There's a reason music videos look strange. I could just talk about framerate, cuts and continuity... or I could get an actual music video director. And a leaf blower. Directed by: Sammy Paul https://twitter.com/icoepr Produced by: Cambria Bailey-Jones https://twitter.com/cambriabailey Guy Larsen https://twitter.com/thisisguido Director of Photography: Ciaran O'Brien https://twitter.com/ciaranobrien Featuring: dodie https://youtube.com/doddleoddle Dancers: Deepraj Singh Annie Fox Leanne Vincent Liam Wallace Production Design: Guy Larsen Gaffer: Christine Alexander Camera Assistant: Rachel Hutchings Editor: Sammy Paul Colour grade: Ciaran O'Brien Runner: Jenna Bailey-Jones Extras: Michelle Martin Gianluca Suppa Xina Jailey Special thanks to: Grant Stevens Bob Stevens Jenny Stevens Matt Parker Maths Gear http://www.mathsgear.co.uk YouTube Space London and the team A Penny4 Production https://www.penny4.co.uk/ Maths Gear didn't actually pay for product placement in this video. The dice were surprisingly painful. I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

That's right, we're kicking Season 2 of the Basics off with a technical episode about a somewhat-obsolete technology! IT'S PARTY TIME. Wait, no, not party time. IT'S CODE TIME. Close enough. Let's talk about seven-segment displays, and about the longest word you can write with them. Public domain list of English words: https://github.com/dwyl/english-words Thanks to my proofreading team, and to Tomek on camera! The Cambridge Centre for Computing History: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/ BONUS LINK: Genius regex crossword puzzle: https://regexcrossword.com/ I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

GUEST VIDEO PITCHES: https://www.tomscott.com/guest/ NZ and AUSTRALIA CONNECTIONS: https://www.tomscott.com/contact/ I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

In the 1830s, two French brothers, François and Joseph Blanc, pulled off the first telecoms scam in history. The optical telegraph, a line of semaphore towers stretching from hilltop to hilltop, was for government use only: but something as simple as the law wasn't going to get in their way. Thanks to Victoria Harrison for all her research and translation skills! Pictures of the original documents are uploaded here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xik-sJZMUf9GRNCAu7m7amQMZ7Mos1HM?usp=sharing CG effects by Mat Hill: http://mat-hill.com/ I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

Back in the 1920s, wingwalking claimed lives. Daredevils would move around on the top of a plane's wings, in mid-flight, often without any harness or any safety line. Maybe they'd be able to clip onto something during takeoff and landing, but maybe not. There are still a few of those true daredevil wingwalkers out there in the world, but in the 21st century... it's usually a bit different. Thanks to the team at Aerosuperbatics Wingwalking: http://www.aerosuperbatics.com/ (this isn't sponsored, and I paid for my flight). Edited by Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin Post Audio by Emi Paternostro, http://proximitysound.com I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

For years, moderators of online forums and chat rooms have wielded a metaphorical "banhammer" to deal with anyone who steps out of line. Now it's real. Well, a bit more real, anyway. THANKS TO: Mat Hill for design and coding: http://mat-hill.com/ Chris Joel for the idea, and for wielding the hammer. Dan (Nerd³) for lending us his chat room: https://youtube.com/officialnerdcubed and https://twitch.tv/nerdcubed Emi Paternostro for audio mixing: http://proximitysound.com And Chris' friend Mark, on Mixer, for inspiring the whole thing: https://mixer.com/SparkyandCo I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

The Global Vehicle Target is the new standard for testing autonomous driving and crash test systems. To cameras and radar, it looks like a car: but if you hit it, it'll fly apart. So if your emergency braking doesn't quite work... well, this is what happens. Thanks to everyone at Thatcham Research! You can find out more about them at https://www.thatcham.org/ and about the target at https://www.thatcham.org/car-safety/driver-assistance/ Filmed by Tomek: https://youtube.com/tomek Edited by Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin Post Audio by Emi Paternostro: http://proximitysound.com I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

On a rainy Scottish island called Jura, it's time to talk about the Manual, about long-term sustainable success, and about not having just that one catchphrase. The term "viral" has fallen out of fashion in the last few years, which is why this series wasn't called "going viral". And in truth, that's not what you want to do. Post Audio by Emi Paternostro, http://proximitysound.com Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond were better known as the KLF (or the Timelords, or the JAMs, or...). Their Manual is out of print, but I'm sure that won't stop enterprising people from tracking down versions of it, or footage of their burn. The music for this series has been an instrumental version of "Game of Taking Chances" by Johannes Hager feat. Josefin Backrud, from Epidemic Sound I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

I've put the North-o-Meter, and some other old UsVsTh3m games, up at https://www.tomscott.com/usvsth3m/ - I've disabled the sharing buttons, though. No-one needs them to go viral again. In the middle part of "How To Be Popular On The Internet*", it's time to talk about giving the people what they want, about getting noticed, and about the north-south divide. Post Audio by Emi Paternostro, http://proximitysound.com I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

The first part of "How To Be Popular On The Internet*" is all about an old saying: if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And if you do succeed... well, you're still going to need to do that. My site's still online: http://www.preparingforemergencies.co.uk/ The government's site is in the internet archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20040804033956/http://www.preparingforemergencies.gov.uk:80/ Post Audio by Emi Paternostro, http://proximitysound.com I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

In Porthcurno, Cornwall, there's an old telegraph cable landing station. It's how Britain talked to the Empire -- and it's now a museum. But the technology here isn't quite as obsolete as you might think. Thanks to Steve and all the team at the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum! You can find out more about them here: https://telegraphmuseum.org/ Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

The White Horse, in Uffington, is one of the oldest surviving works of art in Britain: carved into a hillside in Oxfordshire 3,000 years ago. Every year, it's rechalked by volunteers co-ordinated through the National Trust, a line of maintenance going back to before England had written history. Thanks to all the National Trust team! If you're free over the August bank holiday and fancy helping out, here's the link! https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/events/9220f3c2-d50f-4a9e-9063-8d9346ed5da9/pages/details Thanks to Ian from IanVisits for giving the tipoff - he makes a cameo in this one! https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/ Camera by Paul (@cr3) - he also makes a cameo! Edit by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) - who doesn't make a cameo. I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Over on the RAF Starrship channel, I'm talking about the history of radar: https://youtu.be/VDC_RCh0ws8 - but over here, we're testing a 90-year-old piece of technology that was meant to be part of Britain's air defence. The Sound Mirrors, on Romney Marsh, were built in the late 1920s as a way to amplify the sound from aircraft engines over the English Channel. We're flying a bit closer than that, with a drone. STARRSHIP: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starrshiphope/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starrshiphope/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/starrshiphope Website: http://starrship.space/ I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, there's a TRIGA nuclear reactor, used for research. You can stand next to it and watch the blue glow from the bottom of a deep swimming pool. I had to visit. More about the reactor and about Reed College: https://reactor.reed.edu/ Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) Post audio by Emi Paternostro (http://proximitysound.com) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

90s VHS video filters are in fashion right now, and most producers are using the same filter as everyone else. Why does the filter look like it does? To answer that question, I went to talk to the person that wrote it! Thanks to Harry Frank and all the team at Red Giant - you can find out more about them here: https://www.redgiant.com (This is not a sponsored video!) Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) Graphics by Mr Weebl: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9wk6mlzKKN3_sVMPd2p-3Q I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

There are some stories in Canada that I'm not qualified to tell. Pull down the description to find out about them. YOUTUBE LINKS: * Residential Schools: Heritage Minutes: Chanie Wenjack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_tcCpKtoU0 A Viceland interview with survivors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QMZaOVOin8 A CBC interview with a survivor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ64DItsIi0 * Yellowknife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie5V-K70JUk#t=2m13 (from 2:13) WRITTEN LINKS: * Residential schools: On the facts of residential schools, UBC has a good primer: https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/ For stories, full transcripts are available of survivors' testimony here: http://wherearethechildren.ca/en/stories/ * Yellowknife: This history of the Yellowknifes Dene First Nation, written in 1997, contains the history of the mine's effects on the community. From page 50 onwards: https://www.akaitcho.info/linked/weledeh%20yellowknife%20dene%20history.pdf

In the last few years, wildfires have been getting worse - and, oddly, it's because humans have been preventing them. From a helicopter above the forests of British Columbia, and from the Tree Ring Lab at UBC, let's talk about how we should just let some wildfires burn. Thanks to Bradley Friesen! He's about to properly launch his channel 'Destruction by Gravity': https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL3Kr3kf9W34cUvurxl7AGw and Mister Bentley the Dog is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrbentley_thedog/ Thanks to Dr Lori Daniels at the University of British Columbia! Her recent research into wildfires includes: Chavardes, R.D., L.D. Daniels, Z. Gedalof, D.W. Andison. (2018). Human influences superseded climate to disrupt the 20th century fire regime in Jasper National Park, Canada. Dendrochronologia 48:10-19. and this op-ed in the Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/we-created-bcs-wildfire-problem-and-we-can-fix-it/article35686104/ Thanks to the BC Wildlife Service for letting me use their photos: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) Post audio by Emi Paternostro (http://proximitysound.com) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

In Dawson City, a small mining town in the Yukon, sits the Downtown Hotel. Inside there is a tradition that tourists have been trying out for decades: the Sourtoe Cocktail. Thanks to everyone at the Downtown Hotel! More about them: https://dawsoncity.ca/attraction/sourtoe-cocktail-club/ Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

In the far north of Canada sit the DEW Line stations: "Distant Early Warning". Built in the 1950s, these were the sites that would have sounded the alarm if the Soviet Union ever attacked North America. Or at least, they were until they went obsolete just a few years later. This video relies on public domain archive footage from: DEW Line Story (1958): https://archive.org/details/dew_line_story_1 https://archive.org/details/dew_line_story_2 Atlas the ICBM (1957): https://archive.org/details/342SFP00583AtlasTheIcbmCape And is based on the research of: Louis Isemann, James. (2018). To detect, to deter, to defend: the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line and early cold war defense policy, 1953-1957. http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/2161/JamesIsemann2009.pdf;sequence=1 [PDF] Schlosser, E. (2009). Command and Control. [https://amzn.to/2sQd6Fq (aff. link)] Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

This is it: one of these teams is going home with the trophy. It'll come down to knowledge, wits, and a bit of sideways thinking. This is the Lateral Grand Final. Pull down the description for links to everyone's work: Simon Clark, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRRr_xrOm66qaigIbwFLvbQ @simonoxfphys Sally Le Page, https://www.youtube.com/user/shedscience @sallylepage Helen Arney, http://helenarney.com @helenarney Kat Arney, https://katarney.com @Kat_Arney Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Until recently, Canada didn't have a road link to the Arctic Ocean. But last year, the all-weather Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway opened, which meant that finally the country was connected "from sea to sea to sea". I set out to drive it, but it didn't quite go how I planned. Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Both these teams have lost once; now it's either through to the Grand Final or off to the bus home. Welcome to the last chance saloon. Metaphorically, anyway, we're still filming in the same studio. Pull down the description for links to everyone's work: Geoff and Vicki are on All The Stations: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ttKX46nJxUeXZ0aoD4Q5g and Geoff's own channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd18OhMfRmjMjzSHP7Zrzmw They're @geofftech and @norwegiancheese Helen Arney, http://helenarney.com @helenarney Kat Arney, https://katarney.com @Kat_Arney QUESTION EDITOR David Bodycombe EDITED BY Michelle Martin @mrsmmartin GRAPHICS BY Support Class https://supportclass.net MUSIC BY Tobias Stich http://www.tobias-stich.com/ DIRECTED BY Matt Gray http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Giant Mine sits near Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Once it was a productive gold mine, but after the gold ran out, the mining company went bankrupt and left the government to clean up the mess: enough arsenic trioxide dust to kill everyone on Earth. The solution: freezing it, at least for now. Thanks to all the team at the Giant Mine Remediation Project! More about them: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100027364/1100100027365 The history of Giant Mine and the local First Nation people, a story I'm not qualified to tell: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/canada-150-betsina-family-nwt-1.4180681 Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

One team's going straight through to the Grand Final in two episodes' time! The fourth match of Lateral also includes Tom's favourite question of the entire series. Pull down the description for links to everyone's channels: Simon Clark, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRRr_xrOm66qaigIbwFLvbQ @simonoxfphys Sally Le Page, https://www.youtube.com/user/shedscience @sallylepage Geoff and Vicki are on All The Stations: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ttKX46nJxUeXZ0aoD4Q5g and Geoff's own channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd18OhMfRmjMjzSHP7Zrzmw They're @geofftech and @norwegiancheese QUESTION EDITOR David Bodycombe EDITED BY Michelle Martin @mrsmmartin GRAPHICS BY Support Class https://supportclass.net MUSIC BY Tobias Stich http://www.tobias-stich.com/ DIRECTED BY Matt Gray http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

If you're in Canada, you need good winter boots. But how do you know whether they're actually safe, or whether you'll fall over the first time you step on ice? This is WinterLab, part of the Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratories at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, where they're testing winter shoes with science. More about the lab and their ratings: http://www.ratemytreads.com/ Thanks to Evan from Rare Earth for being camera op! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGG8ucQgEJPeUPhJZ4M4jA Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

One of these teams is going home; one of these teams will carry on to the playoffs! Time for the third game of Lateral, which this week includes far more double-entendre than the question editor intended. Pull down the description for links to everyone's work: LDShadowLady: https://www.youtube.com/user/ldshadowlady @ldshadowlady Smallishbeans: https://www.youtube.com/user/smallishbeans @smallishbeans Helen Arney, http://helenarney.com @helenarney Kat Arney, https://katarney.com @Kat_Arney QUESTION EDITOR David Bodycombe EDITED BY Michelle Martin @mrsmmartin GRAPHICS BY Support Class https://supportclass.net MUSIC BY Tobias Stich http://www.tobias-stich.com/ DIRECTED BY Matt Gray http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Thanks to Betty from Articulations! Go see her video on the ISO Standard Exit Sign here: https://youtu.be/i5uSlAw8U9s - and pull down this description for links to all her sources. The St Lawrence Burns were a series of deliberate fires in the soon-to-be-demolished village of Aultsville, Ontario, which was due to be flooded to make way for the St Lawrence Seaway. The results changed the way buildings are constructed around the world, and saved lives. SOURCES: Setting Fires for Science (1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJNcoxRk7Sk Background for the Spatial Separation and Exposure Protection Requirements of the National Building Code of Canada (1985): http://nparc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/view/fulltext/?id=dd7e2811-5bc0-4bc8-99b4-97701100eaaa The St. Lawrence burns (June 1960): http://nparc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/view/accepted/?id=4f561fea-c5bc-40ff-ba4c-b4982ddec2dd St Lawrence Burns - Radiant Temperature of Openings by D. G. Stephenson (December 1959) http://web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/ir156.pdf Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

The second game! With new questions, new teams, and a brief snippet of music. Pull down the description for links to everyone's channels: Geoff and Vicki are on All The Stations: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ttKX46nJxUeXZ0aoD4Q5g and Geoff's own channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd18OhMfRmjMjzSHP7Zrzmw They're @geofftech and @norwegiancheese LDShadowLady: https://www.youtube.com/user/ldshadowlady @ldshadowlady Smallishbeans: https://www.youtube.com/user/smallishbeans @smallishbeans QUESTION EDITOR David Bodycombe EDITED BY Michelle Martin @mrsmmartin GRAPHICS BY Support Class https://supportclass.net MUSIC BY Tobias Stich http://www.tobias-stich.com/ DIRECTED BY Matt Gray http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Rue Canusa (or Canusa Avenue) is a street that's split in two by a border: the northern part is in Stanstead, Canada, and the southern part is in Derby Line, USA — and border crossings here aren't as easy as they used to be. Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

It's been a long time since I've done a quiz or game show on this channel, but finally: introducing Lateral! Pull down this description for links to everyone's channels. Joining me are: Helen Arney, http://helenarney.com @helenarney Kat Arney, https://katarney.com @Kat_Arney Simon Clark, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRRr_xrOm66qaigIbwFLvbQ @simonoxfphys Sally Le Page, https://www.youtube.com/user/shedscience @sallylepage QUESTION EDITOR David Bodycombe EDITED BY Michelle Martin @mrsmmartin GRAPHICS BY Support Class https://supportclass.net MUSIC BY Tobias Stich http://www.tobias-stich.com/ DIRECTED BY Matt Gray http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

In Quebec, Canada, there's a town called Asbestos. It's an alarming name, one that conjures up images of lung disease and mesothelioma. So now that the town's asbestos mine, once the largest asbestos mine in the world, has closed... why haven't they changed the name? Dr Jessica van Horssen's book, "A Town Called Asbestos", was invaluable for my research. Its ISBN is 9780774828420, and it can be ordered from most libraries and bookstores. Her five-part YouTube series starts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-66YqEHkzA The Story of Asbestos (1922): https://archive.org/details/0929StoryOfAsbestos According to Plan: The Story of Modern Sidewalls for the Homes of America (1952): https://archive.org/details/Accordin1952 The Gruen Transfer: How To Sell Asbestos, Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpxelbkI0I USGS public domain microscopy of asbestos: https://usgsprobe.cr.usgs.gov/picts2.html The Canadian parliament quote is an official Hansard translation from the original French: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/201/301/hansard-f/35-2/153_97-04-10/153SM1E.html#9543 I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Updates! ▶ CANADA: Vancouver folks, get in touch! https://www.tomscott.com/contact/ ▶ QUIZ SHOW: next week! ▶ TECH DIF: over on https://youtube.com/mattandtom/ soon ▶ VIDCON: see you there maybe? I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Over the North Atlantic, there's no radar coverage: so how do air traffic controllers keep planes safe? The answer, at least in part, can be found at Nav Canada's Gander Area Control Centre in Newfoundland. The North Atlantic Tracks are like freeway lanes in the sky, if freeway lanes were stacked a thousand feet on top of each other. More about Nav Canada and the tracks, and the new standards they're introducing: http://blog.navcanada.ca/increasing-operational-flexibility-north-atlantic/ Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

"_If you touch the👇black point then your whatsapp will hang_", says the message that's being sent around, and it's right. It's a text rendering bug, the same as many others -- which isn't interesting. But the characters it's using, Unicode RTL and LTR marks, are worth knowing about. Thanks to everyone who suggested this subject! The Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm: http://unicode.org/reports/tr9/ I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

There's a concept called "Slow TV", championed by Norwegian broadcaster NRK, that emphasises long, unedited, contemplative journeys. Well, I've been snowed under with planning and editing some big projects, so for this week's video we're doing Slow TV with a video even less conventional than last week's. Thanks to Barry from My Virgin Kitchen - go see him cook and test three different garlic breads here: https://youtu.be/jYPYbIO9BLE - and to Steve from Random Aerospace, http://www.randomengineering.co.uk/Random_Aerospace/Welcome.html ! Pull down the description for more details. I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

The title says it all, really. Thanks to Barry from My Virgin Kitchen - go see him cook and test three different garlic breads here: https://youtu.be/jYPYbIO9BLE - and to Steve from Random Aerospace, http://www.randomengineering.co.uk/Random_Aerospace/Welcome.html ! Pull down the description for more details. This started as a conversation in a pub a few weeks ago, and turned into one of the more ridiculous videos I've ever done. We send home-made garlic bread skyward on a balloon; exposed it to the stratosphere, 35km up; successfully returned it to earth in a protective box; and then ate it. It tasted... cold. Audio mix by Matt Gray: http://mattg.co.uk Additional camera by Darren I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Thanks to the Starrship team for arranging this! I'm also over on their channel, flying with the Blades: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWY3-1gOrxk • At the Royal Air Force training centrifuge in Farnbrough, pilots learn how to avoid G-LOC: g-induced loss of consciousness. Let's talk about g-force, about jerk, and about how to keep circulation flowing to your brain. FAQs: * Isn't 3.6g a really low g-tolerance? * Yep. Turns out I would not qualify to be a fighter pilot. The average range for g-tolerance is 4-6; no-one was expecting me to pass out. The centrifuge team do not deliberately try to G-LOC people! To be fair, though, I'd done a few earlier runs with only minor effects. * What g was the RAF person at the start pulling? * That's Marcus, from the Starrship team, and he was successfully pulling 6.5g with the help of g-trousers: they plug into a compressed air source in the plane (and in the centrifuge) and act as a lower-body tourniquet to keep the blood up top. They are very effective. * Why did you shake and shudder when regaining consciousness? * Those are called "myoclonic convulsions", which is a fancy medical term for "muscle jerks", and they're a common side effect of recovering from G-LOC. * What did it feel like? * I'll answer this in more detail in a video over on the Matt and Tom channel soon, but in short: I don't remember it. I was doing the breathing maneuver, then everything was wobbly, then we were stopped! * Is this a sponsored video? * No: the RAF and Starrship had no editorial control over this, and no money changed hands. Obviously, though, they gave me a spin in the centrifuge, and I'm collaborating with them over on their channel too! THANKS TO: The RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Starrship team, and the folks at Qinetiq. STARRSHIP: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starrshiphope/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starrshiphope/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/starrshiphope I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

As far as I can find, no-one has actually made a International Standard Cup of Tea - ISO 3103 or BS 6008 - for the internet before. Lots of people have talked about it, but that's easy. Making one? That requires precision... and some specialist equipment. You can buy a professional tea tasting set from this Amazon UK affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2qfbxyr Thanks to Morag Hickman for letting me borrow her workshop for last-minute filming! She makes beautiful jewellery, like ring-keepers, dragon necklaces and rings that looks like ocean waves: https://etsy.com/shop/Errant Update: someone has found an earlier ISO cup of tea on the internet, as part of a German video on tea tasting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utwwkNkNgiM I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

US Car Number 1, the Ferdinand Magellan, sits in the Gold Coast Railway Museum in Miami. It's 120 tonnes of bulletproof, armoured railcar: a train carriage designed to move the President of the United States around the country in safety and style. At least, it was, until other transport came along to do a better job. Thanks to all the team at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum: they're at http://www.gcrm.org/, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GoldCoastRailroad/ ! [looks like their main site's down at the moment!] Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

In Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Florida, there's a mermaid show -- and there has been for 70 years. It's one of the United States' oldest roadside attractions, and it still does three shows a day. At least, provided the local wildlife doesn't get in the way. Weeki Wachee Springs State Park: https://weekiwachee.com/ Their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/weekiwacheesprings Articles on the mermaid auditions: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/weeki-wachee-springs-state-park-is-holding-mermaid-auditions http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/os-weeki-wachee-mermaids-20171228-story.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/weeki-wachee-mermaid-search_us_5a4576cbe4b025f99e1aa10b https://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/a14521836/dream-job-alert-you-can-get-paid-to-be-a-mermaid/ New York Times article from 2003, before the state of Florida took over the park: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/12/us/sad-days-for-mermaids-of-the-sequined-sort.html A more recent and positive article from 2013: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/14/rise-of-the-mermaids-weeki-wachee-florida Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Thanks to the RAF, Rolls-Royce, and the Red Arrows! Go visit their Starrship project, it's the reason I got to do this: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqSO3sA38W0YLwrwTxA0POw The Red Arrows are the Royal Air Force's aerobatic display team - the best in the world. They fly Hawk T1 jets, powering through the sky at hundreds of miles per hour, pulling high-G maneuvers with just a few metres between their wingtips. Here's how they do it: and part of it's a skill that you probably already know. STARRSHIP: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starrshiphope/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starrshiphope/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/starrshiphope Website: http://starrship.space/ Edited by Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Many people sent me this story: it covers my favourite topics of power grids and temporal anomalies. But when the mainstream press have already covered it, how could I add something more? The answer: by adding another pet topic, Unnecessary British Patriotism. And a teasmade. Press release: https://www.entsoe.eu/news-events/announcements/announcements-archive/Pages/News/2018-03-06-press-release-continuing-frequency-deviation-in-the-continental-european-power-system.aspx Teasmade: http://amzn.to/2oYrvxb [aff. link] Update, April 8th 2018: they fixed the dispute, and ran the grid at 50.01Hz for a few weeks: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/04/european-grid-dispute-resolved-lost-6-minutes-returned-to-oven-clocks/ If you liked this, you may also like the video I made on how engineers keep the grid stable, and why it's getting more difficult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uz6xOFWi4A Audio mix by Matt Gray: http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

I'd never heard of moiré effect beacons until I got an email asking me about them. It seemed like a really clever idea - but it was really hard to research. Or at least it was, until I stumbled upon one magic phrase that revealed its history. It turns out this thing's called an "Inogon leading mark" or "Inogon light" -- Inogon, not Inogen -- and it's a Swedish invention from the 1980s. But there's still a question: why is being used to mark an undersea cable, instead of guiding people home? (Full disclosure: there were some weird strobing effects from the light that only showed up when I got the footage into the edit, so the image you see here has been digitally stabilised so it appears the same way on screen as it does in person!) Thanks to Andrew Stine for suggesting this! References: The original Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern The patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4629325 The US military analysis [PDF]: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a168108.pdf I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

Human error has launched massive barrages of fireworks at the wrong time before. We're doing it deliberately! Camera and audio mix by Matt Gray: http://mattg.co.uk Edited by Michelle Martin: @mrsmmartin With thanks to Jonty for lighting Thanks to the team from Titanium Fireworks: http://titaniumfireworks.co.uk - this was not a sponsored video! I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

In the Quadratestadt of Mannheim, Germany, the streets aren't named: instead, the blocks are. It's an exception to a rule that most people don't even think about — especially not mapping companies. (Thanks to João Correia for sending me this idea back in 2015!) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

In Göttingen, Germany, there's a four-tonne steel ball that can be raised up a 14-metre tower -- and then dropped in less than two seconds, crashing back to earth. It makes tiny, artificial earthquakes: here's why. Thanks to all the team at Wiechert'sche Erdbebenwarte Göttingen! You can find out more about them here: https://www.erdbebenwarte.de/ Three things I had to cut out of this video, because they didn't quite fit into the story or because I couldn't film them: The reason the steel ball survived two world wars is because the university's records listed it by use as a "rock-ball", not by composition as a "steel ball" - so no-one melted it down for weaponry. The observatory team refill that pit every year to make the ground flat, and the ball just digs a hole again. The rock's just being compressed underneath. They joke that, somewhere in Australia, there's a slowly growing hill... And finally, the ground steams for a little while after the ball hits: it gets rather warm... Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

I was going to tell a science fiction story about faceswapping, and mass blackmail. Then the news broke about unethical faceswapping videos, and software designed and marketed for creating them: and I realised the future had arrived faster than I thought. (This was originally a talk given at An Evening of Unnecessary Detail earlier this week, but I managed to mangle the audio recording settings, so I rerecorded it in a muddy park! It's not the same without the audience, but hopefully it's close enough.) Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/25/ai-face-swap-pornography-emma-watson-scarlett-johansson-taylor-swift-daisy-ridley-sophie-turner-maisie-williams https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/1/29/16944474/fake-ai-porn-nicolas-cage-reddit With thanks to Matt Parker: https://youtube.com/standupmaths (No, I'm not giving you a link to the app, you can find it yourself if you really want to.) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

London City Airport's getting a new control tower: but it's just going to be a large mast with 14 high-definition cameras on it. The actual tower will be 80 miles away, in the headquarters of NATS near Swanwick. It feels questionable: but is it? Thanks to all the team at NATS: you can find out more about the new tower here: https://www.nats.aero/services/airports/digital-remote-towers/ Edited by Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin London camera by Matt Gray, http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo

This week's guest is Evan Hadfield, from Rare Earth. Go subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGG8ucQgEJPeUPhJZ4M4jA -- start with his video on the last elephants of Cambodia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4SETSsXkx0 William Lyon Mackenzie King was a sexually repressed, hypocritical, guilt-ridden, prostitute-visiting momma's boy who was exceptionally weird. He was also, perhaps, Canada's greatest prime minister. This week, Evan talks about legacy, and about how you don't need to be a good person to be a good politician.

Today's guest is 12tone! Go subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTUtqcDkzw7bisadh6AOx5w - and here's their video about the Imperial March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA36-mQEYwk Solresol is a language, invented out of whole cloth by Jean-François Sudre in the 19th century, that used seven musical notes to create all the words that he thought you'd ever need. It did work: so why aren't we all speaking in notes right now? SOURCES: http://web.archive.org/web/20060115061414/http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/145_solresol.shtml https://i.sidosi.org/resources/la-telephonie/la-telephonie.html http://www.ifost.org.au/~gregb/solresol/sorsoeng.htm http://www.ifost.org.au/~gregb/solresol/sudre-book.pdf http://web.archive.org/web/20060114084542/http://www.ptialaska.net:80/~srice/solresol/intro.htm https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-3lBxMURGN4AtGG846kuVGVNuEiHewCT88PiBahnODA/edit#gid=0 https://www.startasl.com/history-of-sign-language_html http://www.yougowords.com/1-syllables And thanks to the community at https://www.sidosi.org for collecting many these resources into one place!