press
3:51Why “No Problem” Can Seem Rude: Phatic Expressions
5M views • 7 years ago
Tom Scott
Tom Scott explains phatic expressions such as hello, thank you and how are you, which carry social meaning rather than information, and why replies like no problem can seem rude to some people.
21:40The LED's Challenge to High Pressure Sodium
1.6M views • 8 years ago
Technology Connections
A Technology Connections video weighing LED streetlights against high pressure sodium lamps, covering efficiency, color, cost and light pollution. It is a follow-up to his earlier explanation of why street lights are orange.
24:39SM64 - Watch for Rolling Rocks - 0.5x A Presses (Commentated) [OUTDATED]
5.5M views • 10 years ago
pannenkoek2012
Pannenkoek2012's commentated tool-assisted Super Mario 64 run collecting the Watch for Rolling Rocks star with half an A press, using parallel universes and QPU movement. The video is marked outdated in favor of a newer version.
6:00Rhyme: Why Eminem is one of the most impressive lyricists ever
3.7M views • 13 years ago
Library of Alexandria
A re-upload of a video breaking down Eminem's rhyme schemes, showing multi-syllable and internal rhymes in songs such as Lose Yourself. It aims to show why he is considered a standout lyricist.
4:20Why Snow and Confetti Ruin YouTube Video Quality
10.4M views • 10 years ago
Tom Scott
Tom Scott explains why confetti and snow wreck video quality, using interframe compression and bitrate. He demonstrates it live by changing the quality on screen.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
15:12JPEG DCT, Discrete Cosine Transform (JPEG Pt2)- Computerphile
697K views • 11 years ago
Computerphile
Mike Pound explains the discrete cosine transform and how it underpins JPEG compression. It is part two of Computerphile's JPEG series.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
3:36Hold music used to sound better. Here's why.
2.9M views • 8 years ago
Tom Scott
Tom Scott explains why hold music sounds worse than it used to, tracing it to old telephone exchanges and the audio compression applied by modern switches. It is a short visit to the Milton Keynes Museum.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
1:54The Loudness War
2.7M views • 20 years ago
Matt Mayfield Music
A two-minute demonstration of the loudness war, showing how heavy dynamic range compression in CD mastering makes music louder while degrading sound quality. It uses audio examples so you can hear the distortion.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
18:42I Did Caffeine Analysis: Some Unexpected Results!
1.7M views • 3 years ago
James Hoffmann
James Hoffmann runs caffeine analyzer tests comparing filter versus espresso, extraction over time, steep time, instant coffee and light versus dark roast.
7:23How Trees Bend the Laws of Physics
5M views • 14 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium explains how trees lift water from roots to the top of tall trunks, using transpiration pull and the negative pressure that liquid water can sustain. It explains why trees do not need pumps or valves.
13:34Salt: Are you getting Enough? (More Sodium & Health)
1.4M views • 9 years ago
Joseph Everett - WIL
Joseph Everett argues, drawing on the book The Salt Fix, that most people benefit from more rather than less salt, and reviews studies on sodium, potassium and blood pressure.
19:42But what is the Fourier Transform? A visual introduction.
12.6M views • 8 years ago
3Blue1Brown
3Blue1Brown's animated visual introduction to the Fourier Transform, showing how a signal breaks into frequency components.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
23:53D/A and A/D | Digital Show and Tell (Monty Montgomery @ xiph.org)
647K views • 13 years ago
FL Studio
Monty Montgomery of Xiph.org gives real-time demonstrations of sampling, quantization, bit depth and dither using real audio equipment, including both digital analysis tools and vintage analog bench gear. It shows that sampled audio is not stair-stepped and corrects common misconceptions about digital audio.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
28:23The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT): Most Ingenious Algorithm Ever?
2.3M views • 5 years ago
Reducible
Reducible's visual walkthrough of the Fast Fourier Transform, motivated by polynomial multiplication. It shows how the FFT's key ideas can be discovered by asking the right questions.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
3:39(1/4) Intro/History: Introducing a 100-year-old mechanical computer
476K views • 11 years ago
engineerguy
The first of four short videos from Bill Hammack (engineerguy) introducing and giving the history of a 100-year-old mechanical computer, Michelson's harmonic analyzer. The series goes on to explain Fourier synthesis, analysis and operation of the machine.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
6:34Why Is It So Hard to Do Something That Should Be Easy? (Wall of Awful pt. 1)
2.1M views • 7 years ago
How to ADHD
A short How to ADHD explainer, featuring Brendan Mahan, on why simple tasks can feel impossible for people with ADHD. It introduces the 'wall of awful', a pile of past failures, shame and anxiety that builds up in front of a task and blocks starting it.
Topic match · Mental health & neurodiversity
18:07The more general uncertainty principle, regarding Fourier transforms
2.3M views • 8 years ago
3Blue1Brown
3Blue1Brown shows how the uncertainty principle arises from Fourier transforms. A wave packet cannot be narrow in both position and frequency, so the principle is a property of waves rather than of measurement.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
18:31Fourier Optics used for Optical Pattern Recognition
103K views • 6 years ago
Huygens Optics
Huygens Optics explains the Fourier transform and shows how a lens performs one optically. A DLP projector is used as a Fourier filter to do simple pattern recognition on lithographic character patterns.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
9:37Characters, Symbols and the Unicode Miracle - Computerphile
2.1M views • 13 years ago
Computerphile
Tom Scott explains for Computerphile how Unicode and UTF-8 grew out of messy older character encodings to become the web's standard. It covers why the design works and how it handles worldwide text.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
24:47But what is a Fourier series? From heat flow to drawing with circles | DE4
19M views • 7 years ago
3Blue1Brown
3Blue1Brown introduces Fourier series, from the heat equation to drawing arbitrary shapes with rotating circles. It builds a visual intuition for decomposing functions into sine waves.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
20:05But what are Hamming codes? The origin of error correction
3.1M views • 6 years ago
3Blue1Brown
3Blue1Brown's discovery-oriented introduction to error correction codes, building up Hamming codes from the puzzle of locating a flipped bit. It explains the parity-check idea and why it is so efficient.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
26:33The Most Underrated Algorithm
10.8M views • 4 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium tells the story of the Fast Fourier Transform, from its use in detecting nuclear tests to Cold War politics, and how it could have changed the arms race. It includes a short, intuitive explanation of what the Fourier transform does.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
12:31The Superheterodyne Radio: No really, that's its name
987K views • 7 years ago
Technology Connections
Technology Connections explains why the superheterodyne radio has its name and how mixing frequencies lets it tune stations well. It walks through the underlying wave phenomena and algebra and why the design solved a hard tuning problem.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
13:07Loneliness
28.1M views • 7 years ago
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Kurzgesagt explains why humans feel loneliness, its evolutionary role, and how modern life can turn it into a harmful downward spiral. It cites research and offers ideas on what to do about it.
Topic match · Mental health & neurodiversity
2:53Brené Brown on Empathy
24.1M views • 12 years ago
Royal Society of Arts
A short animated RSA piece with Dr Brene Brown's voiceover on the difference between empathy and sympathy. She argues that real connection requires getting in touch with your own vulnerability, rather than trying to fix someone's pain.
Topic match · Mental health & neurodiversity
36:03Why Gifted Kids Are Actually Special Needs
6.9M views • 4 years ago
HealthyGamerGG
Dr. K of HealthyGamerGG argues that gifted kids can be seen as special needs, tracing a path from the gifted label to burnout and perfectionism.
Topic match · Mental health & neurodiversity
9:16Floating Point Numbers - Computerphile
2.5M views • 12 years ago
Computerphile
Tom Scott explains for Computerphile how floating point numbers work, why moving the binary point is fast, and why it handles money badly.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
30:38Solving Wordle using information theory
11.8M views • 4 years ago
3Blue1Brown
3Blue1Brown uses Wordle as an excuse to teach information theory and entropy, building a solver that picks guesses by expected information and incorporating word frequencies.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
22:10Why Don't You Want To Do Anything After Binging 4 Hours of YouTube Videos...
2.3M views • 3 years ago
HealthyGamerGG
Dr. K of HealthyGamerGG explains why people feel unmotivated and unable to start tasks after hours of YouTube or similar distractions. He frames it as a result of how social media is designed to capture attention, and says not to blame yourself.
Topic match · Mental health & neurodiversity
1:44:34Is Starlink A Secret Radar Constellation?
498K views • 6 months ago
Noise In Space
A 105-minute technical deep dive from Noise In Space evaluating whether Starlink satellites could work as synthetic aperture radar. It covers SAR signal-to-noise, amplifiers, antennas, duplexing, phased array beamforming and simulations of V2 Mini and V3 satellites.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
38:01I published music on Tidal to test MQA - MQA Review
610K views • 5 years ago
GoldenSound
GoldenSound publishes music on Tidal to test MQA, a deep dive into the format's claims and problems including its leaky filter. Testing begins around the 5:45 mark.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
25:35Epicycles, complex Fourier series and Homer Simpson's orbit
421K views • 8 years ago
Mathologer
Mathologer explains epicycles and complex Fourier series, inspired by an animation of Homer Simpson drawn with epicycles. It covers the shape of the Moon's orbit around the Sun and how to make your own epicycle drawings.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
35:13I built a QR code with my bare hands to see how it works
9.7M views • 2 years ago
Veritasium
Veritasium builds a QR code by hand to explain how it works. It covers the history of Morse code and barcodes, how QR codes encode data, why damaged codes still scan, and how safe they are.
Topic match · Information theory & signal processing
15:50Can YOU Fix Climate Change?
14.3M views • 5 years ago
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Kurzgesagt examines what individuals can do about climate change, covering lesser-known carbon sources and why systemic and political change matter more than personal footprints.
6:06The 7 Habits of Highly Miserable People
14.7M views • 9 years ago
CGP Grey
CGP Grey's sarcastic animated video adapted from the book How to Be Miserable, listing habits that reliably make people unhappy. By inverting the advice, it shows what to avoid and prompts reflection on goals and routines.
7:39Propaganda Games: Sesame Credit - The True Danger of Gamification - Extra Credits
2M views • 10 years ago
Extra Credits
An Extra Credits episode on China's Sesame Credit, which gamifies obedient citizenship through a social score. It covers how the system rewards conformity and pressures people through their friends' behavior.
3:05IBM Selectric Typewriter & its digital to analogue converter
1.1M views • 16 years ago
engineerguy
Bill Hammack of engineerguy uses slow motion video to show how the IBM Selectric typewriter works. He focuses on its fully mechanical digital-to-analog converter, which turns key presses into rotation of the type ball.
1:03:314.5 Billion Years in 1 Hour
17.9M views • 2 years ago
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Kurzgesagt's hour-long animated film that compresses Earth's 4.5 billion year history into one hour, roughly a million years per second. It follows the evolution of life through to humanity's tiny final stretch.
6:00Super Pointy Sprint Missile - 0 to Mach 10 in 15 Seconds - 100Gs & 6000°F
459K views • 6 years ago
Dark Footage
A short video on the US Sprint anti-ballistic missile, which accelerated to around Mach 10 in seconds under extreme g-forces and heat. It includes striking launch footage and a brief development history.
30:48A New Way to Achieve Nuclear Fusion: Helion
8.4M views • 3 years ago
Real Engineering
Real Engineering's Brian McManus explains Helion's approach to nuclear fusion: colliding two plasma rings, compressing them magnetically, and capturing energy directly from the changing magnetic flux rather than boiling water. It covers why this pulsed design sidesteps problems of tokamaks and laser fusion.