Should We Mine Asteroids?

Animated Fact 

• Mirrors and space bags to mine asteroids:

https://www.space.com/30582-asteroid-mining-water-propulsion.html

• Background:

  • Our original video Unlimited Resources From Space – Asteroid Mining

  • How does mining work on Earth? https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/images/MiniingCycleLarge.png

  • Will mining asteroids be worth it? https://www.wired.com/story/things-are-looking-up-for-asteroid-mining/

  • Number of asteroids: https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html

• How rich in resources are asteroids?

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2221345120 

• How many Near-Earth asteroids worth mining?

https://www.google.de/books/edition/Asteroids/71suEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=martin+elvis+asteroids+book&printsec=frontcover

• Comes up with a back of the envelope calculation based on [delta]V (energy costs to get to an asteroid) and asteroids that contain a billion dollars worth of resources. The same calculation is included in his paper here:

• Martin Elvis paper – conservative estimates maybe 10 Near Earth containing enough platinum to make it worth it and maybe around 9,000 with water (though most small)

• Current technology:

https://www.space.com/33776-osiris-rex.html (OSIRIS REX cost)

• What technology will we need to mine asteroids? Also this Martin Elvis book: Asteroids

https://www.google.de/books/edition/Asteroids/71suEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=martin+elvis+asteroids+book&printsec=frontcover

Adapting to possible high granularity/crumbliness of asteroids with, for instance, a big space bag

• NASA’s list of things we’ll need for space exploration, inc. asteroid mining:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20210009988/downloads/NASA-TM-20210009988Final.pdf 

• The payoff: WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/things-are-looking-up-for-asteroid-mining/ 

The Most Dangerous Animal

Animated Fact 

• Facts and figures of dangerous animals:

  • https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-animals-kills-the-most-people (lions and others)

  • https://www.statista.com/statistics/448169/deadliest-creatures-in-the-world-by-number-of-human-deaths/ (lions and others)

  • https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/#:~:text=Global%20total%20of%20unprovoked%20shark%20bites%20significantly%20lower%20than%20average&text=The%202022%20worldwide%20total%20of,which%20are%20assigned%20as%20unprovoked (sharks)

  • https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/deadliest-animals-to-humans (Hippo - 500 a year; Crocodiles - 1000 a year)

• Fear as a survival trait:

  • https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2015.00055/full

Quote: Our nervous system has a whole function around: “minimizing the number of threat encounters, and reducing the level of danger and duration of these encounters will maximize survival.”

• • https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/emotional-health/5-things-you-never-knew-about-fear

Quote: As soon as you recognize fear, your amygdala (small organ in the middle of your brain) goes to work. It alerts your nervous system, which sets your body’s fear response into motion. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released. Your blood pressure and heart rate increase. You start breathing faster. Even your blood flow changes — blood actually flows away from your heart and into your limbs, making it easier for you to start throwing punches, or run for your life. Your body is preparing for fight-or-flight.

• Encounters with big cats:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/where-lions-and-tigers-and-wolves-attack-and-kill-humans-180981539/ 

Quote: Big cats like tigers and lions launched the deadliest attacks, with 65 percent proving fatal compared to 49 percent for canids and just 9 percent among the bear attacks.

• How many die from Malaria?

https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2022  (roughly 619,000)

• Should you run or Freeze when you meet a mountain Lion?

  • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/should-you-run-or-freeze-when-you-see-a-mountain-lion/ behind a paywall but see:

  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XYatNI0XEtdoCvMQ6NwMOS8imbSqM2qmFBUau6Tio_I/edit#heading=h.8vhw7gp6hcfv

• Swatting mosquitoes cause them to stay away:

https://www.washington.edu/news/2018/01/25/if-you-swat-mosquitoes-they-may-learn-to-avoid-your-scent/ 

What's the Largest Black Hole?

This piece is based on our video: "The Largest Black Hole in the Universe – Size Comparison" 

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-largest-black-hole/ 

You Might Be Hosting Parasites Right Now! 

Animated Fact

• Parasite-Host-Interactions

  • Jackson, D.: Chemical Coevolution: Host-Parasite Arms Race Runs Hot and Cold. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(08)00098-5.pdf

  • Wolves and Toxoplasma gondii: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mind-control-parasite-makes-wolves-effective-pack-leaders/ 

• Use of Testate Amoeba in Cold Case

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38020553_A_preliminary_investigation_into_the_use_of_testate_amoebae_for_the_discrimination_of_forensic_soil_samples

• Good parasites
  https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/positive-parasites.html#:~:text=One%20study%20showed%20that%20patients,1%20diabetes%20and%20even%20arthritis.

Could We Destroy a Black Hole?

This piece is based on our video: "What Happens if You Destroy a Black Hole?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-destroyablackhole/ 

Can We Stop the Deadliest Animal on Earth? 

Animated Fact

• Harvard FAQs on gene drive: https://wyss.harvard.edu/faqs-gene-drives/ 

• Research paper on using CRISPR for malaria gene drive: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1521077112 

• Nature article on engineered mosquitos: http://go.nature.com/1Ij39yS

• STAT new article on using gene drive against Zika: https://www.statnews.com/2016/02/03/zika-gene-drive-gene-editing/ 

• Tech review article on using gene drive against malaria: https://www.technologyreview.com/2016/04/13/246052/the-extinction-invention/ 

• Smithsonian on deadliness of mosquitos: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mosquitoes-kill-more-humans-human-murderers-do-180951272/?no-ist 

• Science article about the risks of the technology: https://www.science.org/content/article/us-academies-give-cautious-go-head-gene-drive 

• New Yorker on Pros and Cons: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-perils-and-promises-of-gene-drive-technology 

• GatesNotes on death rate through mosquitos: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week?WT.tsrc=Twitter 

• Status quo on field trial in the U.S.: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-one-step-closer-to-releasing-engineered-mosquito-to-fight-zika/ 

• Evolution working against gene drive technology: https://theatln.tc/2cmMjau 

• Research paper on evolution of resistance against gene drive: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/058438v1 

• Science news on possible safety feature for gene drive: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/seeing-upside-gene-drives-fatal-flaw 

• Malaria statistics 2021:

https://www.mmv.org/malaria/malaria-facts-statistics#:~:text=Globally%2C%20there%20were%20an%20estimated,in%20the%20WHO%20African%20Region.

• Malara Report 2022

https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2022

• Ethical Considerations

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35175513/

Largest Star in the Universe! 

This piece is based on our video: "The Largest Star in the Universe – Size Comparison" 

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sourceslargeststar 

Are Past, Present and Future All Happening at the Same Time?

This piece is based on our video: "Did the Future Already Happen? – The Paradox of Time" 

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-what-is-time 

What Is Beyond the Edge of the Universe?

This piece is based on our video: "The Paradox of an Infinite Universe" 

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-infinite-universe/ 

Are You Stuck Inside an Online Filter Bubble?

This piece is based on our video: "The Internet Is Worse Than Ever – Now What?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-why-we-hate-each-other/ 

Asteroids SUCK!

Animated Fact

• How Often Do Chicxulub-Level Asteroids Hit Earth? https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/how-often-do-chicxulub-level-asteroids-hit-earth/#:~:text=Impacts%20of%20asteroids%20spanning%20more,ago%20is%20therefore%20mildly%20special 

• Nesvorny, D. et. al. (2021): Dark Primitive Asteroids Account for a Large Share of K/Pg-Scale Impacts on the Earth. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2107.03458.pdf 

• How many tiny meteroites hit Earth a day? https://www.iberdrola.com/innovation/meteorites-earth 

• Near Earth Asteroid numbers: https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html (NEA 854 near-Earth asteroids larger than 1 kilometer in diameter)

• Asteroid of one-kilometer or larger strikes Earth every 600,000 years: https://news.mit.edu/2003/asteroid-0910

• 115 Years Ago: The Tunguska Asteroid Impact Event: https://www.nasa.gov/history/115-years-ago-the-tunguska-asteroid-impact-event/ 

• Planetary science: Tunguska at 100: https://www.nature.com/articles/4531157a 

• Near-Earth Asteroids as of January 2024: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/planetary-science/planetary-defense/near-earth-asteroids/ 

• NASA Confirms DART Mission Impact Changed Asteroid’s Motion in Space: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-confirms-dart-mission-impact-changed-asteroids-motion-in-space/ 

• Earth is safe from a devastating asteroid impact for 1,000 years (probably): https://www.space.com/earth-probably-safe-devastating-asteroid-impact-thousand-years 

• Fuentes-Muños, O. et. al. (2023): The hazardous km-sized NEOs of the next thousands of years. https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.04896 

• OSIRIS-REx - how much material did it return? https://science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/osiris-rex-faq/

• Economics of the Stars: The Future of Asteroid Mining and the Global Economy: https://hir.harvard.edu/economics-of-the-stars/ 

• Did asteroids bring water to Earth? Evidence suggests increasingly likely https://www.space.com/meteorite-water-found-with-new-method plus original paper https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.13904

• Could the Blueprint for Life Have Been Generated in Asteroids? https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/could-the-blueprint-for-life-have-been-generated-in-asteroids/ 

The Largest Black Hole

This piece is based on our video: "The Largest Black Hole in the Universe – Size Comparison"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-largest-black-hole/ 

Our Universe Could Destroy Itself

Animated Fact

• Our YouTube video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijFm6DxNVyI 

• Further sources: 

  • Are We on the Brink of the Higgs Abyss? https://physics.aps.org/articles/v8/108 

  • Coleman, S. & De Luccia, F. (1980): Gravitational effects on and of vacuum decay. https://static.ias.edu/pitp/archive/2011files/PhysRevD.21.3305.pdf 

  • The Origins of the Universe: Quantum origins: https://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/outreach/origins/quantum_cosmology_three.php 

The Deadly Aftermath of Nuclear War

This piece is based on our video: "What Happens AFTER Nuclear War?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-nuclear-winter 

That Time When Humanity Saved the Planet

Animated Fact

• European Environment Agency (EEA)

• On ozone hole and ozone depletion https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/climate-change-mitigation-reducing-emissions/current-state-of-the-ozone-layer 

• On Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)

https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/climate/ozone-depleting-substances-and-climate-change-1/ozone-depleting-substances 

• Basic Ozone Layer Science: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science#:~:text=Most%20 atmospheric%20 ozone%20is%20 concentrated,that%20contains%20three%20 oxygen%20 atoms

Europe's Next Ice Age

Animated Fact

• BBC: The Gulf Stream: https://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/impact/gulf_stream.shtml 

• What Is the Gulf Stream? https://scijinks.gov/gulf-stream/ 

• Stommel, H. (1972): The Gulf Stream: A Physical and Dynamical Description. https://books.google.de/books?hl=de&lr=&id=mptrEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Gulf+Stream&ots=c-w2s_LJaJ&sig=VWltZZZ7LsnFnRuF3WIa9nsMbzg#v=onepage&q=Gulf%20Stream&f=false 

• The ‘Gulf Stream’ will not collapse in 2025: What the alarmist headlines got wrong: https://theconversation.com/the-gulf-stream-will-not-collapse-in-2025-what-the-alarmist-headlines-got-wrong-210773 

• Future of the Gulf Stream circulation: https://www.deutsches-klima-konsortium.de/en/climate-topics/gulf-stream-circulation.html

How Plants Have Their Own Internet

Animated Fact

• On WoodWideWeb:

  • It’s kind of real: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01570.x 

  • But badly communicated:

    • https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.18935 

    • https://undark.org/2023/05/25/where-the-wood-wide-web-narrative-went-wrong/ 

• EFI/European Forest Institute: Open Letter about the importance of fungi for conservation: https://efi.int/news/open-letter-crucial-role-fungi-preserving-and-enhancing-biodiversity-2022-12-14 

• How Fungi Can Save the World: https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/how-fungi-will-save-world 

• Length of a humans blood vessels (L_hbv):

https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/research/how-are-blood-vessels-made#:~:text=By%20adulthood%2C%20we%20each%20have,%2C%20including%20the%20heart%2C%20healthy. 

• Current world population (CWP): https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/#:~:text=2023%20World%20Population,the%20world%20population%20was%207%2C909%2C295%2C151. 

• -> Length of all human blood vessels (L_tot)

  • L_tot = CWP*L_hbv = 0.8 quadrillion

• BBC Fungi Facts: https://www.bbcearth.com/news/8-fantastic-facts-about-fungi 

• CBC Fungi Facts: https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/fungi-are-responsible-for-life-on-land-as-we-know-it 

• Fungi helped plants to conquer land:

  • https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210520145357.htm 

  • original source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg0929 

Your Brain Is Stupid

This piece is based on our video "The Internet Is Worse Than Ever – Now What?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-why-we-hate-each-other/ 

AI Can Lend You a Hand – Literally! 

Animated Fact 

• AI Is Revolutionizing Prosthetic Arm Control: https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/ai-is-revolutionizing-prosthetic-arm-control 

• Artificial Intelligence Enables Real-Time and Intuitive Control of Prostheses via Nerve Interface: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.08648.pdf 

• Handrix: Animating the Human Hand: https://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~gelkoura/noback/scapaper03.pdf 

• The beat goes on: Using AI to build a drumming prosthetic: https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/accessibility/ai-drumming-prosthesis/ 

• Did any real pirates wear eyepatches or have peg legs? https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/peg-leg-pirates-real-eyepatches/ 

Your Skin Is a Conveyor Belt of Death

This piece is based on our video: "Your Tattoo Is INSIDE Your Immune System. Literally."

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-tattoo-inside/ 

What We Can Learn From the Bronze Age People

Animated Fact

• What Caused the Bronze Age Collapse? https://www.history.com/news/bronze-age-collapse-causes 

• Crisis in Context: The End of the Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3764/aja.120.1.0099 

• Greek Dark Age: https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Dark_Age/ 

• History of Greece: The Dark Ages: https://www.ancient-greece.org/history/dark-ages.html 

• When Civilization Collapsed by Eric Cline: https://longnow.org/seminars/02016/jan/11/1177-bc-when-civilization-collapsed/ 

• Confronting “Collapse”. An anarchist perspective on the end of the Bronze Age. https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/confronting-collapse/ 

• Drought may have doomed ancient Hittite empire, tree study reveals. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/08/ancient-hittite-empire-tree-study-drought 

• Severe multi-year drought coincident with Hittite collapse around 1198–1196 BC. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05693-y 

• Environmental Roots of the Late Bronze Age Crisis. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0071004 

• Millek, J. (2023): Destruction and Its Impact on Ancient Societies at the End of the Bronze Age. https://www.google.de/books/edition/Destruction_and_Its_Impact_on_Ancient_So/zeOyEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 

• Dickinson, O. (2006): The Aegean From Bronze Age to Iron Age. https://books.google.de/books?id=8x8eiCyHdsAC&pg=PA1960&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false  

• Kemp, L. & Cline, E. (2022): Systemic Risk and Resilience: The Bronze Age Collapse and Recovery. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-94137-6_14 

Can We Stop a Supervolcano?

Animated Fact

• What are supervolcanoes and should we really be worried about them? https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/11/10/supervolcanoes-explained-eruptions-history/ 

• How dangerous are supervolcanoes? Get the facts. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/supervolcano-yellowstone 

• How to Trigger a Volcanic Eruption on Purpose: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/could-people-trigger-a-volcanic-eruption-on-purpose/ 

• Capturing the Extreme in Volcanology: The Case for the Term “Supervolcano” https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.859237/full 

• Did the Toba volcanic eruption of ∼74 ka B.P. produce widespread glaciation? https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2008JD011652 

• Anticipating future Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) 7 eruptions and their chilling impacts. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article/14/2/572/529016/Anticipating-future-Volcanic-Explosivity-Index-VEI 

• Four New Horsemen of an Apocalypse? Solar Flares, Super-volcanoes, Pandemics, and Artificial Intelligence. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8761044/ 

• Supervolcanoes and their enormous eruptions: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-a-supervolcano.html

• Two supervolcanoes, a world apart, have the attention of scientists: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/supervolcanoes-earthquakes-flegrei-long-valley-caldera-rcna121781 

• The thought experiment: What would happen if the supervolcano under Yellowstone erupted? https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/the-thought-experiment-what-would-happen-if-the-supervolcano-under-yellowstone-erupted 

• Why you can’t plug any volcano: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/vulcanian-eruptions.htm#:~:text=Vulcanian%20eruptions%20are%20propelled%20by,up%20of%20highly%20fragmented%20ash

• Build up of Magma at Toba: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2101695118

• Why you can’t cover it with concrete:

Campi Flegrei: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/huge-volcano-near-naples-italy-convulsing-campi-flegrei-caldera#:~:text=Still%2C%20scientists%20say%2C%20an%20eruption,is%20low%2C%20but%20not%20zero

• Formation of concrete beneath Campi Flegrei: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aab1292

• Potential for rupture at Campi Flegrei: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00842-1

• How much magma beneath yellowstone? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-surprising-amount-of-magma-is-under-yellowstones-supervolcano-180981229/

• Nasa’s ambitious plan to stop Yellowstone: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170817-nasas-ambitious-plan-to-save-earth-from-a-supervolcano#:~:text=Nasa%20estimates%20that%20if%20a,of%20water%20in%20the%20supervolcano.

• Response article warning against reporting this as “NASA’S PLAN”!: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/no-nasa-isnt-going-to-drill-to-stop-yellowstone-from-erupting 

• And USGS (more reputable) addressing difficulties of drilling into volcanoes to ‘cool’ magma: https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/can-we-drill-yellowstone-stop-it-erupting

• Chances of supereruption in our lifetimes:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227000709_The_size_and_frequency_of_the_largest_explosive_eruptions_on_Earth 

Why Are Birth Rates Falling?

This piece is based on our video "Why Korea is Dying Out" 

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-populationcrash 

Your Future Already Exists?!

This piece is based on our video "Did The Future Already Happen? – The Paradox of Time"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-what-is-time 

Can AI Read Your Mind?

Animated Fact 

• The newest project that used Stable Diffusion to recreate the pictures people looked at:

https://sites.google.com/view/stablediffusion-with-brain/ 

• with an FAQ:

https://sites.google.com/view/stablediffusion-with-brain/faq_en 

• and the papers:

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.18.517004v3.full.pdf 

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2306.11536.pdf

• AI re-creates what people see by reading their brain scans: https://www.science.org/content/article/ai-re-creates-what-people-see-reading-their-brain-scans 

• This 'mind-reading' AI system can recreate what your brain is seeing: https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/08/21/this-mind-reading-ai-system-can-recreate-what-your-brain-is-seeing 

• Is my phone listening to me? https://us.norton.com/blog/how-to/is-my-phone-listening-to-me 

• AI predicts teen pregnancy: https://www.wired.com/story/argentina-algorithms-pregnancy-prediction/ 

• Statistics predict pregnancy: ​​https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/ 

Black Dwarfs Are Weird.

This piece is based on our video: "The Last Thing to Ever Happen in the Universe"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-sources-lastthing/ 

What Does The Milky Way Smell Like?

Infomercial

• Belloche, A. et.al. (2009): Increased complexity in interstellar chemistry: Detection and chemical modeling of ethyl formate and n-propyl cyanide in Sgr B2(N)⋆ https://arxiv.org/pdf/0902.4694.pdf 

• Galaxy's centre tastes of raspberries and smells of rum, say astronomers: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/apr/21/space-raspberries-amino-acids-astrobiology 

• Sagittarius B2 Cloud: https://phys.org/news/2017-10-glycolaldehyde-ethylene-glycol-sagittarius-b2.html#:~:text=Sagittarius%20B2%20is%20a%20giant,years%20away%20from%20the%20Earth 

• Ethyl formate: https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/e/ethyl-formate.html

• Milky Way's giant black hole awoke from slumber 300 years ago: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Milky_Way_s_giant_black_hole_awoke_from_slumber_300_years_ago 

• A raspberry flavoured galactic centre with a hint of rum: https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/content/article-do/raspberry-flavoured-galactic-centre-hint-rum 

• The Milky Way Smells of Rum and Raspberries: https://www.google.de/books/edition/The_Milky_Way_Smells_of_Rum_and_Raspberr/I8iKEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover 

This Space Weapon Could Destroy Earth

This piece is based on our video: "How to Win an Interstellar War"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-interstellarwar/ 

World's Coziest City

Animated Fact

• Central Park Tower residential area: https://thetowerinfo.com/buildings-list/central-park-tower/ 

• Central Park Tower land footprint: https://www.lendlease.com/us/projects/central-park-tower/ 

• Calculations

• Inhabitants per tower

64,586 / (70 + 70) = 461.32

• Number of towers needed

8 billion / 461 = 17.353 million

• Land area of all those towers

17.353 million x 3716 m^2 = 64,485,900,216 m^2 = 64,485.9 km^2.

• Relative population density
  Average global human density:

8 billion / 510 million km^2 = 15.68 per km^2

• Central Park Tower population density:

461/3716 = 0.124 per m^2 = 124,058 per km^2

• Ratio

124,058 / 15.68 =  7911

How Much Gold Exists on Earth? 

Animated Fact

• General inspiration:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/all-the-biomass-of-earth-in-one-graphic/

• USGS. How much gold has been found in the world?

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-much-gold-has-been-found-world

• How Much Gold: https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/how-much-gold 

• Human cube: https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-human-cube-the-volume-of-humanity#:~:text=The%20average%20human%20has%20a,7.6%20billion%3A%20470%20trillion%20cc

  • Compare also: https://medium.com/@eesmyal/human-cube-139424de80c9

• How Much Water is There on Earth: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth#:~:text=If%20all%20of%20Earth's%20water,%2C%20Utah%20to%20Topeka%2C%20Kansas

  • Also: https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/all-earths-water-a-single-sphere 

•  Biomass of Living things in the Ocean and Livestock figures:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1711842115

• Specific calculations for cattle where I pulled the numbers: https://milo-lab.github.io/biomass_distribution/animals/chordates/livestock/livestock_biomass.html

• Background on why carbon is used as biomass calculation:

http://globecarboncycle.unh.edu/DownloadActivities/Field/FieldMeasurements-LearningActivities/BiomassUnits/BiomassUnits_TeacherGuide.pdf

• 150 Million Tons of Plastic in the Ocean Fact

  • Report cited: https://optoce.no/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/McKinsey-Stemming-the-tide-Land-based-strategies-for-a-plastic-free-ocean.pdf

  • Reported in the media: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/plastic-trash-in-seas-will-nearly-triple-by-2040-if-nothing-done

  • Reported by UN: (75–199 Million tons): https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/

• Mass of all stuff exceeds biomass: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-3010-5 

Top 5 Most Iconic Moments EARTH EDITION

This piece is based on our video: "4.5 Billion Years in 1 Hour"

The detailed sources can be found here:https://sites.google.com/view/sources-timeline/ 

A Baby Universe 

This piece is based on our video: "Ancient Life as Old as the Universe"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-big-bang-life/ 

You Are EVERYONE

This piece is based on our video: "The Egg – A Short Story"

The original short story by Andy Weir can be found here: https://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html 

YOU Are in the Middle of Everything

This piece is based on our video: "The SMALLEST to the LARGEST Thing in the Universe – The Ultimate Size Comparison"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-middle-of-scale/ 

What Is Fire?

Animated Fact

• How Fire Works: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/fire1.htm 

• Starting a Fire: https://www.forestschooltraining.co.uk/_webedit/uploaded-files/All%20Files/Student%20Resources/12%20day%20Level%203/SP14SCI.pdf 

• What is Fire? https://www.pbs.org/video/its-okay-be-smart-fire/ 

• What is a Flame? https://vimeo.com/40271657 

Why Is It So Hard to Break Bad Habits?

This piece is based on our video: "Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-change/ 

2023 in Review: Good News

Animated Fact

• Spain sees the world's first lung transplant performed entirely by robot: https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/04/19/spain-sees-the-worlds-first-lung-transplantation-performed-entirely-by-robot 

• Ocean treaty: Historic agreement reached after decade of talks: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64815782 

• 500 baby sharks to be released: An exclusive look at an unprecedented mission: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/shark-rewilding-indonesia-oceans-conservation-zebra 

• Wind and solar are now beating coal in the US: https://electrek.co/2023/04/27/wind-and-solar-are-now-beating-coal-in-the-us/ 

• Scientists report world’s first X-ray of a single atom in Nature: https://www.ohio.edu/news/2023/05/scientists-report-worlds-first-x-ray-single-atom-nature

2023 in Review: Space Edition

Animated Fact

• Euclid Telescope: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67343374

• Chandrayaann 3: ​​https://www.space.com/india-chandrayaan-3-moon-landing-success 

How to Clean Up Space

Animated Fact

• Laser Broom related:

  • https://arxiv.org/pdf/1110.3835.pdf 

  • https://elib.dlr.de/105165/1/Laser-Based%20Space%20Debris%20Removal.pdf 

• Remote controlled debris removal systems:

  • https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234551492_Final_design_of_a_space_debris_removal_system 

  • https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/ClearSpace-1 

• Space Net:

https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc7/paper/434/SDC7-paper434.pdf 

• Harpoon:

https://www.sstl.co.uk/media-hub/latest-news/2019/removedebris-success-for-harpoon-experiment 

(as well for speed of debris being 30,000 mph)

• Foam / Sponge:

  • https://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2013/484153/ 

  • https://arstechnica.com/science/2014/05/beyond-gravity-the-complex-quest-to-take-out-our-orbital-trash/3/

  • https://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/doc/ARI/ARI%20Study%20Report/ACT-RPT-MAD-ARI-10-6411-Pisa-Active_Removal_of_Space_Debris-Foam.pdf 

A Black Hole Appears! What Now?

Animated Fact

• Primordial black holes may flood the universe. Could one hit Earth? https://www.space.com/primordial-black-hole-earth-collision-probability# 

• A Coin-Sized Black Hole Would Destroy Earth – Here's How: https://www.newsweek.com/penny-sized-black-hole-earth-what-would-happen-1579750 

• What Would Happen If a Coin-Sized Black Hole Were Placed at the Earth’s Center? https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/02/if-a-coin-sized-black-hole-were-placed-at-earth-s-center-what-would-happen.html 

• Black Hole Math: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/black_hole_math.pdf 

• What Happens When a Black Hole Dies? https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/06/30/what-happens-when-a-black-hole-dies/ 

• Gale, R. P. & Hochhaus, A. (2023): Nuclear war and physicians’ social responsibility. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41375-023-02025-5 

How You Can Be Happier – According to Science

This piece is based on our video: "An Antidote to Dissatisfaction"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-dissatisfaction/ 

Are YOU the Center of the Universe?

This piece is based on our video: "The SMALLEST to the LARGEST Thing in the Universe – The Ultimate Size Comparison"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-middle-of-scale/ 

THIS is a Whale

Fully Developed Story

• How did whales evolve?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-did-whales-evolve-73276956/

• Original papers:

  • https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/48501/ID352.pdf

  • http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gingeric/PDFfiles/PDG133_Pakicetus.pdf

• Transitional record:

https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-009-0135-2

A Bacteria That Eats Plastic and Produces Vanilla Flavor?

Animated Fact

• Marine Plastic Pollution: https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution 

• Plastics, EDCs & Health: https://ipen.org/documents/plastics-edcs-health#:~:text=EDC%20exposure%20is%20a%20universal,microplastic%20and%20expose%20the%20population 

• Genetically engineered microbes convert waste plastic into vanillin: https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/genetically-engineered-microbes-convert-waste-plastic-into-vanillin/4013767.article 

• Could plastic-eating enzymes help curb pollution? https://www.dw.com/en/could-plastic-eating-enzymes-help-curb-pollution/audio-66156192 

• The Dangers Of Plastic Water Bottles: Why You Should Ditch Them For A Reusable Bottle: https://www.ozmo.io/the-dangers-of-plastic-water-bottles-why-you-should-ditch-them-for-a-reusable-bottle/#google_vignette 

• Plastic: It's Not All the Same: https://plasticoceans.org/7-types-of-plastic/ 

• Can plastic-eating enzymes solve the recycling problem? https://channels.ft.com/en/rethink/can-plastic-eating-enzymes-solve-the-recycling-problem/ 

• Technical, Economic, and Environmental Comparison of Closed-Loop Recycling Technologies for Common Plastics: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c05497 

• Genetic Engineered Ideonella Sakaiensis Bacteria: A Solution of the Legendary Plastic Waste Problem: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3194556 

• Plastic pollution is growing relentlessly as waste management and recycling fall short, says OECD: https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm 

• Plastic-eating bacteria: Genetic engineering and environmental impact:https://www.livescience.com/plastic-eating-bacteria 

• Bacteria really eat plastic: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230123083443.htm#:~:text=Based%20on%20a%20model%20study,plastic%20soup%20in%20our%20oceans 

• Microplastics Are Polluting the Ocean at a Shocking Rate: https://www.wired.com/story/microplastics-are-polluting-the-ocean-at-a-shocking-rate/#:~:text=Some%2011%20billion%20pounds%20of,hope%E2%80%94if%20countries%20act%20now.&text=If%20you%20throw%20a%20polyester,as%20quite%20its%20former%20self 

The Boomers of the Universe

This piece is based on our video: "The Last Thing to Ever Happen in the Universe"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-sources-lastthing/ 

What Happens When You Get a Tattoo?

This piece is based on our video: "Your Tattoo is INSIDE Your Immune System. Literally."

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-tattoo-inside/ 

What's Stopping Us From Colonizing the Solar System?

Animated Fact

• Overview

  • Space Colonization: https://www.nasa.gov/headquarters/library/find/bibliographies/space-colonization/

  • The expert guide to space colonies: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20141002-time-to-plan-a-space-colony 

  • The future of space colonization – terraforming or space habitats? https://phys.org/news/2017-03-future-space-colonization-terraforming-habitats.html 

  • The Human Body in Space: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/the-human-body-in-space/ 

  • Size of the Space Economy/reductions in Launch costs

    • Thomas Roberts, “Space launch to low earth orbit: How much does it cost?,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, September 2020 in https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/aerospace-and-defense/our-insights/the-role-of-space-in-driving-sustainability-security-and-development-on-earth#/

    • The role of space in driving sustainability, security, and development on Earth, McKinsey & Co. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/aerospace-and-defense/our-insights/the-role-of-space-in-driving-sustainability-security-and-development-on-earth#/

• Cost of sending people to space

  • NASA Should Send $17 Billion dollar human mission to Mars https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2023/05/18/nasa-should-send-17-billion-human-mission-to-mars-in-2033-say-experts/

• Radiation

  • Review with many useful pointers:

https://www.mdpi.com/2673-592X/3/1/5 

• Magnetic Shields

https://phys.org/news/2022-05-magnetic-astronauts-dangerous-space.html 

• Plasma Shields

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333603261_Journal_of_Engineering_and_Technology_Research_Title_Application_of_plasma_technology_in_aerospace_vehicles_A_review 

• Consequences of exposure to Space Radiation:

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/4/3/491 

• Effects of Gravity

  • https://web.archive.org/web/20120504165244/http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/SOPO/ICHO/HRP/ExPC/

  • https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/the-human-body-in-space/ 

• Artificial gravity:

  • https://www.wired.com/story/the-problem-with-spinning-spacecraft/ 

  • https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan-Hargens/publication/232320313_Space_physiology_VI_Exercise_artificial_gravity_and_countermeasure_development_for_prolonged_space_flight/links/5429eb9c0cf29bbc12676e75/Space-physiology-VI-Exercise-artificial-gravity-and-countermeasure-development-for-prolonged-space-flight.pdf 

• Treating the symptoms on their own:

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/the-human-body-in-space/#section-4 

• Isolation and Confinement

  • Effects and challenges:

    • https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/conquering-the-challenge-of-isolation-in-space-nasas-human-research-program-director-receives-national-recognition/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIsolation%20and%20confinement%20is%20like,for%20bigger%20and%20bigger%20problems.%E2%80%9D 

• https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00928.2015 

• Solutions and Strategies: https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00928.2015 

The Battle of Two Titans Decides Our Fate as a Species

This piece is based on our video: "How to Destroy the Universe"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-interstellarwar/ 

Alien Weapons, Part 1

This piece is based on our video: "How to Win an Interstellar War" 

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-interstellarwar/ 

What Jobs Are Needed on a Space Colony?

Animated Fact

• Salotti, Jean-Marc (2020): Minimum Numbers of Settlers for Survival on Another Planet. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-66740-0 

• Permanent Mars Colony is 'Long Way Down the Road' Nasa Says: https://www.space.com/32325-nasa-mars-colony-crewed-mission-outlook.html 

• Space Colonies Will Start Out Like the Wild West, Grow Family-Friendly: https://www.space.com/35179-space-colonies-for-future-humanity.html 

• How to create a bill of rights for Mars colonies: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140709-why-mars-needs-a-bill-of-rights 

• The Human Factor in the Settlement of the Moon: An Interdisciplinary Approach: https://books.google.de/books?id=hAlQEAAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 

• How do you stop astronauts going mad? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170208-how-do-you-stop-astronauts-going-mad

• Human Enhancements: New Eyes and Ears for Mars: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-42036-9_6 

• Meusburger, Sandra Häuplik & Bishop, Sheryl (2021): Space Habitats and Habitability Designing for Isolated and Confined Environments on Earth and in Space. https://www.google.de/books/edition/Space_Habitats_and_Habitability/1wcxEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Space+Habitats+and+Habitability&printsec=frontcover 

Your Brain Is Stupid

This piece is based on our video "The Internet Is Worse Than Ever – Now What?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-why-we-hate-each-other/ 

Why Do Planets Rotate in a Disk?

Animated Fact

• Why do the planets orbit in a plane parallel to the spin axis of the Sun?

https://public.nrao.edu/ask/why-do-the-planets-orbit-in-a-plane-parallel-to-the-spin-axis-of-the-sun/#:~:text=Why%20do%20the%20planets%20all,settled%20into%20a%20disk%20structure 

• Why is the Solar System flat and not a sphere? https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/space-astronomy/solar-system/why-solar-system-flat/ 

• Our Solar System: Facts: https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/facts/ 

How Did Homeopathy Become so Successful?

This piece is based on our video "Homeopathy Explained – Gentle Healing or Reckless Fraud?"

• Basic principles of homeopathy:

  • https://homeopathyeurope.org/ 

  • https://classichomeopath.com/basic-homeopathy/

• List of homeopathic remedies: https://homeopathycenter.org/search-materia-medica/ 

• Information on various homeopathic potencies:

http://www.homeopathichealing.org/x-c-and-m-the-alphabet-of-homeopathic-potency.html 

• Physical examination of the dilution: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01162.x

• Hahnemann's explanation for the effectiveness of homeopathy despite dilution:

  • § 270 Sixth edition

http://www.homeoint.org/books/hahorgan/organ260.htm#P270E5 

• Hahnemann's rules for taking homeopathic remedies, Organon (Collection) of Medicine §260 6th edition: http://www.homeoint.org/books4/organon/org260.htm#p270 

• Studies on the lack of effectiveness of homeopathic products:

• Statement of the European Academies Science Advisory Council September 2017: https://easac.eu/fileadmin/PDF_s/reports_statements/EASAC_Homepathy_statement_web_final.pdf 

• Systematic studies by Mathie et. al. and other employees of the Homeopathic Research Institute: https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-017-0445-3 

• FDA statement requiring homeopathic companies to prove the efficacy of their products: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_statements/996984/p114505_otc_homeopathic_drug_enforcement_policy_statement.pdf 

  • Statement from the FDA on their approach to homeopathic remedies: https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/homeopathic-drug-products-guidance-fda-staff-and-industry 

How Does Beaming Work?

Animated Fact

• Quantum teleportation: https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.1895 

• Teleportation Physics: https://sgp.fas.org/eprint/teleport.pdf

• Quote: “whereas the extraction of a minimum of 10^28 kilobytes will be required to encode and store an entire human being.”

A quettabyte: 10^30 byte

A kilobyte: 10^3 byte

=> 10^28 kB = 10^31 B = 10 QB

• Transmitting the info of a human would take quadrillions of years:

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/trouble-teleportation-it-could-take-quadrillions-years-f6C10817487 

• and in more detail:

https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/pst/article/view/2089/1993 

• Calculations:
  2.977*10^19 bits/s = 3.72125*10^18 bytes/s

10 quettabytes = 10^31 bytes

=> 10^31/(3.72125*10^18) = 85213 years

The Last Thing to Ever Happen in the Universe 

This piece is based on our video: "The Last Thing to Ever Happen in the Universe" 

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-sources-lastthing/ 

How Radioactive Are Your Teeth?

Fully Developed Story

• 520 nuclear tests, yield of 545 megatons:

https://www.unscear.org/docs/publications/1993/UNSCEAR_1993_Report.pdf

• 10,000 cancers per megaton, including FvH commentary:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08929880903368682?journalCode=gsgs20

• Summary article as a general source

https://www.americanscientist.org/article/fallout-from-nuclear-weapons-tests-and-cancer-risks

World's Deadliest Parasitic Disease

Animated Fact 

• The History of Malaria, an Ancient Disease: https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/history/index.html#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%201949,eliminated%20from%20the%20United%20States.

• Exploring the spatiotemporal drivers of malaria elimination in Europe: https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-016-1175-z#:~:text=By%201975%2C%20Europe%20was%20declared,retained%20that%20status%20ever%20since.&text=Factors%20that%20might%20have%20driven,Europe%20have%20been%20widely%20discussed. 

•  Malaria WHO: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria 

• Malaria WHO graphic: https://www.who.int/multi-media/details/worldwide-in-2021-there-were-an-estimated-247-million-malaria-cases

• How do you catch it? https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/faqs.html#:~:text=Malaria%20may%20cause%20anemia%20and,confusion%2C%20coma%2C%20and%20death. 

• Symptoms and Diagnosis: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n11/steven-shapin/drain-the-swamps 

• Why don't we just kill all the mosquitoes?

  • https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/08/01/dear-science-why-cant-we-just-get-rid-of-all-the-mosquitoes/

  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37162950/

• What about genetic engineering? 

  • https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-drives-mosquito-malaria-crispr-africa-public-outreach

  • https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-021-03674-6

• Vaccines: 

  • https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2023/18-million-doses-first-ever-malaria-vaccine-allocated-12-african-countries#:~:text=The%20RTS%2CS%2FAS01%20vaccine,a%20fall%20in%20child%20deaths.

  • https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/q-a-on-rts-s-malaria-vaccine

  • https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/is-new-malaria-vaccine-world-changing-maybe/

• What can we do to fight Malaria?

  • https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2023/who-recommends-new-malaria-nets-based-research-lshtm-and-partners#:~:text=IG2%20nets%20reduced%20malaria%20infections,to%20update%20their%20policy%20guidance. 

  • https://cdn.who.int/media/images/default-source/global-malaria-program-(gmp)/infographics/wmr2022-funding-gap.png?sfvrsn=8998c73e_3

  • https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240031357 

Why Are You Alive?

This piece is based on our video: "Why Are You Alive – Life, Energy & ATP"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sourceswhyareyoualive

Could Aliens Destroy Us From Light-Years Away?

This piece is based on our video: "How to Win an Interstellar War"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-interstellarwar/ 

Additional Source: 

• Dyson Swarm: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1402-4896/ac9e78

What If Earth Suddenly Turned into Gold?

This piece is based on our video: "What If the Earth Turned to Gold? The Gold Apocalypse"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sourcesgoldapocalypse/ 

How Old Can You Possibly Get? (According to Science)

Animated Fact

• How long can we live? https://www.nytimes.com/201/04/28/magazine/human-lifespan.html 

• Scientists up stakes in bet on whether humans will live to 150: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2016.20818#/b1 

• Life Extension: https://www.billhalal.com/blog/life-extension/ 

On natural limits to lifespan:

•  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8636159/ 

• Healthspan:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6136295/ 

• Lifespan:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-022-00291-z 

• Limit to lifespan through loss of resilience:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23014-1 

Current Life expectancy:

71 years in 2021, 66.5 in 2000 https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy#life-expectancy-has-improved-globally 

Dying of ‘old age’:

• https://theconversation.com/the-queens-death-certificate-says-she-died-of-old-age-but-what-does-that-really-mean-191666 

• Leading causes of death: https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2020-508.pdf 

Where Are the Aliens? The Dark Forest Theory

This piece is based on our video: "Why We Should NOT Look For Aliens – The Dark Forest"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-darkforest/ 

Let's Destroy Maths!

Animated Fact

• Ancient Babylonian Number System Had No Zero: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/ancient-babylonian-number-system-had-no-zero/

• What is the origin of zero? How did we indicate nothingness before zero?https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-origin-of-zer/#:~:text=The%20first%20recorded%20zero%20appeared,the%20end%20of%20the%20eighth. 

• We couldn’t live without ‘zero’ – but we once had to: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161206-we-couldnt-live-without-zero-but-we-once-had-to 

• Number system without zero: https://paradise.caltech.edu/ist4/lectures/foster%201947%20decimal%20no%20zero%20number%20system.pdf 

It's an El Niño Year! But What Is It?

Animated Fact

• Could have been around for thousands of years:

  • https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1191/0959683605h1782rp

  • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/25433.stm 

• Around 30 events since 1900: 

  • http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/history/enso/  (27 until 2015/16)

  • https://www.al.com/hurricane/2019/08/el-nino-is-over-noaa-says.html (2018/19)

  • https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/06/noaa-makes-it-official-el-nino-is-here/ (2023)

• Different types of El Niño:

  • https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/26/13/jcli-d-12-00649.1.xml 

• El Nino Southern Oscillation

• canonical Eastern Pacific 

• central Pacific -> more frequent atlantic hurricanes (see here)

  These are disputed (too few data points, no variations found under different methods or wrong type of distinction)

• Affects tropical cyclone formation and landfall:

  • https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/doc/10.1.1.461.2391 

  • https://web.archive.org/web/20141009155501/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G2.html

• Not all effects are guaranteed:

  • https://web.archive.org/web/20141009155501/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G2.html

• below average rainfall (Indonesia and north. South America)

• above average rainfall (southeastern South America, eastern equ. Africa and southern US)

What Happens When You Swallow a Tapeworm?

Animated Fact

• Breedlove, B. & Bradbury, R. (2022): Tapeworm Enigma. In: Emerging Infectious Diseases, p. 1306–1308. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9155875/

• Warrell, D.A. (2020): Injurious Arthropods. In: Hunter's Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Diseases (Tenth Edition). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780323555128001381#f0045 

Do We See the Same Colors?

Animated Fact

• You won't believe your eyes: The mysteries of sight revealed: https://web.archive.org/web/20080706001354/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2336163.ece 

• How we see color - Colm Kelleher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8_fZPHasdo

• Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains How We See Colors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtcxYsUS_wc )

• Your Color Red Really Could Be My Blue: https://www.livescience.com/21275-color-red-blue-scientists.html

• Mometrix: Reflection, Transmission, and Absorption of Light

https://www.mometrix.com/academy/reflection-transmission-and-absorption-of-light/#:~:text=Transmission%20occurs%20when%20light%20passes,thanks%20to%20the%20transmitted%20light.

Something is Killing YOU Silently

Animated Fact

WHO Sources:

• Air pollution: https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_3 

• Landing page for effects of pollution on health: https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/health-impacts/exposure-air-pollution 

• WHO Guidelines: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240034228 

• Mortality from environmental pollution: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/sdg-target-3_9-mortality-from-environmental-pollution 

Some numbers from this: 

• 24% of all global deaths are linked to the environment

• 91% of world’s pop lives above WHO guideline limits

• Ambient Air pollution: https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/sectoral-interventions/ambient-air-pollution 

British Heart Foundation:

• Can air pollution kill you? https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2020/february/can-air-pollution-kill-you

• Air pollution and heart health: https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/our-research/risk-factor-research/air-pollution-research 

• Why is air pollution a problem? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYSAPwQwMTk&t=157s 

Monkey With Typewriters – IN SPACE?

This piece is based on our video: "We Did the Math – You Are Dead!"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-boltzmannbrain/ 

Can You Escape a Black Hole?

Animated Fact

This piece was created based on personal conversations with Prof. M. Caplan.

The Origin of Viruses

This piece is based on our video: "This Virus Shouldn't Exist (But it Does)"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-girus/ 

The Future of Healthcare

This piece is based on our video: "Why Korea is Dying Out?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-populationcrash/ 

Let's Destroy a Black Hole! Part 2

This piece is based on our video: "What Happens if You Destroy a Black Hole?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-destroyablackhole/ 

Moving Faster Than the Speed of Light?

Animated Fact

• Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity: https://www.space.com/36273-theory-special-relativity.html, based on A. Einstein, Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper, 1905, Annalen der Physik; vol. 4, t. 17, 891-921

• Hubble Reaches New Milestone in Mystery of Universe’s Expansion Rate: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-reaches-new-milestone-in-mystery-of-universes-expansion-rate 

• Mystery of the Universe’s Expansion Rate Widens With New Hubble Data: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/mystery-of-the-universes-expansion-rate-widens-with-new-hubble-data 

• Homogeneity and Isotropy: https://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmo_02.htm#MD 

• Cosmic Horizons: https://explainingscience.org/2021/04/30/cosmic-horizons/ 

• Wolfram Alpha: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%28%28c%2FH_0%29%2Fradius+of+the+observable+universe%29%5E3 

Are We the Aliens?

This piece is based on our video: "Ancient Life as Old as the Universe"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-big-bang-life/ 

How Does Lightning Work?

Animated Fact

• Lightning Capitol of the world: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-world-s-top-lightning-hotspot-is-lake-maracaibo-in-venezuela/ 

• Longest Strike: https://phys.org/news/2022-02-longest-lightning-miles-states.html 

• Myths about Lightning: https://www.noaa.gov/stories/5-striking-facts-versus-myths-about-lightning-you-should-know#:~:text=Myth%3A%20Lightning%20never%20strikes%20in,5. 

Is Humanity Dying Out?

This piece is based on our video: "Why Korea is Dying Out"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-populationcrash/

Let's Destroy a Black Hole! Part 1

This piece is based on our video: "What Happens if You Destroy a Black Hole?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-destroyablackhole/ 

The Laziest Animal Ever?

This piece is based on our video: "The Horror of the Slaver Ant"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-slaver-ants/ 

Cryonics – Freezing Yourself For The Future

Animated Fact

• Slim chances of business survival:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311886.2016.1167576 

• Successful vitrification of a rabbit kidney:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781097/ 

Let's Shrink Earth!

Animated Fact

• Bhaskaran, Santosh et. al. (2009): Life and Gravity. Biophysical Reviews and Letters, 4,4 https://doi.org/10.1142/S179304800900106X

• De Witt, John K. et. al. (2014): The preferred walk to run transition speed in actual lunar gravity, J Exp Biol 217 (18): 3200–320 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.105684

• What would happen if gravity was reduced by half? https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-would-happen-if-gravity-was-reduced-by-half-141251#:~:text=Half%20the%20gravity%20would%20reduce,to%20breathe%20in%20enough%20oxygen 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why does halving the radius lead to ⅛ of the volume?

We halved the radius of the Earth, keeping the average density of the planet the same. This allows us to roughly estimate the mass by multiplying the new volume by the unchanged density. The volume of a sphere depends on the radius to the power of three (r^3) – so halving the radius actually means dividing the volume by 8. You can see the equation for this at 0:08

What if we removed the layers instead of halving the radius?

We went with the approach of halving the radius as it seemed to us to be more logical to simply shrink Earth instead of removing the outer layers until it was half the size. 

Shrinking something in a scientifically correct way is a hard thing to do, this is something we learned during the development of our VR experience. 

There are two methods: either you shrink things by removing their atoms while keeping the density the same, or you shrink them by reducing the distance between atoms while increasing the density. We opted for the first technique, simply because it keeps stuff more or less the way it is, so stones will just be smaller stones after shrinking them.

Removing layers would only mean three things: 

1. Changing the average density of the Earth, making our calculations a bit more complicated. 

2. The outer shell of Earth would now be the Earth's mantle, which is a scorching 1000–2000°C

3. All things on Earth would immediately burn up – from flora and fauna to buildings and us humans. 

So this would be a pretty boring scenario.

Why is a day 48 minutes long?

For the duration of a day, we use the formula for angular momentum. It’s the product of angular inertia (how difficult it is to start and stop the rotation of an object) and angular velocity (how quickly an object rotates around an axis of rotation). Angular inertia is proportional to mass and the square of the radius. Halving the radius led to an eighth of the mass, so the angular inertia is divided by 32 – this comes from 1/8 (from the mass) multiplied by 1/4 (from the square of the halved radius). But angular momentum needs to be conserved, so the angular velocity has to change. It needs to cancel out the inertia loss by increasing to 32 times the speed. Thus, a day will be 32 times shorter. You can see the equation for this at 0:15 in the video.

Would You Spend Your Entire Life in a Spaceship?

Animated Fact

• World Ships - Architectures & Feasibility Revisited: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236177990_World_Ships_-_Architectures_Feasibility_Revisited 

Why it's Important to Surround Yourself With Beauty

This piece is based on our video "Why Beautiful Things Make Us Happy – Beauty Explained"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/kgssourcesbeauty 

How We Eradicated One of the Deadliest Diseases

This piece is based on our video "The (Second) Deadliest Virus"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-smallpox/ 

Why Biotechnology Advances so Rapidly

This piece is based on our video "The Most Dangerous Weapon is Not Nuclear"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-biorisk 

Bananas Produce Antimatter

Animated Fact

• Positrons from bananas: https://www.quantumdiaries.org/2009/07/21/positrons-from-bananas/ 

• Price of one gram of antimatter being $62.5 trillion:

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/prop12apr99_1

• Banana equivalent unit:

https://www.radiation-dosimetry.org/what-is-banana-equivalent-dose-bed-definition/ 

• Some facts about potassium 40-K:

  • https://sciencedemonstrations.fas.harvard.edu/presentations/radioactive-human-body 

  • https://www.radiation-dosimetry.org/what-is-potassium-40-characteristics-half-life-definition/ 

• Banana facts:

  1. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173944/nutrients 

  2. Amount of bananas produced in 2021:

https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL -> 137 Million tonnes

Are You Real?

This piece is based on our video "You're a Dream of the Universe (According to Science)"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-boltzmannbrain/

How to Form Long-Lasting Habits

This piece is based on our video "Change Your Life – One Tiny Step at a Time"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-change/ 

Why Beauty Makes Us Happy

This piece is based on our video "Why Beautiful Things Make Us Happy – Beauty Explained"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/kgssourcesbeauty 

POV: Zombies Invade Your City

This piece is based on our video "The Reason Why Cancer is so Hard to Beat"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-cancer-city/ 

YOU Own The Moon!

Animated Fact

• Space commons:

https://swfound.org/media/207517/swf_brief_is_space_a_global_commons_pp2301_final.pdf 

• Outer Space Treaty 1967: https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/outerspace

• Artemis Accords: https://www.state.gov/artemis_at_two 

Our Brains Are Not Special – Why Are We?

Animated Fact

• Human brain scaling: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1201895109

• Human brain organoid integrating and connecting inside a rat brain:

https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(23)00004-8

• Neuron firing rates: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4879195/

• Elephant brain figures: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24971054/ 

POV: Billions of Lives Depend on Your Decision

This piece is based on our video "How a Nuclear War Will Start – Minute by Minute"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-mr-president/ 

How Do Touchscreens Work?

Animated Fact 

• Touchscreens: An Engineered Harmony Between Humans and Machines: https://illumin.usc.edu/touchscreen-an-engineered-harmony-between-humans-and-machines/#:~:text=Abstract,technology%20into%20our%20everyday%20lives

• Touchscreens: https://www.iop.org/explore-physics/physics-around-you/technology-our-lives/touchscreen#gref 

• Capacitive Touch explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFvh7qM6LdA 

How a Nuclear War Starts

This piece is based on our video: "How a Nuclear War Will Start – Minute by Minute"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-mr-president/ 

A Rare Genetic Condition: Polydactyly

Animated Fact

• Polydactyly in Development, Inheritance, and Evolution: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29558608/ 

• Full text: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/690841#

Destroy a Black Hole?

This piece is based on our video: "What Happens If You Destroy a Black Hole?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-destroyablackhole/ 

What Would Happen if the Sun Disappeared?

Animated Fact

• How old is the Sun?https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sun-age/en/#:~:text=Stars%20like%20our%20Sun%20burn,five%20billion%E2%80%94years%20to%20go.

• Light travel time between Sun and Earth: https://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/light-as-a-cosmic-time-machine.html 

• If the Sun went out, how long would life on Earth survive? https://www.popsci.com/node/204957/#:~:text=Within%20a%20week%2C%20the%20average,hundreds%20of%20thousands%20of%20years. 

• How long can we survive without photosynthesis: https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg23431311-500-plant-departure/#:~:text=However%2C%20our%20species%20might%20survive,would%20last%20about%205000%20years.

• What would Earth be like without the Sun? https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-would-earth-be-like-without-the-sun

• What would happen if the Sun disappeared? https://www.spaceanswers.com/solar-system/what-would-happen-if-the-sun-disappeared

How Vaccines Work

This piece is based on our video: "The Side Effects of Vaccines – How High is the Risk?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-vaccines 

Is the Placebo Effect Real?

This piece is based on our video: "Homeopathy Explained – Gently Healing or Reckless Fraud?"

• The Placebo and Nocebo Phenomena: Their Clinical Management and Impact on Treatment Outcomes: https://www.clinicaltherapeutics.com/article/S0149-2918(17)30077-2/pdf 

• Placebo interventions for all clinical conditions: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003974.pub3/abstract 

• Effects of placebos without deception compared with no treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28452193/ 

• Caregiver placebo effect in analgesic clinical trials for cats with naturally occurring degenerative joint disease-associated pain: https://europepmc.org/article/med/28270539 

• New Study on the Placebo Effect and Antidepressants in Children and Adolescents: https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/New-Study-on-the-Placebo-Effect-and-Antidepressants-in-Children-and-Adolescents.html 

• Placebo in animals: https://www.spiegel.de/gesundheit/diagnose/homoeopathie-wieso-es-einen-placeboeffekt-bei-tieren-gibt-a-974333.html (German source)

Is Humanity Doomed?

Animated Fact

• Positive developments taken from:

https://slides.ourworldindata.org/war-and-violence/#/title-slide 

• Renewables getting cheaper:

  • https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth 

  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinero/2022/09/14/renewable-energy-costs-have-dropped-much-faster-than-expected-but-theres-a-catch/?sh=577d77313164 

• Global literacy development:

​​ https://ourworldindata.org/global-education#how-has-global-literacy-evolved-in-the-last-two-centuries 

• and it’s connection to democracy: https://ourworldindata.org/global-education#countries-with-higher-educational-attainment-in-the-past-are-more-likely-to-have-democratic-political-regimes-today 

• and

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25699060?seq=23 

• Life expectancy almost doubled:

  • https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy#twice-as-long-life-expectancy-around-the-world 

  • https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/ 

• Number of democracies around the world:

https://ourworldindata.org/democracy#key-insights 

1. Set lower time to 2000 (https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/countries-democracies-autocracies-row?tab=table&stackMode=absolute&time=2000..latest )

2. Add electoral and liberal democracy numbers

2000: 85

2022: 90

3. Get increase:

90/85 *100 - 100= 6%

The (Second) Most Deadliest Virus on Earth

This piece is based on our video: "The (Second) Deadliest Virus"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-smallpox/ 

The Most Powerful Explosion in the Universe

Animated Fact

• Gamma-ray bursts as a threat to life on Earth: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/abs/gammaray-bursts-as-a-threat-to-life-on-earth/EED2E88320E43958BD6913C2F864C379

• Thomas, B. (2009). Gamma-Ray Bursts as a Threat to Life on Earth: https://arxiv.org/abs/0903.4710

Are Solar Flares Over- or Underrated?

Animated Fact

• NASA FAQ page on solar storms: 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/spaceweather/index.html

• Our Sun Is Capable of Producing Dangerous ‘Superflares’, New Study Says: https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/our-sun-is-capable-of-producing-dangerous-superflares-new-study-says

• Superflares- recent paper and press release 

  • Journal pub: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab14e6/meta

  • Preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.00142

Attack of the Fungi

Animated Fact

• It's time to fear the fungi: https://www.wired.com/story/fungi-climate-change-medicine-health/ 

• von Lilienfeld-Toal M., Wagener J., Einsele H., Cornely O. A., Kurzai O., 'Invasive Fungal Infection', Deutsches Ärzteblatt, 116(16), 271-278, 2019, doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2019.0271.

• Almeida F., Rodrigues M. L., Coelho C., 'The Still Underestimated Problem of Fungal Diseases Worldwide, Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, 2019, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00214   

• Gusa A., Yadav V., Roth C., Williams J., Meil Shouse E., Magwene P., Heitman J., Jinks-Robertson S., 'Genome-Wide Analysis of Heat Stress-Stimulated Transposon Mobility in the Human Fungal Pathogen Cryptococcus deneoformans', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jan. 20, 2023, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2209831120

• Warmer climate my drive fungi to be more dangerous to our health: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/science/020723/warmer-climate-may-drive-fungi-to-be-more-dangerou 

• The science that spawned fungal fear in HBO's 'The Last of Us': https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1157842018#:~:text=Neuman)%20True.,able%20to%20withstand%20higher%20temperatures. 

• Du H, Bing J, Hu T, Ennis CL, Nobile CJ, Huang G. Candida auris: Epidemiology, biology, antifungal resistance, and virulence. PLoS Pathog. 2020 Oct 22;16(10):e1008921. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008921. PMID: 33091071; PMCID: PMC7581363.

Let's Nuke the Moon

This piece is based on our video: "What if We Nuke the Moon"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-nukethemoon/ 

POV: You Travel Back in Time to the Early Universe

This piece is based on our video: "Black Hole Star – The Star That Shouldn't Exist"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-black-hole-star 

How Much CO2 Does Your Diet Emit?

This piece is based on our video: "Is Meat Really That Bad?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-climate-meat/

Space Elevator DIY

Animated Fact

• Concept Overview: https://www.isec.org/faq/#What%20is%20it 

• Concept discussion: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150211-space-elevators-a-lift-too-far 

• Material discussion:

  • https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=16371 

  • https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/190691-new-diamond-nanothreads-could-be-the-key-material-for-building-a-space-elevator 

• Longest diamond nanothread 90 nanometers:

https://www.iflscience.com/super-strong-diamond-nano-thread-could-make-your-carbon-nanotubes-dreams-reality-32357 

• Space Elevator on Mars/Moon:

https://frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/project.archive/1976.skyhook/papers/scasci.txt 

AI – Curse or Blessing

Animated Fact

• Should We Stop Developing AI For The Good Of Humanity?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/05/03/should-we-stop-developing-ai-for-the-good-of-humanity/?sh=479b73a22943 

• Problems in AI safety: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1606.06565.pdf 

How Cancer Develops in Your Body

This piece is based on our video: "The Reason Why Cancer is so Hard to Beat"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-cancer-city/ 

Dying in a Nuclear Winter

Animated Fact

This piece was created based on personal conversations with Prof. M. Caplan.

The Next Atomic Bomb?

This piece is based on our video: "The Next Pandemic Will Be Man Made"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-biorisk 

What Happens if Earth Suddenly Stops Rotating

Animated Fact

• Earth's Magnetosphere: Protecting Our Planet from Harmful Space Energy. https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3105/earths-magnetosphere-protecting-our-planet-from-harmful-space-energy/#:~:text=As%20this%20roiling%20mass%20of,is%20known%20as%20the%20geodynamo. 

• What if the Earth stopped spinning? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0262407911601607 

• Rotation: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/rotation/ 

• What would happen if Earth stopped spinning? https://www.astronomy.com/science/what-would-happen-if-earth-stopped-spinning/ 

• What would happen if the Earth stopped rotating? https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/greatmomentsinscience/what-would-happen-if-the-earth-stopped-rotating/8180664# 

• Das Erdmagnetfeld: Ein riesiger Dynamo. https://www.esa.int/Space_in_Member_States/Germany/Das_Erdmagnetfeld_Ein_riesiger_Dynamo 

Everywhere You Look, Weird Things in the Sky

This piece is based on our video: "The Black Hole That Kills Galaxies – Quasars"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-quasars/ 

The Role of Our Diet in Climate Change

This piece is based on our video: "Is Meat Really That Bad?"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-climate-meat/

Hard to Believe

Emperor Penguin: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/facts/emperor-penguin 

Polar Bear: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/polar-bear 

Deadly Supernova

Animated Fact

This piece was created based on personal conversations with Prof. M. Caplan.

Zombie City

This piece is based on our video "The Reason Why Cancer is so Hard to Beat"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-cancer-city/ 

What Does The Moon Smell Like?

Animated Fact

• Overview of lunar dust toxicity risk: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-022-00244-1 m

• The toxic side of the Moon: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/The_toxic_side_of_the_Moon 

• The Mysterious Smell of Moon Dust: https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/30jan_smellofmoondust#:~:text=Although%20it%20happens%20too%20slowly,Moondust%20smells%20like%20burnt%20gunpowder 

How to Time Travel Without Breaking Reality

Animated Fact

• Can we time travel? A theoretical physicist provides some answers: https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/can-we-time-travel/#:~:text=Time%20travel%20also%20violates%20the,you%20cannot%20unscramble%20an%20egg

• Time Travel: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time-travel/ 

• Where Do Space, Time and Gravity Come From? https://www.quantamagazine.org/where-do-space-time-and-gravity-come-from-20220504/ 

• Elliott H. Lieb, Jakob Yngvason, The physics and mathematics of the second law of thermodynamics, Physics Reports, 310, 1, 1999, 1-96,

• Lawrence H. Ford, Thomas A. Roman, Negative Energy, Wormholes and Warp Drive, Scientific American. 282, 1, 2000, 46-53

• Tipler Cylinder: https://www.andersoninstitute.com/tipler-cylinder.html

• Lewis, D., The Paradoxes of Time Travel, Science Fiction and Philosophy, S. Schneider (Ed.), 2016 doi: 10.1002/9781118922590.ch26

Why Does Humanity Exist NOW?

This piece is based on our video "Why Aliens Might Already Be On Their Way To Us"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-grabby-aliens/ 

The Sun's Secret Weapon

Animated Fact

• Solar Wind: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/nmp/st5/SCIENCE/solarwind.html#:~:text=The%20solar%20wind%20is%20created,lines%20that%20extend%20radially%20outward

• Coronal Mass Ejections: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections 

• NASA: Understanding the Magnetic Sun: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/understanding-the-magnetic-sun 

• Temperature and Density: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/real-time-solar-wind 

• Lava Temperature: https://www.britannica.com/science/lava-volcanic-ejecta 

• Speed: https://sci.esa.int/web/ulysses/-/42902-solar-wind-speeds

The Black Holes That Kill Galaxies

This piece is based on our video "The Black Hole That Kills Galaxies"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-quasars/ 

Underrated Body Parts That Keep You Alive Part IV: The Vestibular Nerve

Animated Fact

• How does our sense of balance work? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279394/#:~:text=The%20ear%20is%20a%20sensory,the%20utricle%20and%20the%20saccule 

• The physiology of balance: vestibular function

https://www.britannica.com/science/ear/The-physiology-of-balance-vestibular-function 

What Happens When You Make Earth Twice as Large?

Animated Fact

• Pal, A. (2018): What If The Earth Were Twice As Big?

https://medium.com/scientifical/what-if-the-earth-were-twice-as-big-c2284ebf503f

• The thought experiment: What if the Earth doubled in size?

https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/what-if-the-earth-doubled-in-size/

• Köchel, P. (2018): What if Earth Was Twice as Big? https://insh.world/science/earth-double-size/

• Emily R. Morey-Holton (2003): 9 - The impact of gravity on life. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780125986557500367 

• Strutiski, C. (2016): The Lilliput Effect – a response of life to increasing gravity?https://www.dinox.org/publications/Strutinski2016_Lilliput_Effect.pdf

POV: You're Being Attacked By Slaver Ants

This piece is based on our video "The Horror of the Slaver Ants"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-slaver-ants/ 

Space Without Spacesuit

Animated Fact

• Kwan, J. (2021): What would happen to the human body in the vacuum of space?https://www.livescience.com/human-body-no-spacesuit 

• Starr, M. (2014): What happens to the unprotected human body in space? https://www.cnet.com/culture/what-happens-to-the-unprotected-human-body-in-space/

• The Human Body in Space: Distinguishing Fact From Fiction: https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2013/space-human-body/

• Roth, E.M. (1968): Rapid (Explosive) Decompression Emergencies in Pressure-Suited Subjects. NASA CR-1223. NASA Contract Rep NASA CR., Nov: 1-125.

• Shayler D.J. (2000): Disasters and Accidents in Manned Spaceflight, Springer-Praxis Books in Astronomy and Space Science.

Wormholes III: How to Create a Manmade Wormhole

This piece is based on our video: "Wormholes Explained – Breaking Spacetime"

• Morris, M. et. al. (1988): Wormholes, Time Machines, and the Weak Energy Condition. https://authors.library.caltech.edu/9262/1/MORprl88.pdf 

Humans Can Breathe Liquids!

Animated Fact

• Norris, M. K. et. al. (1994): Liquid ventilation: It's not science fiction anymore. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7780839/ 

• Wolfson, M. R. & Shaffer, T. H. (2005): Pulmonary applications of perfluorochemical liquids: Ventilation and beyond. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526054205000278?via%3Dihub 

• Knight, H. (2010): Divers could breathe deep with liquid-filled lungs. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827865-900-divers-could-breathe-deep-with-liquid-filled-lungs/ 

• Sarkar, S. et. al. (2014): Liquid ventilation. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4258983/ 

Underrated Body Parts That Keep You Alive Part III: The Spleen

Animated Fact

• Most of the time she’s busy recycling your blood, sorting out deformed and dead cells and only letting the healthy ones through: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-47385-7_2

• When serious infections are trying to raid the body, spleen helps knock them out: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-47385-7_2

• And if lots of blood is lost due to an accident, she’ll quickly release the reserves she’s got stored:

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jappl.2001.90.4.1623 

• But if, for some reason, spleen has to go into early retirement, other factory hands jump in to take over (liver, lymph system) and the factory keeps running, a little less safe against outside invaders than before:

https://www.livescience.com/44725-spleen.html 

• Spleen’s workplace is to the left of your stomach below your rib cage: https://www.livescience.com/44725-spleen.html

Cancer – What Is It?

This piece is based on our video "Your Body Killed Cancer 5 Minutes Ago"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-cancervsimmune/ 

How Many Friends Can You Handle (According to Science)?

Animated Fact

• Dunbar’s number

  • https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0158#:~:text='Dunbar's%20number'%20is%20the%20notion,other%20individuals%20in%20the%20group.

  • https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191001-dunbars-number-why-we-can-only-maintain-150-relationships 

Are Your Friends More Popular Than You Are?

Animated Fact

• Easy explanation by NYTimes:

https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/friends-you-can-count-on/ 

• Proofs of different Friendship Paradox claims:

https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~soumen/doc/2021_Friends/FriendsOfFriends.pdf

• Facebook study on Friendship paradoxes:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1111.4503.pdf 

• Happiness Paradox:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1103.0784.pdf 

How Your Body Fights Against Cancer

This piece is based on our video "Your Body Killed Cancer 5 Minutes Ago"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-cancervsimmune/ 

How to Make a Kurzgesagt Video (In 1200 Hours)

This piece is based on our video "How to Make a Kurzgesagt Video in 1200 Hours"

Underrated Body Parts That Keep You Alive Part II: Tonsils

Animated Fact

• Tonsils Overview: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23459-tonsils 

• Kato, A. et. al. (2014): B lymphocyte lineage cells and the respiratory system. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3628816/ 

Earth as a Cube – What Would It Look Like?

Animated Fact

• What if Earth were a Cube - ScienceABC

https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/universe/what-if-the-earth-were-a-cube.html#:~:text=If%20the%20Earth%20were%20a%20cube%2C%20the%20terrain%20along%20the,spherical%20Earth%2C%20only%20more%20extreme. 

• Chappell, J. et. al. (2012): The Gravity Field of a Cube. https://thescipub.com/pdf/pisp.2012.50.57.pdf 

• Berezovsky, J.: If the Earth was a cube, how would gravity be different? https://www.quora.com/If-the-earth-was-a-cube-how-would-gravity-be-different/answer/Jesse-Berezovsky?share=294ba93f&srid=4v6p 

• Own calculations:

  1. Oceans: Base radius of an ocean-lake: 1100 km, depth at center of the faces: 120 km

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=Volume+of+spherical+cap+with+base+radius+1100+and+height+120 

2. "Like climbing a mountain that is 3000 km high"

Take the base radius of the ocean of 1100 km and a cube side length of L = 10,200 km. Then from coast to edge we would have minimal distance of 

10,200/2-1100 km = 4000 km

To a corner we would have minimal distance

√2*10,200 km /2 -1100 km ≈ 6112 km

Walking to the edge would than at least be like climbing a mountain with height h, where 

h_e = (4000^2-(4000/√2)^2))^(½) = 2828 km

Or when going to the corner at least a mountain with height:

h_c = (6112^2 - (6112/√2)^2))^(½) = 4322 km

Why Are We Doing kurzgesagt?

This piece is based on our video: "How to Make Money on Youtube with 20M Subs"

A detailed article on how we research our videos can be found here: https://medium.com/@Kurzgesagt/how-research-and-factchecking-work-at-kurzgesagt-f5b239188255 

How Do Lasers Work?

Animated Fact

• Priniciple of a Laser (German): https://www.vitavonni.de/facharbeit/Prinzip_Lasers.html 

• Physics 2000 on web-archive. Subsection about Lasers: https://web.archive.org/web/20150120033349/http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl?Type=TOC 

• Who invented the laser? 

https://web.archive.org/web/20140528023745/http://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/laser/sections/whoinvented.html 

POV: You're on Your Way Back From the Edge of the Observable Universe

This piece is based on our video: "You Are Not Where You Think You"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-jiggle-of-existence 

Magnetic Pole Shift – A Doomsday Scenario?

Animated Fact

• Earth's magnetic poles could start to flip. What happens then? https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/earths-magnetic-poles-could-start-flip-what-happens-then 

• Flip Flop. Why variations in Earth's magnetic field aren't causing today's climate change: https://climate.nasa.gov/ask-nasa-climate/3104/flip-flop-why-variations-in-earths-magnetic-field-arent-causing-todays-climate-change/ 

• The Earth's magnetic poles (probably) aren't about to flip, scientists say: 

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/earths-magnetic-poles-probably-arent-flip-scientists-say-rcna35673 

• Recurrent ancient geomagnetic field anomalies shed light on future evolution of the South Atlantic Anomaly: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2200749119

Portugal's War on Drugs

This piece is based on our video: "3 Arguments Why Marijuana Should Stay Illegal Reviewed"

• Sydow, K. et. al. (2002): What predicts incident use of cannabis and progression to abuse and dependence?: A 4-year prospective examination of risk factors in a community sample of adolescence and young adults. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871602001023 

• Portugal's radical drugs policy is working. Why hasn't the wolrd copied it? https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-drugs-policy-is-working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it 

• Decrease in regular consuption: https://www.drugpolicyfacts.org/region/portugal 

Underrated Body Parts That Keep You Alive Part I: Pancreas

Animated Fact

• Pancreas Overview: Krebsgesellschaft.de

• Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment: https://www.rxlist.com/pancreatic_cancer_slideshow/article.htm 

• Slack, J.M.W. (1995). Developmental biology of the pancreas. https://cob.silverchair-cdn.com/cob/content_public/journal/dev/121/6/10.1242_dev.121.6.1569/1/1569.pdf?Expires=1687765182&Signature=FSiVbQbT9xSkynJ7UwUSMJjsL2lo0qqdQJPLcnm5Tk1sO-8Z9eN-VlULLRTF-k2vE7iIomXl4eaUE58x~ksfOr7h-yWWw-B3zKR~Kr14xN~gg0ZJSHaSFg5cxpphOaZWpS68frYKlAL1D28ICmlWbZ1yeb~SpcNwD9pvm2lmlXedg52~er0RKDW5u41LhnwWvNA0zf0LthGhp1QycQZ33wWKoL7~4KZW4l50GDNvYDGo~fs~ajHNyZMRwONL08V7bDNxxdB-kOYMkB7~rk9RSnaiWqATdd1JHYhp3q-SSMtf-fC3gU8-NRAv2WYxrbTdhAwvw55Z1j8GDxOBJtjAgA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIE5G5CRDK6RD3PGA 

Wormholes II: Very Old String Theory Wormholes

This piece is based on our video: "Wormholes Explained – Breaking Spacetime"

• Morris, M. et. al. (1988): Wormholes, Time Machines, and the Weak Energy Condition. https://authors.library.caltech.edu/9262/1/MORprl88.pdf 

How Tiny Can a Black Hole Be?

Animated Fact

This piece was created based on personal conversations with Prof. M. Caplan.

Aliens Might Already Be on Their Way to Us

This piece is based on our video: "Why Aliens Might Already Be on Their Way to Us"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-grabby-aliens/ 

POV: You're the Vice President and Aliens Made Contact

Animated Fact

• Shanks, G. D. (2016). Lethality of First Contact Dysentery Epidemics on Pacific Islands.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4973171/ 

• Baum, S. D. et. al. (2011). Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1104.4462.pdf 

• Holmes, B. (2013). How many uncontacted tribes are left in the world?

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24090-how-many-uncontacted-tribes-are-left-in-the-world/ 

• Gilster, P. (2015). The Prime Directive – A Real World Case.

https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2015/08/28/the-prime-directive-a-real-world-case/ 

Let's Spend the Vacation at the Lake!

This piece is based on our video "The Most Horrible Parasite: Brain Eating Amoeba"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-brain-eater/ 

The Best Way to Train Your Immune System 

This piece is based on our video "The Best Way to Boost Your Immune System (With Science!)"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-whatdoesntkillyoumakes/ 

How to Perfectly Cut a Sandwich – With Science

Animated Fact

• Beyer, W. A.; Zardecki, A. (2004). The Early History of the Ham Sandwich Theorem. https://zenodo.org/record/1235195#.Y8Fv1uzMJeg 

• Smith, W. D.; Wormald, N. C. (2020). Geometric separator theorems and applications. https://users.monash.edu.au/~nwormald/papers/geomsep.pdf 

• Su, Francis E., et al. “Ham Sandwich Theorem.” Math Fun Facts. https://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts

• Brilliant: https://brilliant.org/wiki/ham-sandwich-theorem/ 

When you think our Sun is big but these exist...

This piece is based on our video: "The Largest Star in the Universe – Size Comparison"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sourceslargeststar 

Behind the Scenes: Our Story, How we Make Money, and our Values

This piece is based on our video: "How to Make Money on YouTube with 20M Subs"

A detailed article on how we research our videos can be found here: https://medium.com/@Kurzgesagt/how-research-and-factchecking-work-at-kurzgesagt-f5b239188255 

Why is the Ocean Salty and Rivers are not?

Animated Fact

• Why is the ocean salty, but rivers flowing into it are not? https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/riversnotsalty.html#:~:text=About%20the%20same%20tonnage%20of,is%20no%20longer%20getting%20saltier 

• Why is the ocean salty? https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/why-ocean-salty

• Water cycle: https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-earth-system/ocean-water-cycle

What was There Before the Big Bang?

Fully Developed Story

• The Origins of the Universe: The Big Bang: https://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/outreach/origins/big_bang_five.php

• What existed before the Big Bang? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220105-what-existed-before-the-big-bang 

Who Are You?

• Garwood, R. & Edgecombe, G. (2011). Early Terrestrial Animals, Evolution, and Uncertainty. https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-011-0357-y 

• Millipede from Scotland is world's oldest known land animal: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-millipede-idUSKBN2360RD 

POV: You Notice a Bright New Star

This piece is based on our video: "What if Earth Got Kicked Out of the Solar System? Rogue Earth"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sourcesrogueearth 

Guided Tour Through the Solar System: The Sun

Animated Fact

This piece was created based on personal conversations with Prof. M. Caplan.

The Beautiful Language of Life

This piece is based on our video: "The Most Complex Language in the World"

The detailed sources can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-impossible-machines/ 

Guided Tour Through the Solar System: Minor Members

Animated Fact

• Number of small objects: 10 trillion m-to-km sized asteroids in the Main Belt

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0031-8949/2008/T130/014027

• 100 billion to 1 trillion comets larger than 2 km in the Oort cloud: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/CometsII/7031.pdf

• 10,000 bodies of 100 km in size in the Oort cloud, with a power law of roughly Number = radius^-4. It matches the previous paper (440 billion for 2 km) so leads us to estimate a tremendous 10^4 x 10^20 = 10^24 objects larger than 1m in the Oort cloud. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/ssbn2008/7031.pdf 

• Oort cloud stretches into interstellar space: https://space-facts.com/oort-cloud/ 

• 67P asteroid dust with 1 Pa strength: https://www.aanda.org/component/article?access=doi&doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201732155 

• Chariklo rings: https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/first-ever-asteroid-with-rings/ 

• Psyche worth:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/asteroid-16-psyche-may-be-worth-more-than-planet-earth-at-10-quintillion-in-fine-metals-180979303/ 

• Blue Phaeton: https://www.space.com/asteroid-phaethon-blue-because-of-sunlight 

• Arrokoth is the reddest: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/arrokoth-2014-mu69/overview/ 

• Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy’s green glow: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1500863