Physicist Derek Muller is interested in the science behind everything. How is antivenom created? How does concrete work? Do parallel worlds exist? How do we detect meteorites? Would a penny dropped from the Empire State Building kill you?
They’re questions that just might get you thinking, too. And Muller tries to answer them all on his YouTube account Veritasium.
The name comes from the Latin word Veritas, meaning truth, combined with the suffix –ium, a common ending for many elements on the periodic table. And through its videos (which typically last about 20 minutes), Veritasium just may teach you something new.
Muller is able to take complex topics and make them engaging and easy to understand. He often uses visual experiments to further teach what he’s talking about, and his videos often use the scientific process in order to reach a conclusion. Furthermore, many of Muller’s videos will explain the historical background that’s relevant to the video’s central question. Muller will often include interviews with experts on said topics, too.
Muller brings up some controversial topics, such as macroevolution, parallel worlds and reversing aging. He approaches his videos on the universe from an evolutionary perspective. Other videos can be a bit violent. (A video on antivenom shows a snake eating a mouse and frog, for instance.) Very light language (such as “a–” and “crap”) is present too.
Veritasium explores the world and tries to provide some answers to its many questions. The channel will likely contain at least one video that will interest viewers. And while it should be noted that a few videos do handle topics that some will disagree with, the channel still tries to approach everything from a perspective that will engage those interested in learning about science.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
