The Berkeley Pit, in Butte, Montana, was once the richest hill on Earth: the Anaconda Copper Mine. Now: it’s not all that rich, and it’s not much of a hill. Instead, it’s a toxic pit filled with sulfuric acid. Thanks to the Montana Resources team: https://www.montanaresources.com/ REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING: […]
If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, you probably know where this one is going. Although you may still be surprised about where I ended up going… Montana’s Giant Springs State Park, and Lake Sumiainen in Finland, have very short rivers. Finding the shortest in the world, though: that […]
Onkalo, on the Finnish island of Olkiluoto, is planned to be the first geologic storage facility for high-level nuclear waste: eventually sealed for 100,000 years. I got to see inside. Thanks to all the team from Olkiluoto, TVO and Posiva: you can find out more at http://www.posiva.fi/en/final_disposal/onkalo Edited by Michelle […]
Oodi, the new Helsinki Library, has robots to help reshelve books. They get a lot of press attention. But they’re not the important part of the library: here’s why. Thanks to all the team at Oodi: https://www.oodihelsinki.fi/ Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux With thanks to librarian-YouTuber Peter Musser for script […]
Next to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is the Buitenschot Land Art Park, a giant set of ridges and furrows cut into the landscape. Yes, it’s art: but it also stops some local residents from being exposed to jet noise. More about the park: https://www.schiphol.nl/en/schiphol-as-a-neighbour/page/landscape-design-plan-to-combat-noise-nuisance/ 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can […]
The title of this video should change with the times. But nothing lasts forever: here’s the story of how I made it work, why it used to be easier to make that work, and how it all ties in to the White Cliffs of Dover and the end of the […]
The short answer is “backwards compatibility”. The long answer is… well, it’s the rest of this video. MORE BASICS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha Written with Sean Elliott https://twitter.com/SeanMElliott/ Graphics by William Marler https://wmad.co.uk Audio mix by Graham Haerther https://haerther.net/ 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there […]
UPDATE: The crossroads has now been fixed! https://web.archive.org/web/20230210223349/https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/transportschemes/ipleycrossroads • Ipley Cross, in the middle of the New Forest, is one of the most dangerous road junctions in Britain. Why? • Thanks to Bez, whoever you are: their definitive article on this junction is here: https://singletrackworld.com/2018/01/collision-course-why-this-type-of-road-junction-will-keep-killing-cyclists/ Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux […]
Gricean Maxims are a vital part of how we understand each other: a set of… well, maybe “rules” is a bit strong. They’re guidelines that we follow without realising it. And it’s the reason that “asbestos-free cereal” sounds suspicious. Written with Molly Ruhl and Gretchen McCulloch. Gretchen’s podcast Lingthusiasm is […]
All about Hilbert’s Decision Problem, Turing’s solution, and a machine that vanishes in a puff of logic. MORE BASICS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha Written with Sean Elliott https://twitter.com/SeanMElliott/ Graphics by William Marler https://wmad.co.uk Audio mix by Graham Haerther https://haerther.net/ 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there […]
