From Tom Scott. The Bolwoningen, in Den Bosch, in the Netherlands, are experimental architecture: the surprising part is that people still live there. Local producer: Jasper Deelen Camera: Jeroen Simons Thanks to @NotJustBikes for the Rotterdam cube house footage A lot of my history research from video is based on 2019 book "Experimentele Woningbouw in…

From Tom Scott. This is the only pirate reference you’re getting from me. • Written with Molly Ruhl and Gretchen McCulloch. Gretchen’s podcast has an episode all about this: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/684727483493384192/episode-68-tea-and-skyscrapers-when-words-get • More Language Files: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLDEnHuhD7CTZES3KXFnwm0 Gretchen’s book BECAUSE INTERNET, all about the evolution of internet language, is available: 🇺🇸 US: https://amzn.to/30tLpjT 🇨🇦 CA: https://amzn.to/2JsTYWH 🇬🇧…

From Tom Scott. The British Library is one of the six legal deposit libraries for the UK — and the only one that doesn’t pick and choose, or have to ask for copies. That’s a lot of books to store, and the internet’s only making it worse. ■ The BL: https://bl.uk ■ UK Web Archive:…

From Tom Scott. This was so much more complex than I thought. ■ AD: 👨‍💻 NordVPN’s best deal is here: https://nordvpn.com/tomscott – with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Graphics by William Marler https://wmad.co.uk Written with Sean M Elliott https://twitter.com/SeanMElliott/ Audio mix and script proofread by Graham Haerther and Manuel Simon at Standard Studios (who had to…

From Tom Scott. The Baťa Skyscraper, in Zlín, Czechia, is a landmark of architecture. And the office of Jan Antonín Baťa… is an elevator. [Correction: Jan Antonín Baťa’s birth year is 1898; the graphic is a typo.] Thanks to the museum staff for fact-checking and translation! Camera and local production: Otto Beck, HayotFilms https://hayotfilms.com I’m…

From Tom Scott. Long barrows are Neolithic constructions that might have been churches, or graveyards, or landmarks. And some are being built again: for the first time in recorded history. ■ Soulton Long Barrow: https://www.soultonhall.co.uk/page/322/soulton-long-barrow.htm ■ Sacred Stones: https://www.sacredstones.co.uk/our-locations/soulton-long-barrow/ Camera: Ryan Priestnall https://www.ryanpriestnall.com/ Editor: Julian Domanski I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook…

From Tom Scott. The Honiton Hot Pennies ceremony is the result of 800 years of tradition: from when rich people would entertain themselves by throwing scalding-hot pennies onto the poor people below. These days, it’s a bit less dangerous… but only a bit. DoP: Dave Mackie https://davemackie.co.uk Camera; Jared Zwarts Editor: Julian Domanski I’m at…

From Tom Scott. Zermatt, in Switzerland, bans all private cars and all gasoline cars. But if you run a business, you might be able to buy one of the special, tiny ones that are built right there. ■ Zermatt: https://zermatt.ch ■ Stimbo: https://stimbo.ch/ Camera: Martin Bäbler Editor: Michelle Martin https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin Local production by Viven https://viven.ch…

From Tom Scott. In Switzerland, there’s a new cryonics company: and they invited me to have a look around. I had questions: legal, practical, and ethical, and I want to be clear: this is not an endorsement. I just wasn’t going to turn down that invitation. ■ Tomorrow Bio: https://www.tomorrow.bio/ Camera: Martin Bäbler I’m at…

From Tom Scott. An unexpected update! Thanks to @KarenPuzzles for handling the GoPro ■ The Center: https://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org/ ■ Certified bear-resistant products: https://www.igbconline.org/programs/bear-resistant-products ■ The raw footage, public domain: https://archive.org/details/grizzly-bear-selfie or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oarf76MCrss — note that the rest of this video and my voiceover is not public domain! Previously: If this survives for an hour, it passes…

From Tom Scott. This footage is public domain, and the raw files are available at https://archive.org/details/grizzly-bear-selfie ■ An explanation, which is not public domain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq4ZkfojSis ■ Two videos taken by grizzly bears at the Grizzy & Wolf Discovery Center, West Yellowstone, Montana. The bears found a previously-lost GoPro Hero 11 in a protective case, in…

From Tom Scott. At the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana, you can get a product certified as bear-resistant… by actual bears. ■ The Center: https://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org/ ■ Certified bear-resistant products: https://www.igbconline.org/programs/bear-resistant-products Camera by Erik Resel at Backcountry Media https://backcountrymedia.com Edited by Julian Domanski I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook…

From Tom Scott. Near San Diego, California, there’s a rotating house: and somehow, all the utilities, the electricity, gas and water, work even on the rotating part. How’s that possible? ■ Al’s site: https://rotatinghome.com ■ The real estate listing: http://navrealestate.co/4903-mount-helix-dr This is not an advert; I received no payment other than access and had full…

From Tom Scott. Near Dayton, Ohio there’s a lookalike of the Wright Brothers’ Model B: a 1910 aircraft with no cockpit. It’s a modern plane with a very old design, and I went for a ride. ■ The Museum: https://www.wright-b-flyer.org/ Edited by Julian Domanski I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at https://facebook.com/tomscott…

From Tom Scott. 💡 VIDEO SUGGESTIONS: https://tomscott.com/lastcall/ | ❓ LATERAL the podcast: https://lateralcast.com or highlights at https://youtube.com/lateralcast | 📰 NEWSLETTER: https://tomscott.com/newsletter/ | 💥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif | ➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS the second channel: https://youtube.com/tomscottplus

From Tom Scott. Well before the first climbing frame was patented as "jungle gym", mathematician Charles Hinton thought they might be able to teach kids four-dimensional thinking. ■ Thanks to the Winnetka Historical Society! More from them: https://www.winnetkahistory.org/gazette/j-is-for-jungle-gym/ Original patents referenced: https://patents.google.com/patent/US1471465A/ https://patents.google.com/patent/US1488244A/ https://patents.google.com/patent/US1488245A/ https://patents.google.com/patent/US1488246A/ Also referenced is "Winnetka: The history and significance of an…

From Tom Scott. Through the mountains of Slovenia, there are manual cable cars: some historic, some more modern. There aren’t many left. I was able to try one, and to talk to the person who still maintains it. Just to be clear, there are a few of these in other places in the world, too.…

From Tom Scott. In an old mill in a remote corner of Italy, sits the Bathysphere Project at Explorandia: a submarine simulator that explores an actual, small pond. It might be the best homemade project I’ve ever seen. ■ More: https://www.explorandia.it/page/bathysphere Edited by Julian Domanski I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at…

From Tom Scott. The first few moments of an explosion can’t be simulated yet. But there’s a team at the University of Sheffield working on it. ■ A paper about their work, including data from a similar test: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/2/964 ■ More from them: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/civil/ Previously: why Hollywood explosions don’t look like real explosions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqJiWbD08Yw I’m…

From Tom Scott. The Catesby Tunnel, in the UK, is an old Victorian railway tunnel that has a new use: a secretive car testing facility, like a wind tunnel but in reverse. So rather than just show it to the world, I thought I’d answer a question: if you stick a camera on the outside…

From Tom Scott. At the University of California San Diego, there’s the Shake Table: an earthquake simulator with the heaviest payload capacity in the world. ■ More about the table: https://nheri.ucsd.edu/ and the building: http://nheritallwood.mines.edu/ With thanks to everyone at UCSD, including Shiling Pei and Ioana Patringenaru Camera: Mark Liu and David Baillot Editor: Michelle…

From Tom Scott. I went inside the former hotel where, for science (and money), people are volunteering to get colds, flu, and RSV. ■ Challenge trials looking for volunteers: https://flucamp.com/ and https://www.1daysooner.org/recruiting-challenge-studies This isn’t an advert! the subject was suggested by the team at 1DaySooner, but that’s it: no money changed hands and no editorial…

From Tom Scott. At CEA-Leti, in Grenoble, there’s a "funicular" that not many people get to ride: because it’s between two clean rooms, and getting to it requires quite a lot of preparation. ■ CEA-Leti: https://www.leti-cea.com/cea-tech/leti/english/Pages/Welcome.aspx For most of my research on this, I’m indebted to this French-language article from by Julien Meyrat: https://www.vepres.fr/vepres-presse-salles-propres-funiculaire/ Camera:…

From Tom Scott. Agroscope is a Swiss government-backed agricultural research lab. It’s got a lot of other resarch projects too, but it also keeps a backup of the Swiss cheese bacterial cultures… just in käse. ■ Agroscope: https://www.agroscope.admin.ch/agroscope/en/home.html Camera: Tobias Buchmann Editor: Michelle Martin https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin Local production by Viven https://viven.ch Thanks to Rafael Ferrara and…

From Tom Scott. Meiringen Air Base, in Switzerland, has an unusual feature: two public roads that go straight over the runway. How do they keep it safe? And, as a side note, just how loud is it when you’re standing next to a fighter jet? (Bonus things that didn’t fit into the video: the aircraft…

From Tom Scott. At the Department of Collective Behaviour, part of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, researchers are putting locusts into simulated worlds, both virtual and physical, in the hope that they can figure out how devastating swarms form and move. ■ About the Centre: https://www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/collective-behaviour/ https://www.ab.mpg.de/couzin Edited by Michelle Martin https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin Thanks…