Most people know the basic study methods: flash cards, reading and rereading, and practice quizzes and tests. Humans have been using their brains for a long time, though, and there are loads of methods for stuffing said brains full of knowledge. This video covers eight advanced study tips. One of our favorites is the method of loci, which taps into your brain’s powerful ability to remember places. To give you an idea of how powerful this method is, world memorization champions use this technique. 

We’re often told that we should use filler words such as “um” or “like,” because it––”they” say––makes you sound weak. But is that really true? This video suggests that there are a lot of reasons that using filler words is not only acceptable, but also pretty good. First, using “um” singles to your conversation partner that you’re still thinking about what you’re going to say. That way they don’t interrupt you. Evidence also suggests that using “um” singles truthfulness, since you obviously didn’t rehearse what you are saying. 

Although they’re very well known and deeply embedded in popular culture, the five stages of grief aren’t as important or as accepted in the psychological community as you might imagine. The five stages put unreasonable expectations on people suffering from grief, not to mention some other problems. 

Think about the last time you went camping. You probably grabbed a bunch of processed foods that would last awhile, and come checkout you got a pretty small total. Compare that to a trip to the store for fresh groceries. The fresher, healthier food you buy the more expensive it is. This video explains that the massive cost differential between fresh and processed food comes not only from the cost of production of fresh foods, but also from government subsidies. 

Lots of movies and TV shows deal with the idea that artificial intelligence will be bent on the destruction of humanity. While that made the plot of some great movies––The Matrix, Ex Machina, and of course A.I. to name just a few––why would AI actually want to kill us? This video explores the answer to that question. The answer boils down to goals: what’s the AI’s goal? If you threaten an AI’s goal, then you threaten the AI.

Sheffield is a quiet city in the United Kingdom. It’s plethora of trees make it one of the greenest cities in the Kingdom, actually. But both the peacefulness and the verdancy of that city is under threat thanks to some potholes. That’s right––the city council signed a twenty-five year contract with a private firm to fix those pot holes at the expensive of some “damaged” trees. Citizen activists say that only 10% of the trees slotted for removal are actually sick. 

Singapore is a tiny island nation right off the coast of Malaysia. It’s name, which means Lion City, comes from its discovery by a ruler from the Srivijaya Empire. He landed there during a storm. One day he went hunting and spotted a lion, which he took to be an auspicious omen indicating he should build a city there. The rest of the island’s history is a complicated series of power-exchanges, explained simply in this video.

Bitcoin proponents––or maybe Bitcoin speculators or Bitcoin investors are better terms––say that Bitcoin is the currency of the future. But there are a few major problems with the cryptocurrency. The first that might jump to mind is the wild speculation that’s currently happening. That is, of course, a problem. The idea behind Bitcoin was that it was to be a cryptocurrency, not a crypto-investment tool or wealth storage device. But that’s not the only issue––this video looks at the limits of Bitcoin in terms of its transactions per second cap and its environmental impact, both of which suggest that Bitcoin is not going to work.

You have probably noticed that the worst sports teams––or, more accurately, the least-winningest sports teams––have the most rabid fans. Fans who don’t support teams like that often don’t understand why fans stick with teams that never bring home a championship. This video suggests that there are a few reasons why that might be the case. Perhaps someone influential in the fan’s life introduced them to that team, for example. Or perhaps the one or two wins the team does bring in provides such a huge sense of satisfaction after so many losses that it’s worth while.

The first Deadpool was such a success because it was the perfect postmodern critique of the Marvel Universe franchise, from Iron Man to the Avengers. In those stories, there’s always a clear good and a clear evil. The heroes might face a dilemma between the two, but in the end the categories stand. Deadpool, however, criticizes those categories. Time will tell if that critique is interesting enough for a second go-round, but this trailer suggests that it might. 

Time travel appears in everything from sci-fi movies to…sci-fi TV shows. From H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine to Futurama, time travel opens a world of narrative and satirical possibilities. But is time travel really possible? This video investigates the science behind time travel, beginning with the theory of relativity and moving on to more speculative endeavors like cryogenics. The end conclusion is basically that time travel to the future is possible, but going back into the past is not.

We all know that cars and factories are bad for the environment, whether or not you accept global warming. The correlation between cars, factories, and smog is far too clear (or smoggy, as it were). But one thing affects the environment that you probably never think of: beef. Or, more precisely, pre-beef––that is to say, cows. Cows are gassy creatures, and the industrialized cattle-raising methods we use mean there are a lot more burping and tooting cows stinkin’ up the air with their methane emissions. So what would happen if we all gave up beef? Take a look.