Which Font Makes the Best ⌶-Beam?

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…

Industrial robots are (nearly) perfect

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…

We don’t know where eels come from

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…

I thought this was fake

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!?!?!)…

NASA made a fake moon

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…

How to launch a nuclear weapon

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.…

The Satellite Orbit Tier List

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…

Dividing by zero on a water computer from 1940

From Atomic Frontier. 🌎 Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➡️ https://nordvpn.com/atomicfrontier It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee!☝️ 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…

The 200-Year-Old Science Hack That Preserves Plants Forever

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…