The little-known patterns on British streets
Time to return to another piece of educative entertainment from Tom Scott, this time about tactile paving and the importance of getting details right. … Read the full post »
Tom Scott
See the latest educative, quirky or amusing videos from YouTube star Tom Scott. He particularly makes educational videos about technology, language and history.
Making a truck more like an electric train: the eHighway pilot
Been a while since the last Tom Scott video I shared, but this one is about transport, the environment and how to fill a gap in future government tax revenues. … Read the full post »
How the first ever telecoms scam worked: the François and Joseph Blanc secret semaphore message scam
In the 1830s, two French brothers, François and Joseph Blanc, pulled off the first telecoms scam in history by slipping secret messages into the French semaphore system. … Read the full post »
The Bielefeld Conspiracy: the town that supposedly doesn’t exist
In north-west Germany sits Bielefeld, a city complete with castle, cathedral and citizens. Just one catch: according to something that’s half urban legend, half in-joke, it doesn’t exist. … Read the full post »
How they did interactive TV in the 1990s
Although a few years old now, this Tom Scott video is still a fun reminder of how TV interactivity used to work before the internet. … Read the full post »
Why electronic voting is still a bad idea: Tom Scott
Tom Scott nicely summarises the powerful arguments against electronic voting for public elections, and given his own expertise also makes the point that the problems with electronic voting look worse the more you really know about how computers and security really work. … Read the full post »
Why the innocuous looking Ipley Cross junction is so dangerous
In this video Tom Scott dives into why a seemingly innocuous road junction – Ipley Cross, in the middle of the New Forest – is such a problem for cycling safety. … Read the full post »
The Byron Bay Railroad: the world’s first solar powered train
The Byron Bay Railroad Company runs the world’s first 100% solar-powered train. It wouldn’t work everywhere – but in the bright sunshine of Australia, it might just be the right tool for the job. … Read the full post »
The hundred-tonne robots that help keep New Zealand running
The Ports of Auckland are automating their straddle carriers, which might not seem like much, until you phrase it as… … Read the full post »
The sculpture that looks like a real-life cartoon: Horizons by Neil Dawson
Gibbs Farm, in New Zealand, is an enormous private sculpture collection. Its most famous piece is Horizons, by Neil Dawson – and it looks like a cartoon tissue somehow painted onto the landscape. … Read the full post »