Nothing lasts forever… Not even the good stuff that you really enjoy. That small fact of life is fitting for one of my favorite YouTube Channels: Because Science.
Owned by Nerdist, the premise of Because Science went like so…
“Nerdist Science Editor Kyle Hill uses real-world math and science concepts to solve, measure, and make sense of pop culture quandaries in comics, video games, movies, and TV.”
Because Science YouTube Channel | About Section
Buuuuut – notice that I’m talking in the past tense. You see, Kyle Hill left the show in early 2020 (DAMN YOU, 2020!!!!). And while he’s a cool guy in his own right, his new channel just doesn’t hold up to what I enjoyed about Because Science. It seems to be missing something for me.
There was something subtly fascinating about an energetic science-guy drawing on “nothingness” with markers as he explained pop culture’s most debatable topics with real-life science and clever editing.
Kyle Hill’s new channel, while also based in science, just looks a little… “clunky?” …by comparison.
The minimalist approach of the original channel’s format that just… Worked …when mixed with various aspects of Anime-, comic-, movie-, and geek culture.
Oh well — that’s likely my bias showing. It turns out that I was a big fan of the format and haven’t yet converted to his new world yet (I’m sure I will one day), and I wanted to share a bunch of videos with you!
Honestly, I enjoy all of the videos – so I just picked a few notable ones I’ve viewed over the last couple of years.
Please don’t feel like you have to watch all of them by any means, but click on one that grabs your attention. You may like it!
And Now – The Because Science Videos!
This might be the one that started it all for me. For the uninitiated, Goku is the lead character on a popular Anime series called Dragon Ball (-Z, -Kai, -GT, -Super). He is a fighter obsessed with getting stronger and facing the toughest out there – and one of his key training methods is to use weighted clothing in his training. That video explores whether or not YOU should do that based on science.
For a while there was a series of episodes on the show dedicated to talking about the merits and shortcomings of multiple superpowers. Strength, speed, invisibility, etc. The one about flight stood out for me.
This one caught my eye because Immortality has always sounded AMAZING to me. I understand that a lot of people refer to it as a curse, but I’d honestly probably take it if I had certain conditions attached to it (e.g. “I was at my prime forever” + “I couldn’t get sick” + “I could heal from all wounds” and so on — you get the picture). I think there were a couple videos on the channel about the subject, and I remember watching this one.
If you’ve never seen the movie “The Wandering Earth” on Netflix, stop what you’re doing right now and check it out. Totally worth the watch and all of the praise it garnered internationally (if you’re into that type of Sci-fi). I was lucky enough to catch this one in theaters, and I just eat stuff like this up! THAT ^^ movie is what inspired the video above.
You may recall the image above from a little while ago when a bunch of people online talked about doing a mass Naturo-Run on Area 51 (yes, this really happened). I am sure that’s what made this one relevant.
He also explained what would happen if the sun exploded (I love stuff like this)…
And even messes with your childhood a bit by scientifically approaching the wild world of Wonka!
I accept that I can’t make everyone who sees this love that channel as much as I did, but it’s a piece of Internet History that I’m just sad to have seen at its height and at its fall.
Because Science, you (and all of the potential that I’m sure you still have left) will be missed.
Peace, and thanks for reading.
The soundtrack for this post provided by…
Image Credits:
All Images (excluding the .gif) © NERDIST