Hyperloops, Pyraminxes and Tarantulas

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Darts vs Gliders - Paper Airplane Battle

:Video by Foldable Flight

A very informative video. Darts are the longer, thinner planes that you can throw real hard and can go real far. They’re the preferred choice for those participating in distance competitions (they basically chuck them “like javelins” and they fly in a parabolic arc). Gliders are wider and their wings have a larger surface area, meaning it’s best to throw them lightly to avoid them from crashing instantly (with some exceptions).

Then we learn that there’s no clear-cut divide and it’s a spectrum from very dart-like to very glider-like, and the divide is quite subjective. In recent years (for the video), glider designs have become a lot better for distance competitions, and the jury was out on which would prevail over time - would gliders permanently take the top spot or would the gliders reclaim their crown? I did a quick google search and it looks a lot like :it’s the former.

They also mention stunt planes, which do what they say on the tin.

Overall, not a critical video that I needed to watch - but very informative.

Benedict Cumberbatch reacts to Doctor Strange Memes

:Video by BBC Radio 1

I only learned upon actually watching the video that the man on the right side of the thumbnail is not Benedict Cumberbatch. I thought it was from a BTS video from filming Doctor Strange, but it’s actually a cosplayer. Cosplayers plural - one of them is cosplaying the levitating cloak. This is also my first time learning that Benedict was the voice actor for the Grinch in the animated movie.

This was an entertaining video, but again wasn’t a must-watch. Benedriff Cumberpluff couldn’t even remember acting in The Imitation Game.

Building the “Hyperloop in Minecraft” in 10 Minutes

:Video by FlashTeens Chiang

Just an interesting video on how to create a “hyperloop”- you step onto the pressure plates at one end, and are propelled at high speed through command block teleportation.

Easiest Way To Solve The Pyraminx Puzzle

:Video by Noah Richardson

I don’t recall if this was the video I used to learn how to solve the Pyraminx, or if I watched some other video, but I’ll assume this is the one. The Pyraminx is another Rubik’s “Cube” that’s a 3-layer pyramid. It’s actually pretty easy to solve, and you could probably solve it yourself after some meddling.

Why Does February Only Have 28 Days?

:Video by Be Smart

The channel was still called “It’s Okay to be Smart” when they uploaded this video. I still remember the YouTube post explaining why they were changing the name to just “Be Smart”. At the time, I found it to be a rather more aggressive name - as if they were holding you at gunpoint yelling, “:that baby better learn today!”

But in retrospect the name change was justified. Fittingly for this conversation, the end screen plays a preview of a video about how vaccines work.

A classic edutaining video about a similarly classic story. TL;DR the Romans were screwing around with various Lunar calendar systems and generally messing things up, until Julius Caesar took inspiration from the superior Egyptian solar calendar and converted the Roman calendar into one similar to what we know today.

WATERING my TARANTULAS “(Part 6)”

:Video by Exotics Lair

This is a 20-minute long video about “watering tarantulas”. Needless to say I had no expectations going into this video.

This man is insane. The s at the end of “Tarantulas” is doing some incredible heavy-lifting. He has shelves. Shelves of tarantulas. He keeps them in containers, one per spider, and they all seem to be rather happy. This video was all about cleaning each tarantula’s water container and filling them up - likely for drinking and other spidery designs.

He does a lot of hand-acting - watch the first minute and you’ll see what I mean - which compensates him not showing his face. He does make a good show out of a fairly tedious chore, and it was a pretty good watch (when watching on x1.75 speed).

#ImProudOfMyself for watching to to the end

The Hobbit: World War II

:Video by Max Justh

I’ve watched this video a couple times over the past few years. It’s just put together so well, and I’m so surprised to see that it only has 44 thousand views. I was expecting well over a million, but I suppose this particular video never caught on (by comparison, the tarantula-watering video has 44 million views).

This is a must-watch - it’s a trailer mashup between The Battle of the Five Armies (The Hobbit) and some World War II movie and it’s almost seamless. Some of the edits are so subtle and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it:

Seven videos this time, although more than a week since the last post.