Awesome Science

Do you know what’s beneath your feet? Go deeper than the dirt and the rocks and the water, and you’ll eventually get to the Earth’s crust. This great infographic video from Dr James O’Donoghue (@physicsJ) and Dr. Christine Houser (@seismodoc) illustrates the materials comprising the crust, as well as their proportions.

Director Louie Schwartzberg’s documentary Fantastic Fungi: The Magic Beneath Us takes viewers deep into the underground world of mycelium and mushrooms. Beyond their abilities to feed and heal, it further explores how fungi can be part of massive, interconnected networks.

After wowing us with their footage of fire and ice, macrophotography channel Beauty of Science’s series Envisioning Chemistry shares images of the Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction, a wild pattern of oscillations that occurs when a bromine and an acid are combined in a petri dish.

There’s no question that nuclear power can be dangerous – especially when something goes wrong – but it’s still pretty amazing that something so small can generate so much energy. This compilation from Top Fives demonstrates the imposing sound and light show that occurs when starting up a reactor.

The macrophotography experts from the Beauty of Science present a stunning close-up look at the formation of crystals with razor-sharp clarity. The time-lapse, black-and-white imagery was selected to evoke the icy cold sensation of the Arctic. Still image gallery on Behance.

We know John D. Boswell aka Melodysheep best for his awesome musical mashups, but he is also fascinated with science. The first episode of his series “Live Beyond” explores the origins of life and humanity’s place in the universe, while further episodes will dig into the potential for life beyond our world.

If you live somewhere that snow coats roads in the wintertime, you’ll want to check out Engineering Explained’s latest clip, as Jason walks us through the variables at work when driving on slippery surfaces, and provides some tips on how to maintain control on the snow.

Sending cargo and ships into space is extremely expensive and resource-intensive. But there’s an idea that’s been bandied about that would use endlessly-moving tethers to catapult ships into space from Earth’s orbit. Kurzgesagt explains how this relatively simple concept could dramatically improve space travel.

Smart MicroOptics‘ tabletop gadget is designed to turn any smartphone into a high resolution microscope. The system will offer 35x-200x, 75x-500x, and 150x-1000x magnification modules, capturing details as small as 0.7 micron. Both a basic and precision sample stage are available.

If you find space science fascinating, check out this clip from Kurzgesagt, in which they explain how neutron stars work. These phenomena may only be a few kilometers in diameter, but have an insanely dense atomic nucleus and powerful gravity, thanks to their origins as massive stars which have collapsed and gone supernova.

The Earth’s lone moon is very important to the way the world works, affecting everything from the ocean tides, to the regularity of our seasons and the length of our days. But what would happen if another similar asteroid got pulled into the Earth’s orbit? SciShow explores some of the potentially serious implications.

If you spent any time paying attention in class, you’d know that every planet spins at a different speed. Scientist and data geek James O’Donaghue put together this nifty visualisation that shows the the relative speed and axial tilt of our Solar System’s planets (and Pluto). We had no idea Jupiter was such a speed demon.

The always awesome Chop Shop Store teamed up with The Planetary Society to create 20 wooden blocks, each featuring a planet, dwarf planet, or moon from our solar system, and printed with useful data. They’re also offering space-themed add-ons like posters, tees, and stickers. Shipping starts 11/2019.

There are lots of things to be frightened of in the world, but is there a universally worst terror for all people, regardless of age, race, sex, culture or other attributes? Michael Stevens of Vsauce digs into the notion of fear, and how these unpleasant feelings are triggered in our brains. He also hates purple squares now.

There’s a lot of stuff that happens to Marty and Doc in Back to the Future, from being blown away by a giant amplifier, to acting as a conductor for a lightning bolt. Jake Roper of Vsauce3 decided to find out if it would be remotely possible to live through all that in this episode of Could You Survive the Movies?

There’s no question that we live in a vast and incredibly complex universe. The fact that life exists at all has led some scientists and philosophers to ponder whether or not we are all just living in a computer simulation. This TED-Ed clip by theoretical physicist Zohreh Davoudi and animator Eoin Duffy explores that question.

“There are more phages on Earth than every other organism combined.” Kurzgesagt takes a few minutes to educate us on the finer points of the bacteriophage, a type of virus which is constantly killing off billions of microscopic organisms all around and inside of us.

Ever wonder what the quietest and loudest sounds in the universe might be? With the help of their imaginary robot Noisy, and Microsoft’s anechoic chamber, Bright Side digs into this question, and some of the science behind the way sounds travel and how our hearing works.

If you thought the only way to bend a beam of light was with mirrors, you’d be wrong. MEL Chemistry shows off a few simple experiments you can do with a laser pointer and household items like oil, water, and salt, that demonstrate the nature of reflection and refraction. More here.

The What If channel likes to imagine some pretty gory hypotheticals, but this one takes the cake so far, as they envision what might happen to our bodies if we were to jump into a swimming pool filled with stomach acid. TL;DW: just get out of there and hose off quick.

Have you ever wondered why insects, birds, fish, and bats gather together into huge and coordinated groups? TED-Ed’s Maria R. D’Orsogna explores the fascinating science behind this behavior, which drives many species as a method of survival and group productivity.

There’s nothing quite like the delicious flavor of grilled, seared, or smoked meats. But the way you cook and handle meats after cooking can dramatically improve its quality. SciShow explains tips for making the perfect BBQ meal and the scientific reasons that these techniques improve flavor and texture.

Stephen Low’s big-screen 3D film Secrets of the Universe introduces us to some of the world’s brightest minds as they unravel the mysteries of the universe. Along the way, journey to the Large Hadron Collider and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO), and meet the scientists of the Perimeter Institute. (Thanks Susan!)