Veritasium

What happens if you just keep squaring?

Jun 6, 2023

There's a strange number system, featured in the work of a dozen Fields Medalists, that helps solve problems that are intractable with real numbers. Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial, and the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription. If you're looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms - a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically: https://snatoms.com ▀▀▀ References: Koblitz, N. (2012). p-adic Numbers, p-adic Analysis, and Zeta-Functions (Vol. 58). Springer Science & Business Media. Amazing intro to p-adic numbers here: https://youtu.be/3gyHKCDq1YA Excellent series on p-adic numbers: https://youtu.be/VTtBDSWR1Ac Great videos by James Tanton: @JamesTantonMath ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Emil Abu Milad, Tj Steyn, meg noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Written by Derek Muller and Alex Kontorovich Edited by Trenton Oliver Animated by Mike Radjabov, Ivy Tello, Fabio Albertelli and Jakub Misiek Filmed by Derek Muller Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images & Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound & Jonny Hyman Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, & Emily Zhang

The Fastest Maze-Solving Competition On Earth

May 24, 2023

Welcome to Micromouse, the fastest maze-solving competition on Earth. Join Onshape’s community of over 3 million CAD users by creating a free account here: https://Onshape.pro/Veritasium. Special thanks to our Patreon supporters! Join this community to help us keep our videos free, forever: https://ve42.co/PatreonDEB ▀▀▀ A huge thank you to Peter Harrison for all of his help introducing us to the world of Micromouse – check out https://ukmars.org & https://micromouseonline.com. Thank you to David Otten, APEC, and the All-Japan Micromouse Competition for having us. Thank you to Juing-Hei (https://www.youtube.com/@suhu9379) & Derek Hall (https://www.youtube.com/@MicroMouse) for usage of their micromouse videos. Thank you to John McBride, Yusaku Kanagawa, and Katie Barnshaw for their help with Japanese translations. ▀▀▀ References: Claude Shannon Demonstrates Machine Learning, AT&T Tech Channel Archive - https://ve42.co/ClaudeShannon Mighty mouse, MIT News Magazine - https://ve42.co/MightyMouse History, Micromouse Online Blog - https://ve42.co/MMHistory Christiansen, D. (1977). Spectral lines: Announcing the Amazing Micro-Mouse Maze Contest. IEEE Spectrum, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 27-27 - https://ve42.co/Christiansen1977 Allan, R. (1979). Microprocessors: The amazing micromice: See how they won: Probing the innards of the smartest and fastest entries in the Amazing Micro-Mouse Maze Contest. IEEE Spectrum, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 62-65, - https://ve42.co/Allan1979 1977-79 – “MOONLIGHT SPECIAL” Battelle Inst. (American), CyberNetic Zoo - https://ve42.co/MoonlightSpecial Christiansen, D. (2014). The Amazing MicroMouse Roars On. Spectral Lines - https://ve42.co/Christiansen2014 1986 - MicroMouse history, competition & how it got started in the USA, via YouTube - https://ve42.co/MMArchiveYT The first World Micromouse Contest in Tsubuka, Japan, August 1985 [1/2] by TKsTclip via YouTube - https://ve42.co/MMTsukubaYT IEEE. (2018). Micromouse Competition Rules - https://ve42.co/IEEERules Tondra, D. (2004). The Inception of Chedda: A detailed design and analysis of micromouse. University of Nevada - https://ve42.co/Tondra2004 Braunl, T. (1999). Research relevance of mobile robot competitions. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 32-37 - https://ve42.co/Braunl1999 All Japan Micromouse 2017 by Peter Harrison, Micromouse Online - https://ve42.co/RedComet Winning record of the national competition micromouse (half size) competition. mm3sakusya @ wiki (Google translated from Japanese) - https://ve42.co/JapanFinishTimes The Fosbury Flop—A Game-Changing Technique, Smithsonian Magazine - https://ve42.co/FosburyFlop Gold medal winning heights in the Men's and Women's high jump at the Summer Olympics from 1896 to 2020, Statistica - https://ve42.co/HighJump Zhang, H., Wang, Y., Wang, Y., & Soon, P. L. (2016). Design and realization of two-wheel micro-mouse diagonal dashing. Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, 31(4), 2299-2306. - https://ve42.co/Zhang2016 Micromouse Turn List, Keri’s Lab - https://ve42.co/MMTurns Green Ye via YouTube - https://ve42.co/Greenye Classic Micromouse, Excel 9a. Demonstrate fan suction, by TzongYong Khiew via YouTube - https://ve42.co/MMFanYT Vacuum Micromouse by Eliot, HACKADAY - https://ve42.co/MMVacuum ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Emil Abu Milad, Tj Steyn, meg noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Written by Tom Lum and Emily Zhang Edited by Trenton Oliver Animated by Ivy Tello Coordinated by Emily Zhang Filmed by Yusaku Kanagawa, Emily Zhang, and Derek Muller Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound Thumbnail by Ren Hurley and Ignat Berbeci References by Katie Barnshaw Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

Why The First Computers Were Made Out Of Light Bulbs

May 13, 2023

How were the first computers made? Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial, and the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription. A huge thanks to David Lovett for showing me his awesome relay and vacuum tube based computers. Check out his YouTube channel @UsagiElectric ▀▀▀ References: Herring, C., & Nichols, M. H. (1949). Thermionic emission. Reviews of modern physics, 21(2), 185. – https://ve42.co/Herring1949 Goldstine, H. H., & Goldstine, A. (1946). The electronic numerical integrator and computer (eniac). Mathematical Tables and Other Aids to Computation, 2(15), 97-110. – https://ve42.co/ENIAC Shannon, C. E. (1938). A symbolic analysis of relay and switching circuits. Electrical Engineering, 57(12), 713-723. – https://ve42.co/Shannon38 Boole, G. (1847). The mathematical analysis of logic. Philosophical Library. – https://ve42.co/Boole1847 The world’s first general purpose computer turns 75 – https://ve42.co/ENIAC2 Dylla, H. F., & Corneliussen, S. T. (2005). John Ambrose Fleming and the beginning of electronics. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, 23(4), 1244-1251. – https://ve42.co/Dylla2005 Stibitz, G. R. (1980). Early computers. In A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century (pp. 479-483). Academic Press. ENIAC’s Hydrogen Bomb Calculations – https://ve42.co/ENIAC3 ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Emil Abu Milad, Tj Steyn, meg noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Benedikt Heinen, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy ‘kkm’ K’Nelson, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Written by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller and Kovi Rose Edited by Trenton Oliver Animated by Mike Radjabov, Ivy Tello and Fabio Albertelli Filmed by Derek Muller & Raquel Nuno Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images & Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, & Emily Zhang Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci

How NASA Reinvented The Wheel

Apr 29, 2023

NASA have made a wheel capable of withstanding tough Martian terrain, but just how indestructible is it? Head to https://hensonshaving.com/veritasium and enter code 'Veritasium' for 100 free blades with the purchase of a razor. Make sure to add both the razor and the blades to your cart for the code to take effect. ▀▀▀ A huge thanks to everyone at NASA Glenn Research Center for having us at the SLOPE Lab, showing their work on this indestructible tire, and helping with the science and animation. A huge thanks to everyone at Smart Tire Co for showing us around their facility, teaching us about nitinol, and letting us flatten their tires. ▀▀▀ References: Steel Rod Footage - https://ve42.co/SteelRod H. Föll. 8.4.1 - Martensite. University of Kiel, Faculty of Engineering - https://ve42.co/Foell Bhattacharya, K. (1998). Theory of martensitic microstructure and the shape-memory effect - https://ve42.co/Bhattacharya1998 Bhattacharya, K. (2003). Microstructure of martensite: why it forms and how it gives rise to the shape-memory effect (Vol. 2). Oxford University Press. - https://ve42.co/MartensiteBook Shaw, J. A. (2008). Tips and tricks for characterizing shape memory alloy wire: part 1—differential scanning calorimetry and basic phenomena. Experimental Techniques - https://ve42.co/Shaw2008 Buehler, W. J., Gilfrich, J. V., & Wiley, R. C. (1963). Effect of low‐temperature phase changes on the mechanical properties of alloys near composition TiNi. Journal of applied physics, 34(5), 1475-1477. Kauffman, G. B., & Mayo, I. (1997). The story of nitinol: the serendipitous discovery of the memory metal and its applications. The chemical educator, 2, 1-21. - https://ve42.co/Kauffman1997 ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Emil Abu Milad, Tj Steyn, meg noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Benedikt Heinen, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy ‘kkm’ K’Nelson, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Written by Derek Muller, Katie Barnshaw, & Emily Zhang Edited by Trenton Oliver Animated by Mike Radjabov & Ivy Tello Coordinated by Emily Zhang Filmed by Derek Muller, Emily Zhang & Raquel Nuno Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images & Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, & Emily Zhang Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci

Can you float in concrete?

Apr 14, 2023

Concrete = cement + sand + gravel. Cement is the most important man-made material on Earth. Offset your carbon footprint on Wren: https://wren.co/veritasium . For the first 100 people who sign up, I will personally pay for the first month of your subscription! ▀▀▀ A huge thank you to Nevada Ready Mix for being willing to bury me in concrete, especially Elu Chavez and Mike Sherwood. https://www.nevadareadymix.com And to Brandon Birchak of Six Foot Productions for providing the big fish bowl, safety equipment, planning and filming: https://www.sixfootcreations.com ▀▀▀ References: Instant stone (just add water), Roots of Progress, https://rootsofprogress.org/instant-stone-just-add-water https://rootsofprogress.org/cement-redux Cement Chemistry and Sustainable Cementitious Materials https://www.youtube.com/@cementchemistryandsustaina9629 Ahmad, S., Lawan, A., & Al-Osta, M. (2020). Effect of sugar dosage on setting time, microstructure and strength of Type I and Type V Portland cements. Case Studies in Construction Materials, 13, e00364. – https://ve42.co/Ahmad2020 Seymour, L. M., Maragh, J., Sabatini, P., Di Tommaso, M., Weaver, J. C., & Masic, A. (2023). Hot mixing: Mechanistic insights into the durability of ancient Roman concrete. Science advances, 9(1), eadd1602. -- https://ve42.co/Seymour2023 ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Emil Abu Milad, Tj Steyn, meg noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, John H. Austin, Jr., Eric Sexton, john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Benedikt Heinen, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Written by Derek Muller Edited by Trenton Oliver Filmed by Raquel Nuno, Austin Bradley and Bryson Animated by Ivy Tello & Mike Radjabov Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images & Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound & Jonny Hyman: the Bill Wurtz inspired ‘Skyscrapers are made of sea shells’ Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, & Emily Zhang

What makes quantum computers SO powerful?

Mar 20, 2023

A quantum computer in the next decade could crack the encryption our society relies on using Shor's Algorithm. Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial, and the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription. The topic is especially relevant in the wake of Willow, the quantum computing chip unveiled by Google in December 2024. #quantumcomputing ▀▀▀ A huge thank you to those who helped us understand this complex field and ensure we told this story accurately - Dr. Lorenz Panny, Prof. Serge Fehr, Dr. Dustin Moody, Prof. Benne de Weger, Prof. Tanja Lange, PhD candidate Jelle Vos, Gorjan Alagic, and Jack Hidary. A huge thanks to those who helped us with the math behind Shor’s algorithm - Prof. David Elkouss, Javier Pagan Lacambra, Marc Serra Peralta, and Daniel Bedialauneta Rodriguez. ▀▀▀ References: Joseph, D., et al. (2022). Transitioning organizations to post-quantum cryptography. Nature, 605(7909), 237-243. - https://ve42.co/Joseph2022 Bernstein, D. J., & Lange, T. (2017). Post-quantum cryptography. Nature, 549(7671), 188-194. - https://ve42.co/Bernstein2017 An Insight, An Idea with Sundar Pichai - Quantum Computing, Wold Economic Forum via YouTube - https://ve42.co/QCWEFyt Migrating to Post-Quantum Cryptography, The White House - https://ve42.co/PQCWhiteHouse Kotas, W. A. (2000). A brief history of cryptography. University of Tennessee - https://ve42.co/Kotas2000 Hellman, M. (1976). New directions in cryptography. IEEE transactions on Information Theory, 22(6), 644-654. - https://ve42.co/Hellman1976 Rivest, R. L., Shamir, A., & Adleman, L. (1978). A method for obtaining digital signatures and public-key cryptosystems. Communications of the ACM, 21(2), 120-126. - https://ve42.co/Rivest1978 Kak, A. (2023). Lecture 12: Public-Key Cryptography and the RSA Algorithm - https://ve42.co/Kak2023 Calderbank, M. (2007). The RSA Cryptosystem: History, Algorithm, Primes. University of Chicago. - https://ve42.co/Calderbank2007 Cryptographic Key Length Recommendation, Keylength - https://ve42.co/KeyLength Coppersmith, D. (2002). An approximate Fourier transform useful in quantum factoring. arXiv preprint quant-ph/0201067. - https://ve42.co/Coppersmith2002 Quantum Fourier Transform, Qiskit - https://ve42.co/Qiskit Shor, P. W. (1994, November). Algorithms for quantum computation: discrete logarithms and factoring. In Proceedings 35th annual symposium on foundations of computer science (pp. 124-134). IEEE. - https://ve42.co/Shor1994 Shor’s algorithm, Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/ShorWiki Euler’s totient function, Wikipedia - https://ve42.co/EulerWiki Asfaw, A. (2020). Shor’s Algorithm Lecture Series, Qiskit Summer School - https://ve42.co/ShorYT How Quantum Computers Break Encryption, minutephysics via YouTube - https://ve42.co/PQCmpyt Breaking RSA Encryption - an Update on the State-of-the-Art, QuintessenceLabs - https://ve42.co/QuintessenceLabs O'Gorman, J., & Campbell, E. T. (2017). Quantum computation with realistic magic-state factories. Physical Review A, 95(3), 032338. - https://ve42.co/OGorman2017 Gidney, C., & Ekerå, M. (2021). How to factor 2048 bit RSA integers in 8 hours using 20 million noisy qubits. Quantum, 5, 433. - https://ve42.co/Gidney2021 2021 Quantum Threat Timeline Report, Global Risk Institute - https://ve42.co/QuantumRisk The IBM Quantum Development Roadmap, IBM - https://ve42.co/IBMQC Post-Quantum Cryptography, Computer Security Resource Center (NIST) - https://ve42.co/CSRCPQC Alagic, G., et al. (2022). Status report on the third round of the NIST post-quantum cryptography standardization process. US Department of Commerce, NIST. - https://ve42.co/Alagic2022 Thijs, L. (2015). Lattice cryptography and lattice cryptanalysis - https://ve42.co/Thijs2015 ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Tj Steyn, Meg Noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Elliot Miller, Jerome Barakos, M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin, Jr., Eric Sexton, john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Written by Casper Mebius & Derek Muller Edited by Trenton Oliver Filmed by Raquel Nuno Animated by Ivy Tello & Mike Radjabov Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images & Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound & Jonny Hyman Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, & Emily Zhang

World's Strongest Magnet!

Mar 14, 2023

The world's strongest magnet is a million times stronger than Earth's magnetic field. Learn more about sustainability and Google’s efforts at sustainability.google. Part of this video was sponsored by Google. Trends insights for the past year are based on Google Trends data from 2/10/2022 - 2/10/2023, U.S. ▀▀▀ Thanks to the entire NHMFL team - especially Tim, Stephen, Caroline, Kristin, Sam, Lance, and everyone who helped with the demos - for the great visit. The NHMFL is funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida. Special thanks to Henry from Minutephysics for lending his magnet animations from our magnet collaboration: https://youtu.be/hFAOXdXZ5TM ▀▀▀ References: Liu, Y., Zhu, D. M., Strayer, D. M., & Israelsson, U. E. (2010). Magnetic levitation of large water droplets and mice. Advances in Space Research, 45(1), 208-213. Simon, M. D., & Geim, A. K. (2000). Diamagnetic levitation: Flying frogs and floating magnets. Journal of applied physics, 87(9), 6200-6204. Berry, M. V., & Geim, A. K. (1997). Of flying frogs and levitrons. European Journal of Physics, 18(4), 307. ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Tj Steyn, Meg Noah, Bernard McGee, James Sanger, Elliot Miller, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin Jr., Eric Sexton, John Kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Juan Benet, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi ▀▀▀ Written by Derek Muller Edited and Motion Graphics by Trenton Oliver Coordinated by Emily Zhang and Derek Muller Filmed by Derek Muller, Trenton Oliver, Raquel Nuno and Emily Zhang Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 & Getty Images Music from Epidemic Sound Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

The Most Controversial Problem in Philosophy

Feb 11, 2023

For decades, the Sleeping Beauty Problem has divided people between two answers. Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial, and the first 200 of you will get 20% off an annual premium subscription. ▀▀▀ Many thanks to Dr. Mike Titelbaum and Dr. Adam Elga for their insights into the problem. ▀▀▀ References: Elga, A. (2000). Self-locating belief and the Sleeping Beauty problem. Analysis, 60(2), 143-147. - https://ve42.co/Elga2000 Lewis, D. (2001). Sleeping beauty: reply to Elga. Analysis, 61(3), 171-176. - https://ve42.co/Lewis2001 Winkler, P. (2017). The sleeping beauty controversy. The American Mathematical Monthly, 124(7), 579-587. - https://ve42.co/Winkler2017 Titelbaum, M. G. (2013). Ten reasons to care about the Sleeping Beauty problem. Philosophy Compass, 8(11), 1003-1017. - https://ve42.co/Titelbaum2013 Mutalik, P. (2016). Solution: ‘Sleeping Beauty’s Dilemma’, Quanta Magazine - https://ve42.co/MutalikQ2016 Rec.Puzzles - Some “Sleeping Beauty” Postings - https://ve42.co/SBRecPuzzles The Sleeping Beauty Paradox, Statistics SE - https://ve42.co/SBPSSE The Sleeping Beauty Problem, Reddit - https://ve42.co/SBPReddit Sleeping Beauty paradox explained, GameFAQs - https://ve42.co/SBPGameFAQ The Sleeping Beauty Problem, Physics Forums - https://ve42.co/SBPPhysicsForums ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Tj Steyn, Meg Noah, Bernard McGee, KeyWestr, Elliot Miller, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos, M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin, Jr., Eric Sexton, john kiehl, Anton Ragin, Benedikt Heinen, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Mike Schneider, jim buckmaster, Juan Benet, Ubiquity Ventures, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi. ▀▀▀ Written by Emily Zhang, Derek Muller, Tamar Lichter Blanks Edited by Fabio Albertelli Animation by Ivy Tello, Fabio Albertelli, Jakub Misiek Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images & Pond5 Music from Epidemic Sound Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, Emily Zhang

The Stickiest *Non-Sticky* Substance

Jan 23, 2023

Adhesives based on gecko skin can hold huge weights – without sticking to anything. Head to https://brilliant.org/Veritasium to start your free trial. The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant’s annual premium subscription. ▀▀▀ Thanks to Dr. Mark Cutkosky, Tony Chen, Amar Hajj-Ahmad, and the rest of the Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab at Stanford University for showing us the power of gecko adhesives. ▀▀▀ References: Russell, A. P., Stark, A. Y., & Higham, T. E. (2019). The integrative biology of gecko adhesion: historical review, current understanding, and grand challenges. Integrative and comparative biology, 59(1), 101-116. – https://ve42.co/Russell2019 Hajj-Ahmad, A., Suresh, S. A., and Cutkosky, M. R. (June 6, 2021). "Cutting to the Point: Directly Machined Metal Molds for Directional Gecko-Inspired Adhesives." ASME. J. Micro Nano-Manuf. – https://ve42.co/Hajj-Ahmad2021 Kerst, Capella F., "Gecko inspired adhesives : permanent practical manufacturing, new materials, and applications," PhD Thesis, Stanford University, December 2020. – https://ve42.co/Kerst2020 Suresh, S.A. "Engineering Gecko-Inspired Adhesives." Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, 2020. [Online]. – https://ve42.co/Suresh2020 Suresh, S.A., Kerst, C.F., Cutkosky, M.R., Hawkes, E.W. "Spatially variant microstructured adhesive with one-way friction." Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 2019. – https://ve42.co/Suresh2019 Glick, P., Suresh, S.A., Ruffatto III, D., Cutkosky, M.R., Tolley, M.T., and Parness, A. "A soft robotic gripper with gecko-inspired adhesive." Robotics and Automation Letters. 2018. – https://ve42.co/Glick2018 Christensen, D.L., Hawkes, E.W., Suresh, S.A., Ladenheim, K. and Cutkosky, M.R., "µTugs: Enabling Microrobots to Deliver Macro Forces with Controllable Adhesives," IEEE/ICRA 2015 (preprint). – https://ve42.co/Christensen2015 Hawkes, E. W., "Applying Dry Adhesives to the Real World," Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, 2015. – https://ve42.co/Hawkes2015 ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Meg Noah, Bernard McGee, James Sanger, Elliot Miller, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin Jr., Eric Sexton, John Kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Mike Schneider, John Bauer, Jim Buckmaster, Juan Benet, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi ▀▀▀ Written by Derek Muller & Petr Lebedev Edited by Trenton Oliver Animation by Ivy Tello Filmed by Derek Muller & Albert Leung Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 & Getty Images Music from Epidemic Sound Exec. Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

The Science Behind Dogs' Incredible Sense Of Smell

Dec 24, 2022

In this lab, they use different flow visualization techniques to help detect contraband, residues, and develop trace particle detection methods. Part of this video was sponsored by Caseta by Lutron. Find out more at https://casetawireless.com/veritasium ▀▀▀ Thanks to Rich Press and NIST for the great visit. Thanks to Matt Staymates for taking us around his lab and showing us the fascinating research being done with flow visualization. You can check out all the cool work going on at NIST here: https://www.nist.gov/ ▀▀▀ Check out these Lutron products: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Wireless-Smart-Lighting-Dimmer-Switch-and-Remote-Kit-for-Wall-and-Ceiling-Lights-White-P-PKG1W-WH-R/206754146 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Wireless-Smart-Lighting-Dimmer-Switch-Starter-Kit-P-BDG-PKG1W/205582770 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Wireless-Smart-Lighting-Dimmer-Switch-2-Count-Starter-Kit-P-BDG-PKG2W-HD/301783649 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Wireless-Smart-Lighting-Dimmer-Switch-for-Wall-and-Ceiling-Lights-White-PD-6WCL-WH-R/206828225 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Wireless-Smart-Lighting-Switch-for-All-Bulb-Types-or-Fans-White-PD-5ANS-WH-R/305090201 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Smart-Switch-3-Way-Kit-2-Points-of-Control-with-Pico-Remote-Wallplate-and-Bracket-White-P-PKG1WS-WH/314328501?keyword=P-PKG1WS-WH&semanticToken=323t00r011220000_36acc44414963ab909697567725ec5ae_1601584501254+323t00r011220000+%3E++cnn%3A%7B0%3A0%7D+cnp%3A%7B10%3A0%7D+cnd%3A%7B4%3A0%7D+cne%3A%7B8%3A0%7D+cns%3A%7B5%3A0%7D+cnx%3A%7B3%3A0%7D+cnq%3A%7B0%3A0%7D+cnw%3A%7B0%3A0%7D+cnv%3A%7B0%3A0%7D+st%3A%7Bp-pkg1ws-wh%7D%3Ast+oos%3A%7B1%3A1%7D+rt%3A%7Bp-pkg1ws-wh%7D%3Art+dln%3A%7B563900%7D+tgr%3A%7BSkuExactMatch%7D+smf%3A%7Bca%2Cbr%7D%3Asmf+nf%3A%7B1%7D%3Anf+qu%3A%7Bp-pkg1ws-wh%7D%3Aqu https://www.homedepot.com/s/P-BDG-PKG2WS-WH?NCNI-5 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Wireless-Pico-Wall-Mounting-Kit-White-PJ2-WALL-WH-L01/204718234 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Single-Pole-Caseta-Wireless-Smart-Fan-Speed-Control-White-PD-FSQN-WH-R/308675064 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-Caseta-Wireless-Single-Pole-3-Way-Smart-Lighting-Lamp-Dimmer-and-Remote-Kit -White-P-PKG1P-WH-R/206792507 ▀▀▀ References: Staymates, M.E., (2020). My Stay-at-Home Lab Shows How Face Coverings Can Slow the Spread of Disease. NIST. – https://ve42.co/FaceMaskNIST Staymates, M. E., et al. (2016). Biomimetic sniffing improves the detection performance of a 3D printed nose of a dog and a commercial trace vapor detector. Scientific reports, 6(1), 1-10. – https://ve42.co/Staymates2016 NIST. (2022). Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group. – https://ve42.co/NISTgroup ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Bernard McGee, James Sanger, Elliot Miller, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin Jr., OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Sexton, John Kiehl, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Mike Schneider, John Bauer, Jim Buckmaster, Juan Benet, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi ▀▀▀ Written by Derek Muller and Emily Zhang Edited by Trenton Oliver Animation by Ivy Tello Filmed by Derek Muller, Raquel Nuno, Trenton Oliver, and Emily Zhang Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 & Getty Images Music from Epidemic Sound Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

The US Military's Worst Idea

Dec 21, 2022

An engineer came up with a plan to drop tungsten telephone poles from space - the idea has been seriously considered on multiple occasions, so we tested it. Head to https://brilliant.org/Veritasium to start your free trial. The first 200 will get 20% off Brilliant's annual premium subscription. Special thanks to our Patreon supporters! Join the community to help us keep our videos free, forever: https://ve42.co/PatreonDEB Massive thanks to Archisand for building such a beautiful sandcastle. https://www.youtube.com/@GregLeBon Huge thanks to John and Angie Miller for helping us with securing the shooting location and going above and beyond to make this shoot happen – http://highdesertlocations.com/ Thanks to Inland Empire Film Services and the San Bernardino County Film Office for portions of the video shot in the County of San Bernardino. Massive thanks to Dr David Wright for the interview and providing invaluable guidance during the research for this video. Here’s a great video about space-based missile defense – https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/space-based-missile-defense-not-good-idea Massive thanks to Adam Savage for being part of this video. Additional photos from NASA and ESA. ▀▀▀ References: USAF. (2003). The US Air Force transformation flight plan. Preston, R., Johnson, D. J., Edwards, S. J., Miller, M. D., & Shipbaugh, C. (2002). Space weapons earth wars. Rand Corporation. Wright, D., Grego, L., & Gronlund, L. (2005). The physics of space security. A Reference Manual, Cambridge. DeBlois, B. M., Garwin, R. L., Kemp, R. S., & Marwell, J. C. (2004). Space weapons: crossing the US Rubicon. International Security, 50-84. Baucom, D. R. (2017). The Rise and Fall of Brilliant Pebbles 1. In United States Military History 1865 to the Present Day (pp. 329-376). Routledge. Hitchens, T., & Samson, V. (2004). Space-based interceptors: still not a good idea. Georgetown journal of international affairs, 21-29. National Research Council. (2012). Making sense of ballistic missile defense: An assessment of concepts and systems for US boost-phase missile defense in comparison to other alternatives. National Academies Press. Borger, J. (2005). Bush likely to back weapons in space. The Guardian, 19. ▀▀▀ Special thanks to: Bernard McGee, James Sanger, Elliot Miller, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin Jr., OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Sexton, John Kiehl, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Mike Schneider, John Bauer, Jim Buckmaster, Juan Benet, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi ▀▀▀ Written by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller, and Emily Zhang Filmed by Trenton Oliver, Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, Emily Zhang, Raquel Nuno, and Eddie Lopez Animation by Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, and Jonny Hyman Edited by Trenton Oliver Slow Motion Camera: Shawn Sanders and Anthony Corrales Sandcastle Timelapse by Greg LeBon and Archisand Phantom rental from Panny Hire LA Helicopter Pilots: Rick Shuster and Cliff Fleming Helicopter Safety Officer: Ryan Hosking FPV Drone Pilots: Sammie Saing and Josh Ewalt Production Assistants: Roman Bacvic and Eddie Lopez Intern: Katie Barnshaw Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 and Getty Images Music from Epidemic Sound Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

How To Measure The Tiniest Forces In The Universe

Dec 12, 2022

This lab measures the tiniest forces in the universe. This video is sponsored by Brilliant. You can get started for free, or the first 200 people to sign up via https://brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription. ▀▀▀ Thanks to Rich Press and NIST for the great visit. Thanks to Dr. Gordon Shaw for showing us around his lab and teaching us about measuring tiny forces. You can check out all the cool work going on at NIST here: https://www.nist.gov/ ▀▀▀ References: Lee, J. (2016). Measuring Tiny Forces With Light. NIST. – https://ve42.co/Lee2016 Melcher, J., Stirling, J., Guzman, F., Pratt, J. & Shaw, G. (2014). A self-calibrating optomechanical force sensor with femtonewton resolution. Applied Physics Letters. – https://ve42.co/Melcher2014 ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Bernard McGee, James Sanger, Elliot Miller, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin Jr., OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Sexton, John Kiehl, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Mike Schneider, John Bauer, Jim Buckmaster, Juan Benet, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi ▀▀▀ Written by Derek Muller Edited by Trenton Oliver Animation by Ivy Tello Filmed by Derek Muller, Trenton Oliver, and Emily Zhang Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 & Getty Images Music from Epidemic Sound Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang