Loading...A great way to do science is to go out and do it yourself. Rather than just being told what is fact and what is fiction, doing experiments will allow you to learn in a more interactive way and remember the results much longer than if you were just told the information. And if you can’t do that, the next best thing is watching someone else do the experimenting for you and learn from what they discover. That’s exactly what Destin Sandlin from SmarterEveryDay does, sharing his results and knowledge with over 3 million subscribers from around the world.
Essentially, SmarterEveryDay is an educational science channel. But instead of being taught in the traditional way, like Asap Science, MinutePhysics, Vsauce and more, Destin actually goes out and does the science for himself. From exploding Prince Rupert’s Drops to jellyfish, SmarterEveryDay is the place to be to learn interesting and fun science. Not only do you learn lots of fascinating information about a bunch of different subjects, the fact that Destin himself is the one performing and filming the science gives each video a personal touch that can really make the videos more enjoyable.
To illustrate what I mean by a personal touch to science, here’s a video Destin made back in April of this year, called The Backwards Brain Bicycle. In the video, Destin attempts to ride a bicycle, but not just any old bicycle. This bicycle way had inverted steering; through a creative system of gears, the bike was made so that when you turn the handlebars left, the wheel would turn right. Of course, this goes against all your past bicycle muscle memory, so when a co-worker gave him this bike he, at first, failed to ride it more than a couple inches. Over a period of eight months following the experience, Destin tried to learn how to ride this backwards bicycle, and during the process learned a lot about the human brain, how it learns, and how it really is possible to unlearn how to ride a bicycle. The video now has almost 10 million views, and you can watch it above.
Another video that Destin made for SmarterEveryDay, in collaboration with Derek Muller from Veritasium, was his amazing video about toilet swirl. There is a myth that toilets swirl one way in the northern hemisphere, and one way in the southern hemisphere, so Destin and Derek decided to test this. As Derek lives in Australia and Destin lives in the USA, all they had to do was flush the toilets and see if it’s true, right? Well, no, it’s actually more complicated than that, and both Destin and Derek went to much more trouble than just flushing the toilet to crack this mystery. Not only is the video a great example of experimentation, but the way they documented it is just as cool. Both Destin and Derek made a video for their respective channels, and to have the full experience, you have to open both videos at the same time and synchronise them so that they play at the same time. It’s a fun idea, and an interesting video (or interesting two videos!) altogether. You can watch Destin’s video HERE and Derek’s HERE.
Science can often be complicated and confusing, especially when told to you without any visual aids. Educational Youtube videos are a step up from that, and when done right can create amazing videos and channels. But for many topics and facts, it’s better to go out and see for yourself, and that’s exactly what Destin Sandlin from SmarterEveryDay does. He travels to interesting places, meets fascinating people, and creates brilliant experiments all just to teach science in the best way possible. As he says on his Patreon page: “In a world full of talkers I try to be a thinker and a doer.”