Vsauce

Vsauce host Michael Stevens digs deep into the ever-changing concept of the direction “down,” what causes things to fall, and digs into how masses really, really want to pull towards each other in our universe, thanks to gravitational forces.

We’re assuming they scrubbed the list of all the dirty questions we’re sure are in the REAL top 100, but it’s still entertaining to watch Michael, Kevin, and Jake, of Vsauce, Vsauce2, and Vsauce3, respectively, working as a surprisingly accurate (and literal) human search engine.

Jake Roper from Vsauce3 talks about some of the different kinds of time travel paradigms in science fiction and pop culture, and along the way finds himself stuck in an endless (or at least a 10-hour long) causal loop.

Vsauce got to see BBC’s Planet Earth II early and spoke with the miniseries’ narrator Sir David Attenborough. The spry 90-year-old talked about using the latest technology to make documentaries, why it’s hard to make a nature doc on humans and more.

“Inner space is as mysterious and deep as outer space.” Vsauce gives Bugatti a new slogan, ruins tofu, dives deep into what we think we know about how we think and advices us to keep moving, keep learning and keep hugging.

Vsauce explains that infinity is not a number but a kind of number, and that some infinities are bigger than others. In fact, it appears you can stack infinities infinitely. Why? Because we say so. Math: the ultimate power trip.

We’re pretty familiar with these three popular YouTube channels, so we were impressed with Conjecture’s spot-on meta parodies of each of their trademark styles. The impression of Vsauce’s Michael Stevens bit is amazingly accurate.

Kevin Lieber of Vsauce2 looks at the complex connection between humans and animals, from the way we treat pets as family members, to the respect paid by ancient cultures to animals that were hunted for sustenance, to how we breed dogs to our liking.

Vsauce talks about how cardists use patterns and probabilities to create long-winded tricks that seem to ensure a random outcome, even though what they’ve really done is the opposite. And then your eyes will glaze over as he explains that 52! is a large number.

In this brain-burner of an episode, Vsauce talks about the messages that NASA and other organizations have sent to space in a bid for humanity to communicate with, or at least be remembered by, other intelligent life. Then there’s this.

Did you know that the 100 most used words in the English language make up about half of what the average English speaker says ? Learn that and more in Vsauce’s episode on Zipf’s law, which shows how seemingly complex patterns follow a shockingly simple rule.

Vsauce explains why the bright side of the moon doesn’t always align with its apparent position relative to the sun. Our vision is influenced by visual clues and previous experiences, making us susceptible to optical illusions.

Vsauce talks about awkwardness, including why we feel the same symptoms when we’re embarrassed as when we’re in danger of physical pain. He also explains that in a stupid way, people who are easily embarrassed are being narcissistic.

Vsauce talks about the upbeat topic of human extinction – its probability and possible causes, its impact on our planet and more. He didn’t mention that we’re still merely a blip in time though. We could still get better at this. Or worse.

Vsauce breaks down this classic high school physics question. On one hand, we love this episode because Michael was laser focused. On the other hand, it still hurt our brain. Einstein was a freakin’ Einstein.

As usual, Vsauce doesn’t really focus on his titular topic. But he does briefly talk about that extreme form of creationism, along with how the universe will “remember” your existence, whether you like it or not.

Vsauce enumerates some of the rules of war, sports and professions to argue that these fields are fairer than love, which of course has no formal legislation. But not before he pulls off a legendary segue into graphite.

Michael from Vsauce takes a look at the frequent use of the wrong words and names to describe things. And that comparing apples to oranges might not be such a bad idea afterall. As usual, he’s on to a completely different topic by the end.

Vsauce looks at why we love looking for coincidences: partly because our brains our wired to look for patterns, and partly because we have so many variables to work with. Thanks + for + watching?! Half-Life 3 confirmed.

Vsauce looks at ways to quantify the value of Earth. Then he points out how ridiculous it is that we can even think of selling our planet. Of course, those are just a few of the things he races through in the video.

Vsauce didn’t bother pretending it had a central topic this time, launching straight into a semester’s worth of English and language trivia. The funny thing is, Michael still manages to ramble completely off-topic at the end.

Once again, Vsauce alternately blows and deflates our minds with really-but-not-really scenarios as he discusses shadows, nighttime and darkness made by light, then somehow ends up talking about intellectual darkness.

Vsauce and Veritasium teamed up to look at the concept of randomness. Michael explains how most of the things we describe as random are in fact predictable, but at the same time true randomness could actually be everywhere.

Vsauce’s Michael Stevens is back to ask and attempt to answer another imponderable: just how many things are there in the universe? And we’re not just talking about physical objects – you see, everything is a thing. Even this post.

Can something that doesn’t exist have copies? In an era where art can be perfectly replicated, why do we still value the original work? Also, you’re a forgery. All that and more in another thought-provoking episode of Vsauce.