The Rest Is Science

The Fluid Dynamics of Fountain Pens

The wait is finally over: Hannah Fry introduces Michael Stevens to her beloved fountain pen collection and the beautiful physics behind how fountain pens work. From a £2

Dying In Space, Trapped Water, and What's Hidden In Pi?

Almost every human who has ever lived has one thing in common: they were born and died on Earth. Except for three people. Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens uncover the extr

How Codes Were Used To Hack The Telegram Business

What if a single strange word could save you a fortune? In this episode Michael opens up a Victorian telegram code book and explores how users compressed long messages

Why Your Body Needs Gravity

Does space travel make astronauts younger? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore Einstein’s twin paradox, time dilation and NASA’s famous Twins Study with as

What Is Collagen All About?

Do collagen pills live up to their promises for skin and joints and healthy ageing? In this episode, Hannah and Michael examine what collagen actually is and how the bo

The Threshold of Human Sensation

⁠What is the smallest thing you can possibly feel? ⁠ ⁠ Michael Stevens and Professor Hannah Fry journey through varying levels of perception, from the faintest touch on

The Scale of the Universe

The scale of the universe stretches from the Planck length, the smallest scale physics can describe, to the observable universe, the largest thing we can see. Travel in

Why Loud Chewing Makes You Angry

The mukbang phenomenon is comfort viewing for millions, yet for others the sound of chewing, slurping and everyday mouth noises is enough to trigger instant anger, disgus

How Does Language Change What You Smell?

In this episode of Field Notes, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens (Vsauce) begin with a Persian word for a smell Hannah cannot detect on a freshly washed plate.

Space Elevators, Skyhooks, and Space Fountains

What is the fastest, cheapest and possibly worst way to get into space? Could a nuclear explosion launch a manhole cover beyond the Earth’s atmosphere? And could spac

Bizarre Watches and How They Work

Michael Stevens keeps a small museum of unusual timepieces on his desk: a clock that runs backwards, a watch built to be read in complete darkness, and one whose entire f

Why Your Brain Thinks You're Full (Even When You're Not)

How did the Gila monster, a desert lizard that eats just five times a year, help unlock the science behind Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro?In this episode of The Rest Is Sci

The Lake At The North Pole That Stops Europe From Freezing

When you picture the North Pole, you probably imagine a vast, frozen expanse of floating sea ice. But hidden deep beneath the surface of the Arctic lies something incredi

The Science of Putting Sunglasses on The Sun

Why does the cartoon Sun always wear sunglasses? And how big would a real pair need to be? Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens investigate space mirrors, Reflect Orbital and

Why Is It A Colour Wheel & Not A Line?

Colour wheel or colour line? Light itself runs in a straight line from red to violet, yet every colour theory chart bends that spectrum into a circle and the reason has n

Why Lithium Batteries SUCK

Can Hannah convince Michael that the lithium-ion battery is one of our most overrated inventions to ever happen? Hannah makes her case using a surprising energy source h

What Happens Inside Earth's Forbidden Zones?

What grows in the spaces humans are forced to abandon?Hannah brings Michael an actual piece of barbed wire from the Korean Demilitarised Zone, one of the most heavily for

The 2012 Maya Apocalypse Myth & Confirmation Bias

Did the world really end in 2012? Not with fire, meteors or an ancient Mayan prophecy, but Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens ask whether something just as profoun

The Evolution of Colour Vision & Tetrachromacy

Can you hide your skeleton from a dog? Would you want to know the day you’ll die? Has evolution ever come close to producing a real fire breather? Michael and Hannah tes

The Hole In Your Brain That Makes You Doomscroll

Why can't you leave a sealed envelope unopened? Professor Hannah Fry begins by refusing to allow Michael Stevens to open a mystery envelope addressed to him. A small a