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  • Documentary History Mini-series Travel

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2016
2016x1
Why Britain Sucks At Product Placement
Episode overview
04, 2016
Britain has some of the strongest product placement rules in the world - and it means YouTube vloggers have to declare their advertising before you click on the video. Why? And what did it mean for our version of The Price is Right?
2016x2
Crosswalks Don't Always Make You Safer
Episode overview
11, 2016
Zebra, pelican, puffin, toucan, pegasus: Britain names our crosswalks after creatures, thanks to historical reasons. But do they actually make you safer? Well, not always.
2016x3
Calling The Police Doesn't Charge Your Phone Battery
Episode overview
18, 2016
In Slough, outside the headquarters of Blackberry, I talk about an urban legend that's almost true: the idea that calling 999, the British emergency number, could actually charge your .. show full overview
2016x4
Why Wuppertal's Suspended Monorail Wasn't The Future Of Travel
Episode overview
25, 2016
In Wuppertal, Germany, there's the Schwebebahn: a suspended monorail that carries 80,000 people a day above the streets of the city, and above the river Wupper. It's a wonderful thing: but it wasn't the future of travel, and here's why.
2016x5
How "Crash Safari" Reboots Your Phone
Episode overview
25, 2016
Crash Safari dot com -- and no, I'm deliberately not linking to it! -- crashes your phone. Or your browser. Pretty much instantly. How? And after several months of obscurity, why did it .. show full overview
2016x6
How To Make Snow
Episode overview
01, 2016
In Lillehammer, Norway, it's time to make some snow. With science. As well as being one of my regular videos, this is an ad for the 2016 Youth Winter Olympic Games! Subscribe to the .. show full overview
2016x7
The Second Largest Freezer in Norway
Episode overview
03, 2016
The famous Lillehammer Bobsleigh Track! Massive, fast, and working in summer. Here's how. As well as being one of my regular videos, this is an ad for the Youth Winter Olympic Games! .. show full overview
2016x8
The Biathlon: Firing Guns Under Pressure
Episode overview
05, 2016
Welcome to one of the toughest winter sports - although it might not look like it. As well as being one of my regular videos, this is an ad for the Youth Winter Olympic Games! Subscribe .. show full overview
2016x9
What Counts as the World's Largest Clock?
Episode overview
08, 2016
Time is complicated. World records are complicated. Put the two together, and you've got a fight about large clocks between Düsseldorf's Rheinturm, the Mecca Clock Tower, and a laser sculpture from Burning Man.
2016x10
Why 1/1/1970 Bricks Your iPhone
Episode overview
12, 2016
This video has a correction! Turns out "Nuclear Gandhi" is a myth: https://kotaku.com/civilization-creat... - for all corrections on this channel, see .. show full overview
2016x11
Power, Politics and Pragmatism: The British National Grid
Episode overview
15, 2016
Back in the 1920s, electricity was generated by hundreds of small companies in towns and cities across the country. They were all different and mostly incompatible: London alone had 24 .. show full overview
2016x12
Inside A Satellite Clean Room
Episode overview
22, 2016
Welcome to Innovative Space Logistics, in the Netherlands: they invited me inside their clean room to see an actual CubeSat satellite that's going into space soon! (No, this isn't a .. show full overview
2016x13
Unexploded Bombs off the British Coast: the SS Richard Montgomery
Episode overview
29, 2016
In the Thames Estuary, near a town called Sheerness, a few dozen miles east of London, lies a World War 2 shipwreck that contains over 1,000 tonnes of unexploded bombs. Is it a risk to .. show full overview
2016x14
Driving Through Russia Without A Visa: The Saatse Boot
Episode overview
07, 2016
In the south-east of Estonia, there's 800m of road where you can drive through Russia without a visa. We drove it. This video has a correction: Further research revealed that the .. show full overview
2016x15
Why You Should Write Down Your Goals
Episode overview
14, 2016
Don't worry, I've not gone all DJ Khaled. ???? Let's talk about an interesting quirk of psychology, and a TV "Year of Promise" telethon that didn't stick around too long. EDIT: my conclusions here are questionable.
2016x16
Will YouTube Ever Run Out Of Video IDs?
Episode overview
21, 2016
In the URL of each YouTube video is the 11-character video ID, unique for each video. Can they ever run out? Just how many videos can YouTube handle? To work it out, we need to talk about counting systems, and about something called Base 64.
2016x17
The First Ever Wireless Hack: Marconi vs Maskelyne
Episode overview
28, 2016
No, it wasn't called "hacking" back then: it was called "scientific hooliganism". Let's talk about Marconi, Nevil Maskelyne, and a demonstration that didn't go as planned. And go check .. show full overview
2016x18
Accidental Emoji Expert: Tom Scott at An Evening of Unnecessary Detail
Episode overview
04, 2016
On stage at An Evening of Unnecessary Detail - http://aeoud.com - I tell a dramatised and extremely shortened history of emoji, run through what's coming up in 2016, and have a look at .. show full overview
2016x19
In Norway, Everyone Can Know How Much You Earn
Episode overview
14, 2016
Wage transparency is a strange concept for most of us: not so in some of the Nordic countries. And while Norway, Sweden and Finland differ in exactly the amount of access they give the .. show full overview
2016x20
Help, My Fusion Reactor's Making A Weird Noise
Episode overview
25, 2016
At the JET reactor at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy -- http://ccfe.ac.uk -- I talk to the engineers about fusion power, being the hottest place in the solar system, deliberate .. show full overview
2016x21
The Not-Quite-Robots That Help Fix Fusion Reactors
Episode overview
02, 2016
At Culham Centre for Fusion Energy -- http://ccfe.ac.uk -- my camera's being held by a robot. Well, not really by a robot. It's being held by a man called John. It's... complicated.
2016x22
The Most Dangerous Stretch of Water in the World: The Strid at Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire
Episode overview
09, 2016
I know, I know, it's a clickbait title. But I stand by it, because the water is so deceptive, and so pretty, and there's a path that leads straight down to it and that jump looks very, .. show full overview
2016x23
The Strangest Elevator In Italy: the Ascensore Castello d'Albertis-Montegalletto, Genoa
Episode overview
16, 2016
Continuing the occasional Weird European Infrastructure Tour: an Italian lift that switches direction from horizontal to vertical. And honestly, until someone pointed it out to me, I .. show full overview
2016x24
Why Snow and Confetti Ruin YouTube Video Quality
Episode overview
23, 2016
Your sports team wins. The confetti drops. And suddenly, the video quality falls apart. Why? Let's talk about interframe compression, bitrate, and unnecessary green screen effects.
2016x25
Why Web Filters Don't Work: Penistone and the Scunthorpe Problem
Episode overview
06, 2016
In a small town with an unfortunate name, let's talk about filtering and innuendo. And use it as an excuse for as many visual jokes as possible.
2016x26
Why You Can't Advertise Cancer Cures In Britain
Episode overview
13, 2016
This week, TV star Noel Edmonds endorsed the "EMP Pad". He said it could help with cancer -- and the company behind that claim denied it right away. Here's why. (Pull down the description for a full bibliography!)
2016x27
The Flower That Smells Like Death
Episode overview
20, 2016
There's a titan arum - a corpse flower - blooming at the Eden Project in Cornwall. For years, it stores energy: and then for 48 hours, it heats up and sends out the smell of decay and death through the rainforest. And it stinks.
2016x28
Nobody's Exactly Sure How Much A Kilogram Is Right Now
Episode overview
27, 2016
Yes, it's only micrograms of difference, but it's still really weird: until 2018, the kilogram is defined as "the weight of this physical object". So what happens when that object changes?
2016x29
The Man Who Invented, Then Hated, Shopping Malls
Episode overview
04, 2016
Victor Gruen is, according to history, the man who invented the shopping mall... but that wasn't quite what he was aiming for. And it seemed like an appropriate day to do a video about suburban sprawl -- happy Independence Day, America!
2016x30
The Bus Replacement Rail Service (yes, that's the right way round)
Episode overview
06, 2016
This may be the most British video I've done in a while! But I saw the news story and immediately wanted to film it: the volunteer-run, narrow-gauge Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway, in .. show full overview
2016x31
The Scientifically Inaccurate Dinosaurs That Must Stay That Way
Episode overview
11, 2016
In Crystal Palace Park, in South London, are 150-year-old dinosaur models: the first ever full-size replicas of extinct animals. But they're... well, they're a bit wrong, and they likely always will be. Here's why.
2016x32
No, Pokémon Go Can't Read Your Email
Episode overview
15, 2016
The inevitable Pokémon Go security video. With many thanks to Simon Coxall - http://mushybees.tumblr.com/ - for the wonderful not-Pokémon illustrations, and to Sheila for holding the .. show full overview
2016x33
The Fake Vinegar In British Fish and Chip Shops
Episode overview
25, 2016
"Non-brewed condiment" is what they call it: it's chemically very similar to proper vinegar, a mixture of ethanoic acid, colourings and flavourings, but it's put together by just .. show full overview
2016x34
The Mushroom Cloud Over Britain: RAF Fauld and the Hanbury Crater
Episode overview
01, 2016
Near the village of Hanbury is RAF Fauld. Once it was a munitions dump: now it's a crater. Here's why. (I'm indebted to authors, archivists and aerial crews for this video: here's a full bibliography and list of image credits!)
2016x35
Hebocon UK: Deliberately Terrible Robot Fighting
Episode overview
08, 2016
If your robot-building skills aren't quite up to Battlebots or Robot Wars, then Hebocon might be for you. Described "as a robot sumo-wrestling competition for those who are not .. show full overview
2016x36
The Problem With Renewable Energy (and how we're fixing it)
Episode overview
18, 2016
( This isn't a sponsored video, but I am massively grateful to all the team at SSE! Go look: http://sse.com/whatwedo/ourprojectsan... , and pull down the description for more. ) As the .. show full overview
2016x37
The Battery That's Lasted 176 Years
Episode overview
22, 2016
In a laboratory at Oxford University sits the Oxford Electric Bell, which has spent 176 years constantly ringing. And no-one's quite sure what the battery that powers it is made of...
2016x38
Why Mountain Dew Rots Your Teeth More Than Coca-Cola
Episode overview
29, 2016
"Hi Tom, I've got two of my sister's teeth dissolving in cola." That was the best pitch I got for guest videos - and so please welcome Chase from ScienceC, to talk about pH, TA, and show off some really disgusting close-ups of rotten teeth!
2016x39
The Fake-British Ghost Town In China: Thames Town
Episode overview
01, 2016
Welcome to Thames Town, the fake-British ghost town in China. Why did they build it? Who lives there? And why is it all so quiet? Today, Collin from the Collin Sphere Travel Vlog is guesting on this channel to investigate!
2016x40
Seeing Things: Visual Disturbances We All Experience
Episode overview
05, 2016
Inés is a PhD student researching insect flight at Oxford, and enjoys making videos about the fun and curious bits of science in her spare time!
2016x41
Listening for Nuclear Tests at the Top of the World
Episode overview
12, 2016
At Qaanaaq, in Greenland, there's IS18: an infrasound station that's quietly listening for nuclear tests — or any other large bang. Here's what, why, and a few words the man who, for .. show full overview
2016x42
The Front Falls Off: Glaciers Don't Go Backwards
Episode overview
15, 2016
Glaciologists will find this video obvious. Everyone else... well, maybe I slept through a bit of sixth-grade geography, but I didn't know this, and I reckon I should have done. Pull .. show full overview
2016x43
No-One Knows Who Got To The North Pole First
Episode overview
19, 2016
I thought I knew who got to the North Pole first. It turns out that it's a lot more complicated than you might think. [Pull down the description!] Frederick Cook; Robert Peary; Roald .. show full overview
2016x44
Internet to the Arctic: A Greenlandic Relay Station
Episode overview
22, 2016
Jakob emailed me when I said I was headed to the Arctic, offering to help out with a video. I don't think he knew what he was signing up for! Thank you so much to both Jakob Schytz and .. show full overview
2016x45
ᑖᒻ ᔅᑳᑦ and ᖃᓂᐅᔮᖅᐸᐃᑦ
Episode overview
26, 2016
Inuktitut syllabics are brilliant. A writing system that's not an alphabet, but something really clever: an abugida, one designed from scratch for a language very unlike anything European. [Pull down the description!]
2016x46
Cold Wars, Cruise Ships, and the Northwest Passage
Episode overview
29, 2016
There are a few communities, up in northern Canada, with a dark history and a worrying future. Resolute is one of them, sat at the east of the once-legendary Northwest Passage. In a few .. show full overview
2016x47
The Town Where Wi-Fi Is Banned: The Green Bank Telescope and the Quiet Zone
Episode overview
03, 2016
Tucked away in a valley in the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia, is this: the Green Bank Radio Telescope, the largest steerable radio telescope in the world. And there are some .. show full overview
2016x48
Pod Cars of the Past and Future: The Morgantown PRT
Episode overview
10, 2016
The Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit system threads its way through West Virginia University, taking thousands of people a day around the campus, non-stop. It's a system that was meant to be the future: so why isn't it?
2016x49
The world's most dangerous path... isn't.
Episode overview
17, 2016
El Caminito del Rey, the King's Little Pathway, is now a tourist attraction near Malaga, in southern Spain. But once, it brought adrenaline junkies here - sometimes fatally. Now it's safe: but the internet doesn't really know that yet...
2016x50
The Zip Line Across Time Zones
Episode overview
24, 2016
In Sanlúcar de Guadiana, in Spain, there's a zip line called Límite Zero: the only cross-border zip wire in the world, landing in Alcoutim, Portugal. You land about an hour before you set off. It seemed like a good time to talk about programming.
2016x51
The Solar Power Towers of Southern Spain
Episode overview
27, 2016
In the Aljarafe region of Spain, there's PS10 and PS20: concentrated solar power towers. They're huge towers surrounded by heliostats: movable mirrors that track the sun and reflect its .. show full overview
2016x52
The Bizarre Plan to Drain the Mediterranean: Atlantropa
Episode overview
01, 2016
Herman Sörgel wanted to create the largest civil engineering project the world has ever seen: a colossal dam across the Strait of Gibraltar, lowering the Mediterranean sea. There were, of course, a few problems with this.
2016x53
The Grave of the Man Who Never Was: Operation Mincemeat
Episode overview
07, 2016
In a cemetery in Huelva, in Spain, is the grave of Major William Martin, of the British Royal Marines. Or rather, it's the grave of a man called Glyndwr Michael, who served his country during World War 2 in a very unexpected way... after his death.
2016x54
The Spider Dress That Reacts To Personal Space Invaders
Episode overview
14, 2016
Fashion-tech designer Anouk Wipprecht has built a Spider Dress, which reacts based on how close you're standing and how quickly you approached. It's based on 'proxemics': the study of .. show full overview
2016x55
3D Printing Stainless Steel with Giant Robot Arms
Episode overview
17, 2016
At Autodesk's Pier 9 workshop in San Francisco -- and no, this isn't an ad, pull down the description for more! -- there are giant robot arms using welders to 3D print with stainless .. show full overview
2016x56
The World's Most Famous Teapot: The Utah Teapot
Episode overview
21, 2016
At the Computer History Museum, in Mountain View, California, there sits a small teapot. It's the world's most famous teapot, after a computer graphics researcher called Martin Newell .. show full overview
2016x57
Arson as a Christmas Tradition: The Gävle Goat
Episode overview
28, 2016
In Gävle, Sweden, every year they build Gävlebocken, an enormous traditional Swedish Christmas straw goat. And every year, someone tries to burn it down. Here's to holiday traditions.
2016x58
This giant model stopped a terrible plan
Episode overview
01, 2016
John Reber had a plan: to dam the San Francisco Bay. He convinced some politicians - and it took the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bay Model they built in Sausalito, to prove him not just wrong, but dangerously wrong.
2016x59
The City of the Dead: Colma, California
Episode overview
05, 2016
In this small city near San Francisco, the dead outnumber the living by a thousand to one. There's some gruesome history here - and a few questions for the future.
2016x60
Wheels, Bombs, and Perpetual Motion Machines
Episode overview
08, 2016
Perpetual motion machines are badly named. And impossible. But that hasn't stopped a lot of people trying to build them. Sure, you could try and argue physics: but there's a more common-sense reason why free energy's not coming any time soon.
2016x61
In Old Movies, Why The Dial Tone After Someone Hangs Up?
Episode overview
12, 2016
Brace yourselves, we're about to get into some serious detail about telephone systems. Thanks to all the folks at Seattle's Museum of Communications! http://museumofcommunications.org/
2016x62
Science vs the Weather: Salford's Energy House
Episode overview
19, 2016
At the University of Salford's Energy House, all the energy use is monitored and controlled, allowing researchers to experiment with all sorts of insulation and energy-saving techniques. .. show full overview
2016x63
Why YouTube Streams Don't Count For Christmas № 1
Episode overview
23, 2016
The Christmas Number One is a British tradition: but it's one that's having to go through some changes -- because not many people buy music any more. Here's how the charts are calculated .. show full overview
2016x64
Fallout Shelters and Zurich's Water: Swiss Resilience
Episode overview
26, 2016
Switzerland has a reputation for being... not paranoid, exactly, but certainly careful with their own safety. Zurich exemplifies this: not just with its fallout shelters, but with an entire backup water system. Just in case the world ends.