Awesome Science

University of Rochester scientists created metals that are so water-repellent drops of water literally bounce off of them. They induced the hydrophobic property by using lasers to etch microscopic patterns on the metals’ surfaces.

Kurzgesagt does its best to explain just how infinitesimally small (and special) atoms are using their trademark motion graphic style – and lots of lots of grains of rice and sand. We also just really like the words “quarks” and “gluons.”

Will and Robbie from At-Bristol show off a neat trick for science geeks. When you project a laser pointer through a droplet of water, it creates a microscope that can project tiny organisms onto your wall. (Thanks Ross!)

It’s a question anyone who grew up in the ’70s or ’80s has asked. Could the Kool-Aid Man and his glass pitcher body actually bust through a brick wall? Vsauce3 host Jake Roper is here to answer this critical question once and for all.

Watch what happens when two super-strong neodymium magnets are let loose to smash into one another, causing an impressive amount of destruction. And this is why you never put your hand between one and a piece of metal.

Crazy Russian Hacker demonstrates how to use two basic chemicals to create your own homemade super bouncy superballs. It’s a lot more work than putting a quarter in a vending machine, but you can say you made it yourself.

The human eye is so complex and has so many requisite parts that some think of it as an “irreducible complexity.” But scientists believe that this marvelous optical instrument did benefit from 500 million years of refinement.

Grant “The King of Random” Thompson demonstrates just how recyclable aluminum cans are by melting down a batch, and then casting new metal ingots from them using his homebrew mini metal foundry. The fun starts at 1:20.

…because it’s delicious, that’s why. Thankfully, Minute Earth also answers what makes food such as beer, bread and cheese possible: harmless bacteria and fungi that convert food into their awesome versions.

Les Baugh lost both of his arms in a freak accident about 40 years ago. Now scientists from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have fitted him with two robotic limbs, which can be controlled wirelessly using his own thoughts.

The always thought-provoking Kurzegesagt explores the scientific and philosophical differences between life and death, and how nature’s complicated organizational systems turn matter into life. More on the subject here.

A demonstration of a mechanized platform which can perfectly balance a ball in its center no matter how hard its human master attempts to defeat it. Its motion control system can also make the ball follow precise paths on demand.

Students from the University of Minnesota captured raindrops hitting sand at various velocities using a high-speed camera. Apparently the craters left behind by the drops are similar to those made by asteroid impacts.

Science nerds Taras (“CrazyRussianHacker“) Kulakov and his brother Dima offer up their own take on the Slow Mo Guys concept, showing off the utter destruction that happens to household sponges when doused with sulfuric acid.

Michael Stevens explores the antiquated and crackpot theories that the Earth isn’t round, and demonstrates the science of what would happen to us if our planet were really flat. On the other hand, we still believe time is a flat circle.

While some model railroads can be incredibly complicated, this one is constructed from nothing more than a copper wire, tiny magnets and a dry cell battery. We wonder how big a track you could make using this method.

We’ve seen Schlieren photography in action before. Here’s another example from the Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations, which used a relatively simple setup to make air and other gases “visible.” 

AsapSCIENCE explores the challenges associated with colonizing Mars. While water is plentiful and it’s possible to produce air, the red planet has less sunlight and gravity than Earth, and then there’s the little problem of getting people there.

The sequel to The Elements, Molecules by Theodore Gray is an interactive book about compounds, chemicals and molecules. It also has 3D models of 348 molecules and over 500 videos of objects. Also available in print form.

Grant “The King of Random” Thompson demonstrates chemical reactions and an electrical hack which result in explosions, meltdowns and other chaos, and are sure to get you kicked out of science lab if you try them yourself. So don’t.

In this fascinating clip from BBC Two series Human Universe, they demonstrate how a bowling ball and feather fall at exactly the same speed when air has been almost completely removed from a giant vacuum chamber.

Craig “Wheezy Waiter” Benzine of Mental Floss explores another question that you’ve probably wondered about at some point : Why is it that spiders don’t get caught in their own webs, when everything else seems to stick to them?

The King of Random makes high-flying rockets using sugar, potassium nitrate and kitty litter. It’s very cheap but also very dangerous, because the resulting mixture is combustible. Also use cardboard instead of PVC tubes.