Tom Scott

http://tomscott.com – @tomscott – Oneironauts are “dream travellers”: folks who say they can become aware of, and control, their dreams. But how do you tell if you’re dreaming? Well, there’s this one weird trick…

High-frequency traders have a few tactics on stock exchanges: but simply put, they gather price information faster than anyone else, sometimes even faster than the markets themselves, and use that to make a tiny profit many, many, many times. There are all sorts of solutions: but it turns out there’s a simpler one that involves

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 at https://facebook.com/tomscott and

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 https://tomscott.com on Twitter

http://tomscott.com – http://twitter.com/tomscott – Despite its reputation as being a Traffic Circle of Hell, Swindon’s Magic Roundabout — like the couple of other “ring junctions” in the UK — is a triumph of road design. Here’s why it works so well. For more information on this, its small number of siblings across the country, and

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: Julian Domanski Local production by Viven https://viven.ch Thanks to Kevin Tedore

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 https://tomscott.com on Twitter

http://tomscott.com – http://twitter.com/tomscott – There’s a good argument that lyric videos count as a whole new genre. Here’s that genre’s history, presented in its own style. Referenced videos: Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues: http://youtu.be/Vx4pRyEtit4 Prince – Sign O The Times: http://youtu.be/5zIjtwsrXfk George Michael – Praying For Time: http://youtu.be/goroyZbVdlo Saul Bass’ titles for Psycho: http://youtu.be/s4L9J-CUAl8

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 the Bear Test.

Technically, the Inchindown oil tanks in Invergordon, Scotland, have the world’s longest reverberation, but that makes a much worse title. We tested them with a loud noise and some very sensitive microphones. Matt’s musical experiments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzMVJkTjKNc Behind the scenes on the Matt and Tom channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4qplnaPjbk Thanks to Allan, Alan and Preston for all their

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 at https://facebook.com/tomscott and

C1 Espresso, in Christchurch, New Zealand, has a set of pneumatic tubes. But that’s not enough on its own to keep a business running. ■ C1 Espresso: http://www.c1espresso.co.nz/ Producer: Virginia Wickham at Kevin & Co https://www.kevinandco.co.nz/ I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at https://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

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 Remo Schmidt for

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 editorial control. Camera:

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 of your car,

I was going to film a video about a robot bicycle park. And then GIKEN, the company who built it, said: you know we do this for cars as well, right? ■ More details: https://www.giken.com/en/products/automated-parking-facilities/ Local producer: Yasuharu Matsuno at Mind Architect Camera: Julian Domanski Editor: Michelle Martin https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin I’m a bit worried that this

At Velocity Valley in Rotorua, New Zealand, there’s the Shweeb: a pedal-powered monorail. It’s a fun ride: but in 2010, Google gave it a million dollars as a potential “future of transit”. ▪ Thanks to Velocity Valley: https://velocityvalley.co.nz/ SOURCES: https://web.archive.org/web/20091109051951/http://shweeb.com/index.php?m=faq https://web.archive.org/web/20081012033535/http://www.project10tothe100.com/faq.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120506113239/http://www.google.com/onceuponatime/project10tothe100/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-03-27/whatever-happened-to-the-shweeb https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/business/13m-backing-for-shweeb/ERNGSPNILIFWR7YC4TU2A6DEYY/ https://www.businessinsider.com/google-human-monorail-shweeb-2010-9 Camera: Rakaea Te Rangi-Trotman Producer: Virginia Wickham at Kevin &

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 control was given

Every few months, when the wind’s blowing in the right direction, a bottle of air is taken from Kennaook / Cape Grim, at the northern tip of Tasmania, and saved for science. Here’s how and why. ▪ More about the Cape Grim Air Archive: https://research.csiro.au/acc/capabilities/cape-grim-air-archive/ There was no way to put this in the main

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 at https://tomscott.com on

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 educational experiment”, by

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: Simon Gillouin Editor:

http://tomscott.com – http://twitter.com/tomscott – Some folks might leave their heart in San Francisco, but over at Waterside Plaza in New York, there’s a much more real and physical souvenir: a part of Bristol, a port town in the south west of England, that literally makes up the foundation of a development near the East River.

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. There’s at least

http://tomscott.com – http://twitter.com/tomscott – The biggest uninterrupted indoor space on the planet, Tropical Islands Resort ( https://www.tropical-islands.de/ ), sits on an old airfield in Germany. How on earth could anyone afford to build something that big… and then use it as a waterpark? Well, the story’s a bit more complicated than that. (And full disclosure:

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

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 aren’t stored in

http://tomscott.com – Now, time for science! Fill a regular water bottle rocket with glutinous mint sauce. Pump it up to a ridiculously high pressure and release as normal. What happens? With thanks to all the crew that helped out, particularly those that got covered in mint sauce.

Thanks to all the folks at the Institute for Computational Cosmology! You can find out more here: http://icc.dur.ac.uk/Eagle/ or in their Reddit AMA here: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/2sifgc/science_ama_series_we_are_cosmologists_working_on/ I’m at http://tomscott.com and http://twitter.com/tomscott