Tom Scott

The Wasserspiele of Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe are 300 years old, powered entirely by gravity, and entertaining tourists. As legacies for rich people go, there are far worse ones. ■ More about the Bergpark: https://museum-kassel.de/en/museums-parks-palaces/unesco-world-heritage-site-of-bergpark-wilhelmshoehe Location camera: Moritz Janisch Producer: Marcel Fenchel https://www.fenchel-janisch.com/ Editor: Michelle Martin https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin

http://tomscott.com – @tomscott – Are you tired? Stiff? Feeling a bit peaky? Try Yorkshire Yoga. Written with Liam Butler – http://angryflatcap.com – @liammakesstuff and directed by Matt Gray – http://mattg.co.uk – @unnamedculprit

http://tomscott.com – http://twitter.com/tomscott – Around the United Kingdom there are odd concrete pillars on the top of hills, built to last for decades if not centuries. They’ve got a cryptic marking on them, and the words “Ordnance Survey Triangulation Station”. What are they? (They’re trig points.) Who put them there? (Brigadier Martin Hotine and thousands

The “accelerated pavement testing facility” in Nantes can simulate decades of road traffic in a few months. Here’s how. ■ More information: https://lames.univ-gustave-eiffel.fr/en/equipments/the-pavement-fatigue-carrousel Editor: Dave Stevenson http://davestevenson.co.uk Camera: Guillaume Juin https://www.guillaumejuin.fr Producer: Axel Zeiliger at Block8 https://block8production.com Thanks to Jérémie Chabot for the suggestion I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at https://facebook.com/tomscott

http://tomscott.com – @tomscott – As complaints about Apple’s new Maps continue to pile in, team leader Jackson Seepage explains why it isn’t quite working as planned. Music based on “Resignation” by Kevin MacLeod released under Creative Commons CC by 3.0 • http://incompetech.com iPhone 5 mockup by Zach Vega released under Creative Commons CC by-sa 3.0

It’s been all over the British news today: developer Paul Price found a bug in photo-crap-maker Moonpig’s site, one that might have exposed three million users’ personal information. Paul’s got a great technical post about it at https://www.darkport.co.uk/blog/moonpig-vulnerability/ — but there’s no decent non-techie explanation except for the one-paragraph summaries in newspapers. It was a

Near Bodø in Norway, there’s the strongest tidal current in the world: Saltstraumen Maelstrom, a constantly-changing rush of whirlpools, boils and vortices. It might not be quite the whirlpools of myth and legend, but it’s still an impressive sight to see. I’m at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat

The Chauvet cave, in the south of France, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, filled with art that’s tens of millennia old. No-one’s allowed in, for very good reasons: but just a few kilometres away, there’s a near-exact copy. Is that enough? Camera: Simon Gillouin Editor: Dave Stevenson http://davestevenson.co.uk Producer:

“Non-brewed condiment” is what they call it: it’s chemically very similar to proper vinegar, a mixture of ethanoic acid, colourings and flavourings, but it’s put together by just combining simple chemicals rather than brewing. Hardly anyone knows, and those that do know don’t generally care; so here’s my question. Does it matter? Thanks to Matt

Funchal Airport, on the island of Madeira, was too short for modern commercial airliners: but there was nowhere to extend to. The solution is one of the greatest civil engineering projects of our time. Producer: Aitken Pearson https://firecrestindependent.com Assistant Producer: Elsa Gouveia Camera: Elton Cantoni Editor: Dave Stevenson http://davestevenson.co.uk The 1990 photo of the airport

The Monte Toboggans, in Funchal on the island of Madeira, are wicker sofas: a bit like the gondolas of Venice, only you’re going downhill in regular traffic. More about them: https://www.carreirosdomonte.com/ Producer: Aitken Pearson https://firecrestindependent.com Assistant Producer: Elsa Gouveia Camera: Elton Cantoni Editor: Dave Stevenson http://davestevenson.co.uk I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook

“Daly’s Bridge”, in Cork, Ireland, is better known as the Shakey Bridge. Because it shakes. But what happens when a bridge like that has to be repaired and refurbished? • Thanks to Cllr McCarthy: his site is http://corkheritage.ie/ ! Edited by Dave Stevenson http://davestevenson.co.uk A thorough study of how the Bridge shakes: http://publish.ucc.ie/boolean/pdf/2015/00/32-ODonnell-2015-00-en.pdf [PDF] I

In the south-east of Estonia, there’s 800m of road where you can drive through Russia without a visa. We drove it. BONUS PARK BENCH: We Got Pulled Over By The Estonian Military: https://youtu.be/KCR2kHrr4oA This video has a correction: Further research revealed that the camera tower Matt spots is, almost certainly, just a regular cell tower.

4 minutes remaining. Then 15 seconds. Then 5 hours. Why can’t computers just tell you how long something’s going to take? • MORE BASICS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha Written with Sean Elliott https://twitter.com/SeanMElliott/ • Graphics by William Marler https://wmad.co.uk 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

http://tomscott.com – http://twitter.com/tomscott – Thanks to Ashley Shepherd for the drone footage – see the full video on his channel here: http://youtu.be/nhtL2dBrmlI This is the Duga-3 array, inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It’s an incredible piece of Soviet engineering, capable of sending radar pulses so powerful they could see over the horizon. Which, when you

Deepstore doesn’t let many people film in their massive facilities. So when the team at Laura Ashley invited me down into the mine to look at their archives, I jumped at the chance. Thanks to Deepstore https://www.deepstore.com/ and Laura Ashley https://www.lauraashley.com/ ! Camera by Ryan Priestnall https://ryanpriestnall.com Edited by Michelle Martin https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin I’m at https://tomscott.com

On Sunday, the South Terminal at London’s Gatwick Airport will reopen for the first time since 2020. It turns out that mothballing an entire terminal isn’t quite as easy as turning out the lights. Thanks to all the team at Gatwick Airport! (To be clear, this isn’t a sponsored video: I approached them about filming

In Helsingborg, Sweden, the Museum of Failure has just opened. It’s just one room, but inside, curator Samuel West has assembled some of the world’s greatest commercial disasters – and also a few things that just didn’t work out the way anyone planned. More about them: http://museumoffailure.se/ Edited by: Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin I’m at http://tomscott.com

“Anderson’s Piano” is a set of wires and signals at the Pass of Brander, near Falls of Cruachan in Scotland, that try to detect when there might be a boulder on the track. They’re 140 years old, and so far no-one’s been able to find a better solution — but they’re working on it. Thanks

BONUS PARK BENCH: https://youtu.be/AhqNMb0fOJU — In the Thames Estuary, near a town called Sheerness, a few dozen miles east of London, lies a World War 2 shipwreck that contains over 1,000 tonnes of unexploded bombs. Is it a risk to the area? Or is it just an interesting historical artifact? The trouble is, no-one’s quite

Rochester, in the south-east of England, was a city for nearly 800 years. And then, in 1998, an administrative error took that city status away, likely forever. Here’s the story. Research and script assistance from Jess Jewell REFERENCES: BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/england/1991827.stm Kent Online article: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/labour-lost-city-status-deliberately-say-tories-191729/ Minutes of the meeting: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/minute_1197_policy_and_resources Additional research links: https://city-of-rochester.org.uk/features/rochester-city-status Local

Or: “Tom’s Cockup Trip”. This is a story about a television title sequence, and about me, as a child, watching it. It’s also a warning about how YouTube won’t last forever, and it’s the reason I’m climbing one particular hill in the Lake District. Merry Christmas, Denis Norden. DoP: Simon Handley from Skylark Aerial Photography

In the 1960s, America was running “Operation Plowshare”: the idea that perhaps nuclear bombs could be used for peace, not war. At least some British scientists had similar ambitions, and it involved setting off a nuclear bomb under Wheeldale, in the North York Moors National Park. Based on catalogue reference ES 26 in the National

The Hill House, in Helensburgh, Scotland was decades ahead of its time… but that means it’s also experimental. And damp. ■ More about the Hill House and how to visit: https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house Edited by Michelle Martin: https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin Camera by Ben Fitzhugh I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at https://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as

Hutton’s Unconformity, at Siccar Point, is about an hour east of Edinburgh, in Scotland, and I’ve wanted to set my own two feet on it for years. And from it, I’ve got a bigger question: is there anything we’ve missed? The story of the Hutton Unconformity: https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/GeositesSiccarPoint Hutton’s Unconformity https://www.pesgb.org.uk/news/huttons-unconformity-siccar-point/ I’m at https://tomscott.com on Twitter

http://tomscott.com – http://twitter.com/tomscott – pull down for details of Ai Pioppi! In the foothills of the Dolomites, an hour or so north of Venice, lies Ai Pioppi, a restaurant that’s home to an astonishing, giant, human-powered, kinetic-art theme park playground. It was designed and made by a man called Bruno over forty years, and it’s

The International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, at the University of Reading, has an important job: stop pests and viruses from hitching a ride, as researchers try to breed better and hardier varieties of cocoa. Here’s how they do it. ■ https://research.reading.ac.uk/cocoa/international-cocoa-quarantine-centre-reading/ Articles mentioned: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/21/cocoa-crisis-world-chocolate-stash-melting-away https://people.com/food/world-chocolate-shortage-mars/ More reading and sources: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/preventing-a-future-without-chocolate https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23631571-800-cocoa-quarantine-one-tropical-tent-near-london/ Edited by Michelle Martin: https://twitter.com/mrsmmartin

The 1933 British penny is one of the most famous coins in the world. I’m not saying this is definitely a heist movie waiting to happen… but I do think someone should write it. ■ Thanks to the team at Baldwin’s, and the penny’s owner, for letting me film it! https://www.baldwin.co.uk/ I’m at https://tomscott.com on

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

The Broomway is surrounded on both sides by quicksand and deep, sucking mud. It has no markers and no guideposts. And if you mistime your walk, you won’t outrun the tide. Oh, and it’s in the middle of a Ministry of Defence firing range. But most of the time, if you want to visit Foulness