Hi! My name is James Dingley and I’m the creator of Atomic Frontier. I explore the world to produce short documentaries explaining the hidden science and engineering of the real world. When not making movies I’m a PhD student at MIT STARlab working on in-space robotic manufacturing.
From Atomic Frontier. I spent three years trying to find out which typeface’s capital "I" makes the best I-beam. Along the way I learned how fonts came to be and why I beams look the way they do. Huge thanks to Coby, Hayami, Kerri, and the teams at the MIT Hobby Shop and MakerWorkshop. Have…
From Atomic Frontier. I went to BMW to check out their robots, recycling, and renewables. If robots are so good, why do car manufacturers still need people? Thanks to Prof. Sangbae Kim at the MIT Biomimetic Robotics Laboratory for lending me some of their robots and the team at @BMWGroup for inviting me to join…
From Atomic Frontier. Eels are crazy. ———- II ———- 0:00 Introduction 0:17 A millenia-old mystery 0:46 The eel life cycle 4:27 Science is hard 7:31 Outroduction 8:11 Captain Sailout ———- II ———- Hi, I’m James. I explore the world looking for interesting engineering stories which explore complex issues in interesting ways. I hold a Honors…
From Atomic Frontier. I climbed the AT&T Long Lines network to discover the secrets of this cold war infrastructure. All filming was done with permission from the site owners, please don’t trespass on your local tower. See all sides of every story and broaden your perspective at https://ground.news/AtomicFrontier. Subscribe this month to receive 40% off…
From Atomic Frontier. I go behind the scenes at the Beenyup Water Resource Recovery Facility to uncover the science of sewage. Sponsored by Brilliant. Head to https://brilliant.org/AtomicFrontier for a 30 days trial and to get 20% off their premium annual subscription. Huge thanks to the team at WA Water Corp for letting us come film!…
From Atomic Frontier. Why do some beaches squeak and what’s the deal with singing sand dunes? I went to Australia to find out. Along the way I lose my marbles, get sunburned, and fill my camera with sand. ———- II ———- Thanks to Vlogbrothers for their sponsorship of this video. (seriously, how cool is that!?!?!)…
From Atomic Frontier. NASA’s Artemis missions have generated a new interest in lunar simulant for testing our future spacecraft and equiptment on the harsh surface of the moon. I visited the University of Central Florida’s Exolith Lab to find out how we’re making LHS. Check out Exolith at: https://spaceresourcetech.com/ ———- II ———- 0:00 That’s no…
From Atomic Frontier. I used machine learning to create the world’s worst (and best) keyboard layouts. Along the way I learned how QWERTY came to be, how simulated annealing works, and got a little better at typing. Full code at: https://github.com/AtomicFrontierCode/keyboards Music by Julian, camera by Julia, story by James. ———- II ———- This video…
From Atomic Frontier. Inside the world’s last Titan II nuclear silo. During the Cold War this structure held the most powerful weapon ever deployed by the United States. Today the warhead is gone but eveything else remains; giving me the perfect oportunity to explore the engineering and logistics behind how to launch a nuclear ICBM.…
From Atomic Frontier. Space is filled with satellites in interesting orbits, but which one is best? A crash course in astrodynamics in the format of "the BBC if they decided make a tier list video". 0:00 Introduction 1:05 Very Low Earth 1:55 International Space Station 2:36 Walker Constellation 3:12 Sun Synchronous 4:00 GPS 4:46 Flower…
From Atomic Frontier. š Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ā”ļø https://nordvpn.com/atomicfrontier It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee!āļø I went to Cambridge to revive a water computer that once modelled the British Economy. ———- II ———- This video was brought to you by an unhealthy amount of coffee and our awesome Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/atomicfrontier. 0:00…
From Atomic Frontier. How are we rebuilding Notre Dame to sound the same as it did before the fire? Check out the full-VR ghost choir at: https://youtu.be/qcOPuIVpXxk Huge thanks to Prof. Brian Katz and Dr. David Poirier-Quinot for helping to make this video possible. ———- II ———- This video was brought to you by an…
From Atomic Frontier. What’s the deal with American Cheese? Sponsored by Squarespace. Head to https://squarespace.com/atomicfrontier to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using the code ATOMICFRONTIER. Huge thanks to the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company for helping us with the episode! Check out their cheeses and visit the farm at…
From Atomic Frontier. I fire the world’s fastest gun to test the next generation of spacecraft shields. Sponsored by Squarespace. Head to https://squarespace.com/atomicfrontier to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using the code ATOMICFRONTIER. Huge thanks to the team at the Texas A&M University Hypervelocity Impact Laboratory for helping make…
From Atomic Frontier. I explored the U.S. National Arboretum Herbarium to find out what it takes to protect America’s food biosecurity and (maybe) find some new species. Huge thanks to Harlan Scoboda and the team at the U.S. National Arboretum Herbarium. ———- II ———- This video was brought to you by an unhealthy amount of…
From Atomic Frontier. The Chicago River is flowing backwards, rather than going downhill from inland Illinois into Lake Michigan instead it goes in the opposite direction. This isnāt some quirk of nature, but an engineering megaproject – indeed four engineering megaprojects – on a scale quite unlike anything else on Earth. So, what does it…