Awesome Science

The Backyard Scientist shows off what happens when salt is melted (at ~1400ºF) and then poured into in an aquarium filled with room temperature water. The end result is a shockingly big boom that sends glass and water flying everywhere. (Thanks Paul!)

CGP Grey looks at one of the most desired and elusive pieces of technology from the Star Trek universe, and explains how even if transporter beams did exist, we’d have to die and be reincarnated every time we used them.

Scientists lost their minds when the existence of gravitational waves was confirmed, but the rest of humanity put on black shirts and clown makeup. Thank goodness physicist Brian Greene dropped by The Late Show to explain the discovery in relatable terms.

Veritasium explores our ability to sync up images with sounds, even if they arrive at different times. Along the way, we learn how there’s a brief window of time that that we think of as the present, during which our brains can instantaneously alter our perceptions.

Learn about the extinction of left-handed magnets, the paradigm-shifting brownie-in-microwave experiment, a fun science activity for kids and mole people and more. Dear electrons, we know it’s hard for you to stay positive, but we appreciate you.

YouTuber Dustin Skye got one of those Levitron floating tops, but no, defying gravity wasn’t enough for him. He had to go and get all fancy on us, and put on a big show, complete with fog effects. He’s also likes to play with fire.

General Electric engineers dropped a snowball into a vat of molten metal slag, yet it did not melt, thanks to the amazingly well insulated superalloy container they placed it inside of. These materials are designed to withstand the extreme heat produced by a jet engine.

Loaded Pictures created this lovingly-animated black and white short of celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and his response to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. The 16th U.S. President’s contributions didn’t just change society, they changed science forever.

While that title might sound like hyperbole, it is the truth. If concrete truly did dry out, it could be reconstituted with water like dry pasta, and couldn’t be used to build things. MinutePhysics explains the not so subtle differences between something being “dry” and “set.”

Veritasium explores the phenomenon that time seems to speed up as we get older. Apparently, it has some relation to how novel things are when we’re younger, and the amount of mental energy we expend on things. There are ways to slow things down, but they’re not very pleasant.

Kurzgesagt explains what a red dwarf is, and why we should care about these small, dim stars, then envisions the day trillions of years in the future, when the last star in the universe burns out, and the universe goes dark.

We already know that sugary sodas aren’t very good for our teeth or our bellies – even in moderation. ASAPScience looks at the rather absurd idea of what would happen to our brains and bodies if that’s all we drank.

Carsandwater takes a momentary break from his red hot nickel ball to drop an 83.5 pound weight on some lime gelatin, then repeats the “experiment” after deep-freezing some in liquid nitrogen. Why? Because YouTube.

Sports drinks are only better than water after prolonged and intense physical activities, bottled water might be worse than tap water and no, drinking soda while eating Pop Rocks will not kill you. All that and more in Mental Floss’ video.

ISS astronaut Scott Kelly demos a pair of special teflon-coated paddles which allow him to bounce a blob of water between them just like a ping pong ball. We’re guessing the slow motion movement through microgravity would make for some really long rallies.

We’re not sure of the health implications of eating steak cooked in molten copper, but it’s still cool to watch as this raw T-bone is cooked to within an inch of its life as YouTuber Tito4Re douses it with hot liquid metal. Cooking rice the same way doesn’t work quite as well.

Mark Rober walks us through the science of condensation, and a series of experiments he used to determine the most effective way getting fog off the inside of car windows. He also shares a couple of preventative hacks that include using kitty litter and shaving cream.

Rookie troll Casually Explained makes bogus videos about mathematical and scientific concepts. Here he makes his mark with a long-winded joke that talks about objects with incredibly high temperatures.

YouTuber carsandwater dips a red hot nickel ball into flame-retardant tinsel, which immediately turns into The Ghost of Cancer Yet to Come. Also, can we all just pause and marvel at this ball’s staying power? Good for you ball. You deserve that cup of coco.

The always thought-provoking Kurzgesagt looks at one of life’s fundamental questions: what makes a thing a thing? In other words, when do primitive particles become things we can actually define, and why do they do what they do? AKA: Particle Physics 101.

The Backyard Scientist has made a habit of pouring molten aluminum into things to see how it will interact with them. This time, he pours the hot metal into an aquarium filled with thousands of water-absorbent polymer beads. The resulting sculptures are totally awesome.

Beyond Slow Motion picked up a stack of colorful Magination magnets, then captured how dropping a single one into the mix causes them all to pull together toward each other. By adding some water and colored powder to the mix, the effect is even more impressive.

You’ve probably heard the term “quantum computing” at some point, but most of us don’t have a solid grip on what makes it key to our technological future. Here, KurzGesagt puts the science of making computers that can defy physical limits in terms we can all understand.