You can learn something every day if you’re doing life right. My brother introduced me to the YouTube channel, Smarter Every Day. Host Destin Sandlin delves into all sorts of fascinating scientific experiments that are understandable by non-science types like me. The videos are high quality and most are nice and short. He has more than 5-million subscribers so you know he’s onto something. With super-slow-mo camera work and excellent analogies, he breaks down often complex stuff into bite-size portions. Examples: how a chameleon’s tongue works (it has a bone!), the mysteries of DNA testing and the science behind a potato gun. He is madly popular with millennials but this boomer loves his work. If I had a kid who was interested in science, I’d lead them to this channel.
Destin is a full-time aerospace engineer from Alabama who wants to be an astronaut. Although he’s super-smart he has the ability to dumb things down without talking down. You’ll often hear him mention his family; he’s a father of four. He gets as excited as a little kid and doesn’t have an arrogant bone in his body. Part of the reason his channel is so popular is because he’s just so darn likable.
As an introduction, this is an older video about why a cat always lands on its feet. Yes, he drops a cat, repeatedly, but with care and lots of breaks for treats and rest. Next to TED talks Smarter Every Day is my favourite YouTube hub for mind expansion.
Destin has done a TEDx talk too, by the way. Chris Hadfield makes a brief cameo in it. You get a Ted talk and parts of SED experiments all in one video HERE.