillars made to hold up buildings are, watch this video, in which University of Illinois engineers apply over a million pounds of pressure directly to a concrete cylinder.

Smarter Every Day talks about the Prince Rupert’s Drop. Made of molten glass that’s been dripped into cold water, its thick end is very durable, but the slightest of cracks on its tail end causes it to explode.

YouTuber Brusspup returns to his experiment with water and sound, but this time he set it up so the hose was in contact with the speaker. It’s a shame we can’t see this with our own eyes.

Purdue University MET built a gun that shoots ping pong balls at supersonic speeds, enough to punch a hole through a paddle. Skip to 5:47 to see it in action. Watch it go through soda cans here.

A group of 30 teachers take one of those anti-gravity flights, tossing 2000 ping pong balls into the air just when the modified 727 goes weightless. Where’s ping pong baby when you need him?

This highly educational episode of Minute Physics reveals some of the “wrong” – i.e. simplified – facts that were taught to us in school about gravity, velocity, distance and light.

We’ve already been mesmerized by the scientific sorcery that is quantum levitation, but the part where Dr. Boaz Almog floats the disc upside-down on the rail really messed with our heads.

The science video blog Veritasium drops some knowledge on another form of levitation that is the result of Faraday’s principle of electromagnetic induction. Check out that whoaahh face.

By filling soap bubbles with dry ice vapors and photographing the movement of the swirling gasses inside, Shanks FX creates the illusion of tiny alien climates – until the planets exploded, that is.

Engineers at the University of Maryland are working on a massive, lightweight copter which can lift 10 feet off the ground, entirely on the power of a single pilot – with eyes on the elusive Sikorsky prize.

An incredible demonstration of the laws of physics, as 32 randomly started metronomes reach perfect sync, thanks to the soft board underneath them distributing their energy evenly. (Thanks Jamie!)

Argonne Labs scientist Chris Benmore demonstrates his acoustic levitator, which can make small objects or small amounts of fluids float by encasing them in a standing wave. More here.