Science

Kyle Hill from Nerdist recently posted a brief clip that shows the crazy stuff that happens when you inject compressed air into a bed filled with sand. We spotted this 2012 video from The Royal Institution that shows much more, and provides an explanation of the physics at work.

Kurzgesagt explores the crazy notion that perhaps what we’re experiencing isn’t real at all, and that we’re all part of a massive simulation in some ultra-powerful computer system. Vsauce 3 has their own take on the thought experiment here.

Sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing. We’ve had it engrained our whole lives that those are THE five human senses, but there are many other things we can detect that don’t tie to an obvious sensory organ. Vox delves into some of our abilities which didn’t make the short list.

Kurzgesagt’s latest thought experiment explores what might happen to us if we somehow managed to load up bits of the Sun brought them right here to Earth. Depending on which part you captured, it could simply vanish, or destroy life as we know it.

It’s the stuff of science fiction at this point, but it’s certainly worth exploring the idea that building a planet capable of supporting human life could be an alternative to colonizing an existing, less hospitable planet. Life Noggin ponders this question in this all-too-short video.

SciShow host Hank Green answers the question none of us were asking, as he explores the rather ludicrous sounding idea of sending our garbage to the nearest volcano, and then just dumping it in. We don’t really need to explain why this is a bad idea, do we?

This desktop aquarium is home to a microcosm of bioluminescent dinoflagellates. They produce a cool blue glow after exposed to a little sunlight, water, and a little shake. The creatures ship separately to ensure they arrive safely. Way cooler than Sea Monkeys!

While most aluminum is covered with a protective oxide layer, it’s possible that it could wear away over time. After watching NileRed’s clip showing how mercury can interact with exposed aluminum, we’re more than happy with it being banned from air travel.

ElectroBOOM’s Mehdi Sadaghdar is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore. After seeing way too many videos of fake science and “lifehacks,” he decided to do something about it, and debunked a few of the more heinous ones.

Lots of us stayed outside to watch the big solar eclipse this week, but this isn’t the view any of us saw. Instead of looking up at the skies, the University of Wisconsin Madison time-lapsed weather satellite imagery to track the shadow of the moon as it crossed the US.

We’re not sure what sort of magnets Chemical Bouillon used beneath their container of ferrofluid, but they used them to manipulate the wondrous magnetic fluid into some fascinating organic patterns. More here and here.

The Backyard Scientist can’t be bothered to cook the meals he got from Blue Apron using normal kitchen appliances. Instead, he turns to more dangerous methods, like a powerful arc flashlight, a high-voltage transformer, a blowtorch, and delicious manganese heptoxide.

While you might think the universe is just an endless expanse, it actually has a shape that holds it together. MinutePhysics teamed up with PhD Comics to explore this puzzling astrophysical question and try to suss out some answers for us.

Back in 1952, London, England was engulfed in a think blanket of smog that was so nasty that it caused the city to come to a halt, and actually ended up killing an estimated 12,000 people. SciShow looks back at this tragic result of industrial development without controls.

Students from the Ithaca College Low Temperature Physics Lab created a neat version of a quantum levitation track. It still uses supercooling and magnets to work its magic, but adds a fun (and literal) twist to by running its course around a triple-twist Möbius Strip.

Veritasium takes a look at a neat physical property – the ability to levitate a lightweight ball or disc atop a jet of water. The trick involves getting the water to flow along one side, runs up and over the object, creating a state of equilibrium which allows it to spin.

So is the vastness of space an actual thing, or is it merely the absence of things? It’s Okay To Be Smart explores this perplexing question that at first seems to be philosophical, but is really something that can be answered with science.

After giving us a gross, but fascinating view of his talented vocal chords using an endoscope, beatboxer Tom Thum subjected himself to a claustrophobia-inducing MRI tube and headcage to get a look at how things work inside his face, neck, nose, and throat.

Vsauce3 provides a layperson’s look at how a video camera breaks down images in such a way that it can be turned into data, and then reconstructed into a realistic picture. In a way, everything we see is simply perception of a thing rather than an actual thing.

Thermite is some nasty stuff, but the extremely hot-burning material needs an ignition source around 3,000° F to get started. Grant Thompson decided to see if the solar light concentrator he built is up to the challenge of sparking a thermite blaze.

As NASA’s Juno spacecraft orbits Jupiter, it’s sending back data and imagery that reveals new details about the gas giant. The planet’s poles are awash with constantly swirling cyclones, and its powerful magnetic field is even stronger than scientists had estimated.

If you thought the expressions beatboxers make while producing sounds were weird, wait till you get a load of this. Tom Thum allowed a doctor to place an endoscopic camera with a view of his throat while he beatboxed. The video is equal parts fascinating and disgusting.

The Action Lab shows off a cool property of polyethylene glycol, a chemical with a crazy high molecular weight. As a result, they stick together in very long chains, so once he pours out a little bit of the liquid, the rest follows on its own, much like metal beads do.

The process of sandwiching oil and ferrofluid between sheets of glass is messy to say the least, but the result is amazing – the ability actually view the radiating fields created by magnets placed on the surface of the glass. Magnetic Games shows us how its done.

Ideally, you’ll strap on a VR headset for this, but if you don’t have one, you can still appreciate the ethereal fractal journey that Julius Horsthuis has laid before you, accompanied by excerpts from one of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins‘ most profound lectures.