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Videos explaining things with optimistic nihilism. Kurzgesagt (German for "in a nutshell“) is a Munich based, small team who wants to make science look beautiful. Because it is beautiful.
# Title Description
1
How Evolution works
11:47
The theory of evolution explains how the enormous variety of life could come into existence. How it is possible for primitive life forms to spawn the millions of different creatures, that exist today. Unfortunately, evolution is often misunderstood, because it's mechanisms seem counter intuitive. By using visualizations, infographics and appealing characters, the viewer is more likely to understand it the complex information. More than that, by presenting the information in an entertaining way, the information is more likely to sink in.
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2
The Solar System -- our home in space
07:20
The solar system - well known from countless documentaries. 3D animation on black background. This infographic videos tries something different. Animated infographics and a focus on minimalistic design puts the information up front. We take the viewer on a trip through the solar system, visiting planets, asteroids and the sun.
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3
Fracking explained: opportunity or danger
05:03
Fracking is a controversial topic. On the one side the gas drilling companies, on the other citizen opposed to this drilling method. Politicians are also divided on the matter. We try to take a neutral look on fracking. It is relevant for all of us, because of high prices for energy and the danger for our drinking water. This video focuses mostly on the debate currently ongoing in europe. In a lot of european countries there is a public outcry against fracking, espacially in germany. But the facts in this video are relevant to all of us.
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4
The Gulf Stream & Climate Change
05:04
The global conveyer belt is part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by differences in the density of the waters. It plays a key role in keeping the climate at balance and Europe warm. Global warming may change it forever with unforeseeable consequences.
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5
How the Stock Exchange works
03:33
Why are there stocks at all? Everyday in the news we hear about the stock exchange, stocks and money moving around the globe. Still, a lot of people don't have an idea why we have stock markets at all, because the topic is usually very dry. We made a short video about the basics of the stock exchanges. With robots. Robots are kewl!
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# Title Description
1
Three Ways to Destroy the Universe
06:16
How will the Universe die? Everybody dies. The universe too? Well, probably. What are the current theories about the end of everything? And how creepy exactly are these theories? (Spoiler: very creepy). But there might be hope...
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2
The Beginning of Everything -- The Big Bang
05:54
How did everything get started? Has the universe a beginning or was it here since forever? Well, evidence suggests that there was indeed a starting point to this universe we are part of right now. But how can this be? How can something come from nothing? And what about time? We don't have all the answers yet so let's talk about what we know.
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3
Who Invented the Internet? And Why?
06:32
Nuclear war, cat gifs and reddit? Wait, what? Who was the genius who came up with all of that? The internet is such a crucial tool in our daily lives today that we hardly remember that it hasn't been here forever. But yeah, it is actually not that old. We still have fuzzy memories about the time before the first thing in the morning was to check email and browse our favorite blogs and youtube channels. Well, let's explore how the internet came into existence and why.
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6
How Big is the Moon Really? MM#1
01:40
The Moon might be much bigger than you think it is....
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7
The Moons of Mars Explained -- Phobos & Deimos MM#2
01:54
What do you know about the Moons of Mars? Nothing? They are super cool (and strange), promise.
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9
How to catch a Dwarf Planet -- Triton MM#3
02:06
If Neptune didn't catch Triton we might have another Dwarf Planet in our Solar system -- maybe even another Planet or double system. We show how this could have happened.
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10
Are You Alone? (In The Universe)
06:43
Are you alone? To answer this question we have to take a look what "you" are first. What are you made of and where you stand in this universe. Are you your body? Your atoms? And how are your parts connected to the big picture?
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11
Iraq Explained -- ISIS, Syria and War
04:35
The current crisis in Iraq explained in under 5 minutes. There is war in Iraq? Again? And the US and Iran are talking about working together? And who is this ISIS Terrorist group that is all over the news? And Religion? Oh dear... When exactly has the world gone mad again?
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12
Why You Are Still Alive - The Immune System Explained
06:48
Every second of your life you are under attack. Bacteria, viruses, spores and more living stuff wants to enter your body and use its resources for itself. The immune system is a powerful army of cells that fights like a T-Rex on speed and sacrifices itself for your survival. Without it you would die in no time. This sounds simple but the reality is complex, beautiful and just awesome. An animation of the immune system.
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13
Everything You Need to Know About Planet Earth
07:21
Planet Earth is this solid thing you are standing on right now. In your everyday life you don't really waste a thought about how amazing this is. A giant, ancient, hot rock. How did it come into existence and how big is it really? You will be surprised. The ground you are standing on is just a very, very small part of the big picture.
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14
Atoms As Big As Mountains — Neutron Stars Explained
05:10
Neutron Stars are some of the strangest things in the Universe. Not quite massive enough to become black holes they are basically atoms as big as mountains with properties so extreme it's mind-blowing. And if you get too close to a neutron star you are in big trouble
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15
Is War Over? — A Paradox Explained
05:45
We live in the most peaceful time in human history. Wait, what? Seriously? That can't be right, there are more wars than ever! Well, no and they're killing fewer and fewer people, even though the world population is at an all-time high...and the numbers prove it! We explain how we came to this conclusion, and why war might... go away.
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16
The Ebola Virus Explained — How Your Body Fights For Survival
05:30
What does the Ebola virus actually do in your body? Why is it so dangerous and why does it kill so many people? We take a look at the apocalyptic war that rages in the body after an infection by the Ebola virus and the soldiers fighting.
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17
What Is Life? Is Death Real?
05:56
So what is the difference between you and a rock? This seems like an easy, even stupid question. But even the smartest people on earth have no idea where to draw the line between living and dead things. Which leads to mind-blowing implications. What is life after all? And is death really a thing? Lets look into it together
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18
The Ultimate Conspiracy Debunker
02:02
Most Conspiracy Theories are stupid. By the power of the internet they spread like wildfire and often poison discussions. But there is hope we developed a way to debunk conspiracies in just a few seconds
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# Title Description
1
How Small Is An Atom? Spoiler: Very Small.
04:57
Atoms are very weird. Wrapping your head around exactly how weird, is close to impossible how can you describe something that is SO removed from humans experience? But then again, they kind of make up everything, so let us try anyways.
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2
Measles Explained — Vaccinate or Not?
05:33
Everybody is talking about Measles but what does the virus actually do in the body? Is it really so harmful that you need a vaccination? We go deep into the body of an infected person and see what Measles does and how the immune system reacts to it!
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3
Banking Explained – Money and Credit
06:09
Banks are a riddle wrapped up in an enigma. We all kind of know that they do stuff with money we don’t understand, while the last crisis left a feeling of deep mistrust and confusion. We try to shed a bit of light onto the banking system. Why were banks invented, why did they cause the last crisis and are there alternatives?
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4
Nuclear Energy Explained: How does it work? (1)
05:17
Nuclear Energy is a controversial subject. The pro- and anti-nuclear lobbies fight furiously, and it's difficult to decide who is right. So we're trying to clear up the issue - in this video we discuss how we got to where we are today, as the basis for discussion.
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5
3 Reasons Why Nuclear Energy Is Terrible! (2)
04:09
Nuclear energy might be a failed experiment. In over sixty years the technology has not only failed to keep its promise of cheap, clean and safe energy, it also caused major catastrophes and enabled more nuclear weapons while the nuclear waste problem is still not solved.
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6
3 Reasons Why Nuclear Energy Is Awesome! (3)
04:20
Nuclear energy might have a lot of unused potential. Not only is it one of the best mid term solutions for global warming bit despite what gut feeling tells us, it has saved millions of lives. By investing more into better technologies we might be able to make nuclear energy finally save and clean forever.
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7
The Fermi Paradox — Where Are All The Aliens?
06:21
The universe is unbelievably big trillions of stars and even more planets. Soo there just has to be life out there, right? But where is it? Why don’t we see any aliens? Where are they? And more importantly, what does this tell us about our own fate in this gigantic and scary universe?
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8
The Fermi Paradox II — Solutions and Ideas – Where Are All The Aliens
06:16
Where are all the aliens? The universe is too big and too old, why have we not met aliens yet? Do they live in computers? Were they wiped out by an ancient super intelligence? Or are we just to primitive to understand their motives? Whatever the answer is, it is incredibly important for our own future.
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9
The Death Of Bees Explained – Parasites, Poison and Humans
06:20
In 2015 the bees are still dying in masses. Which at first seems not very important until you realize that one third of all food humans consume would disappear with them. Millions could starve. The foes bees face are truly horrifying some are a direct consequence of human greed. We need to help our small buzzing friends or we will face extremely unpleasant consequences.
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10
What if there was a black hole in your pocket?
03:37
What would happen to you if a black hole the size of a coin suddenly appeared in your pocket? Lets find out!
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11
What is Dark Matter and Dark Energy?
06:20
What is dark energy? What is dark matter? Well, if we knew exactly we would have a nobel prize we know that they exist though. So what do we know about those strange things?
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13
The European Refugee Crisis and Syria Explained
06:16
Why is the refugee crisis all over the news? How is this related to Syria? Why should we care at all?
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14
What Is Light?
04:38
We are so used to some things that we stopped wondering about them. Like light. What is light? Some kind of wavy thing, right? Kind of.
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15
Everything We Think We Know About Addiction Is Wrong
05:41
What causes addiction? Easy, right? Drugs cause addiction. But maybe it is not that simple. This video is adapted from Johann Hari's New York Times best-selling book 'Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.' For more information, and to take a quiz to see what you know about addiction, go to www.chasingthescream.com
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16
How Facebook is Stealing Billions of Views
05:01
Facebook just announced 8 billion video views per day. This number is made out of lies, cheating and worst of all: theft. All of this is wildly known but the media giant Facebook is pretending everything is fine, while damaging independent creators in the process. How does this work?
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17
Quantum Computers Explained – Limits of Human Technology
07:16
Where are the limits of human technology? And can we somehow avoid them? This is where quantum computers become very interesting.
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18
Black Holes Explained – From Birth to Death
05:55
Black holes. Lets talk about them.
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19
What Is Something?
05:33
What is something? On the most fundamental level thinkable, what are things? Why are things? And why do things behave the way they do?
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# Title Description
1
The Last Star in the Universe – Red Dwarfs Explained
05:50
The last star in the universe will be a red dwarf. Red dwarfs in general might be great places to look for aliens or planets for humans to find a new home after our solar system has died.
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2
Why The War on Drugs Is a Huge Failure
06:25
The war against drugs has been a terrible disaster for everybody involved. Why? And can we do something differently?
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3
The Antibiotic Apocalypse Explained
05:57
What is the Antibiotic Apocalypse? What is it all about? And how dangerous is it?
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4
Space Elevator – Science Fiction or the Future of Mankind?
06:31
So. Space elevators. Are they are thing that we should talk about?
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5
Safe and Sorry – Terrorism & Mass Surveillance
06:13
An in-depth look into the delicate matter of terrorism and mass surveillance.
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6
How Far Can We Go - Limits of Humanity
07:44
Is there a border we will never cross? Are there places we will never be able to reach, no matter what? It turns out there are. Far, far more than you might have thought
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7
What Are You?
06:27
So. Are you your body? And if so, how exactly does this work? Lets explore lots of confusing questions.
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8
What Happened Before History? Human Origins
10:05
Humans. We have been around for a while now. When we think about our past we think about ancient civilizations, the pyramids, stuff like that. But this is only a tiny, tiny part of our history.
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9
Death From Space — Gamma-Ray Bursts Explained
07:13
There are cosmic snipers firing at random into the unvierse. What are they and what happens if they hit us?
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10
Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever – CRISPR
16:03
Designer babies, the end of diseases, genetically modified humans that never age. Outrageous things that used to be science fiction are suddenly becoming reality. The only thing we know for sure is that things will change irreversibly.
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11
How To Eradicate One Of Our Deadliest Enemies
07:03
We have the choice to attack one of our oldest enemies with genetic engineering. But should we do it?
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12
The Most Efficient Way to Destroy the Universe – False Vacuum
05:58
What if there is a way to destroy the universe so fundamentally that life as we know it will be impossible forever?
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13
Fusion Energy Explained – Future or Failure
06:16
How does Fusion Energy work and is it a good idea?
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14
The Most Gruesome Parasites – NTDs Explained
05:42
There are a group of parasites extremely disgusting and mean. Humanity declared war on them.
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15
A New History for Humanity – The Human Era
07:52
It is time to reframe how we think about our past. We need a new year 0 for humanity. But which one should we choose and why?
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16
Overpopulation – The Human Explosion Explained
06:39
In a very short amount of time the human population exploded and is still growing very fast. Will this lead to the end of our civilization?
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