Science

While you might assume that modern day pharmaceuticals are all some kind of synthetic, many of them are derived from fungi, bacteria, plants, and other organic matter, each of which contains properties which can be beneficial to humans. MinuteEarth explains.

Animator Eoin Duffy and Amber L. Stuver of TED Ed explain how the gravity of every object affects every other object in the cosmos, and the technology that researchers use to detect and track these waves so they can better understand our universe.

It’s a nasty thought, but our bodies are teeming with billions of bacteria all of the time. At times, these microbes are helpful partners, doing things like digesting food, and at other times, they want to kill us. Kurzgesagt explores the delicate balance of the human microbiome.

Schlieren imaging is a method of visualization which plays with light refraction to capture images of normally invisible fluid patterns like air movement. Here, Veritasium walks us through a variant which uses colored filters to produce some astounding images.

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.

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.

(PG-13: Language) Given the complexities of biology, chemistry, and evolution, it’s pretty amazing that human beings exist at all. YouTuber and backyard philosopher exurb1a does his best to explain just what it takes for us to be us.

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.