I’m going to do something different today – I’m going to highlight a YouTube channel that I personally really enjoy, and that I think might be a good fit for OSNews readers as well. I plan on doing this more often, since I feel a text/article-only focus leads to OSNews missing out on a bunch of really great and informative content. The channels I’ll be recommending will all be focused on technology and science, and since I have a deep disdain for the stereotypical spammy, clickbaity YouTube channels, you can be assured I’ll only be recommending truly informative and quality channels.
I’m going to start off with a channel called PBS Space Time.
Space Time explores the outer reaches of space, the craziness of astrophysics, the possibilities of sci-fi, and anything else you can think of beyond Planet Earth with our astrophysicist host: Matthew O’Dowd.
Matt O’Dowd spends his time studying the universe, especially really far-away things like quasars, super-massive black holes, and evolving galaxies. He uses telescopes in space to do it. Matt completed his Ph.D. at NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute, followed by work at the University of Melbourne and Columbia University. He’s now a professor at the City University of New York’s Lehman College and an Associate at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium.
Space Time does not shy away from hardcore astrophysics, covering subjects like quantum field theory, quantum physics, the theory and mathematics of black holes and other astrophysical phenomena, and much more. Videos range from 10-15 minutes, and many subjects are spread out over many videos – the content is in-depth, purely scientific, and definitely not always easy to grasp. I’m currently watching Planck’s Constant and the origin of quantum mechanics, just to give you an idea of what to expect.
There’s a decent back catalog of videos to enjoy, so if this is your cup of tea, you’ve just got a whole bunch of new tea to drink.
The condescending, PR-speak-like tone of the host makes me want to give him a backhanded slap across his face. Would much rather read a proper text.
I discovered PBS Space Time a while back whilst just randomly searching for things to watch whilst I do the washing up. It is a great channel, and whilst a lot of it goes straight over my head, it is thought provoking none the less. I also personally quite like the host’s presenting style.
Thanks for mentioning it here 🙂
Khan Academy has a few lessons about quasars; the first one caught my attention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LmIyMyAuN0
Watch the whole thing, in particular from the 6-minute mark. Sal Khan explains (without trying to, I think) how the speed of light joins space & time.
Yes, I watch PBS Space Time, too. It’s great. I think people who like that channel might also like the following (I watch them all):
Sixty Symbols (Physics) https://www.youtube.com/user/sixtysymbols
Periodic Videos (Chemistry) https://www.youtube.com/user/periodicvideos
Deep Sky Videos (Astronomy) https://www.youtube.com/user/DeepSkyVideos
Minute Physics https://www.youtube.com/user/minutephysics
Veritasium (Science) https://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium
PBS Physics Girl https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DdEm33SyaTDtWYGO2CwdA
Computerphile https://www.youtube.com/user/computerphile
Vihart (Math) https://www.youtube.com/user/Vihart
Robert Miles (AI Safety) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLB7AzTwc6VFZrBsO2ucBMg
You missed another Brady Haran channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile/
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Another PBS one is PBS Eons: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzR-rom72PHN9Zg7RML9EbA/videos
Brainscoop needs a mention https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkyfHZ6bY2TjqbJhiH8Y2QQ
So many great videos, so little time…
I must start to say that I enjoy both OSnews and Slashdot very much. I just wonder what contents readers should expect from OSnews. A new reader looking for actual os news might be confused by space science articles.
OSNews nowadays can simply be summarized as “Thom’s personal blog”, which will generally be about things related to technology, computers, science, language, watches, and Fiona Apple.
I generally enjoy everything Thom posts about (especially his tech predictions!) so it’s a nice place for me to visit.
And compared to Slashdot, OSNews is much smaller with a much “tighter” regular crew of people posting comments, which can be fun.
(I miss seeing TempleOS!)
drcouzelis,
I agree, I think the community is better here and I personally have no interest in the mob that is slashdot.
Once in a while, running with the mob can be just the needed adrenaline rush one needs. Why do you think the Fiesta de San FermÃn in Pamplona is so popular?
And OSNews is so small and with low enough count of comments (also helps how read ones are greyed-out) to follow virtually all of them, so having a holistic view on our comumity.
Also check Isaac Arthur’s channel, really interesting stuff.
He’s got some speech issues, but all his videos are subtitled if that’s a problem.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFipeZtQM5CKUjx6grh54g