The Most Important Satellite You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of

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From: PBS Space Time
Duration: 15:05
Views: 166,932

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One of the most important reasons we go to space is to know our own planet better. Today I'm going to tell you about an orbiting facility that literally watches Earth's biosphere breath and grow and die with incredible resolution. I'll talk about its profound existential and economic importance, and about why it's in danger of being lost.

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Written by Fernando Franco Félix & Matt O'Dowd
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Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios.
This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content.
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jlvanderzwan
1 hour ago
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Wow, this is the coolest thing ever! Why have I never heard about this satelite before?!
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choose your zone

1 Comment and 2 Shares

choose your zone

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jlvanderzwan
2 hours ago
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Take that Robert Frost
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Girl Genius for Friday, November 14, 2025

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The Girl Genius comic for Friday, November 14, 2025 has been posted.
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jlvanderzwan
13 hours ago
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I feel kind of dumb for not realizing earlier that the Dreen were meant to represent *biblically accurate* hunters
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Car Size

5 Comments and 8 Shares
'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'
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jlvanderzwan
1 day ago
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The Dutch, and also some other parts of Europe: "Is this some sort of Car Dependency joke that I'm too Separated Bike Lanes to understand?"

(actually we fucking hate the rise of SUVs too)
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4 public comments
Lythimus
1 day ago
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I just bought a Miata and have driven a motorcycle and a bike in traffic. I got hit by an SUV while riding a bike even. Not sure I get the big vehicle argument.
Destrehan, LA
freeAgent
16 hours ago
I was rear ended at a red light by a dump truck that had previously stopped behind my Miata but then forgot it was there and thought it should creep forward toward the intersection...where my car was. It apparently could not see my car directly in front of it.
jlvanderzwan
2 hours ago
[that one image comparison between an SUV and a tank and which has the better field of view of what's right in front of them].jpg
rtreborb
1 day ago
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It's the unfortunate state.
San Antonio, TX
wyeager
2 days ago
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Alt text on point.
Blur Area
alt_text_bot
2 days ago
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'They really shouldn't let those small cars drive in traffic. I worry I'm going to kill someone if I hit one! They should have to drive on the sidewalk, safely out of the way.'

Girl Genius for Wednesday, November 12, 2025

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The Girl Genius comic for Wednesday, November 12, 2025 has been posted.
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jlvanderzwan
2 days ago
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Honestly, stands to reason that a higher-dimensional being has a hyper-heart (whatever the hell that would be)
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This material gets tougher as you break it

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From: Veritasium
Duration: 41:07
Views: 1,033,935

The strange natural material that reshaped the world. Sponsored by Ground News -
Go to https://groundnews.com/Ve to see through media misconceptions and get all sides of every story. Subscribe to save 40% off the unlimited Vantage Plan through our link.

If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://ve42.co/SnatomsV

▀▀▀
A huge thanks to Professor James Busfield, Dr. Katrina Cornish, and Dr. Judit Puskas

We’re incredibly grateful to Toby Samples and the team at ARDL for their time and expertise.

Thanks also to Joe Jackson, Dr. Kevin Krause, Dr. Peter Polyak, Donald Shultz, Professor Robert Weiss for all their help on the project.

▀▀▀
0:00 Where does rubber come from?
2:59 What is rubber?
5:10 Why is rubber so stretchy?
6:29 The problem with natural rubber
9:02 Cured Rubber
15:23 Vulcanisation
18:41 What rubber is used in tires?
22:54 How fungi could destroy the world economy
29:17 Synthetic rubber vs natural rubber
38:20 Why are some people allergic to latex?

▀▀▀
References: https://ve42.co/RubberRefs

Images & Video: https://ve42.co/RubberImgRefs

▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:
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Writers - Sulli Yost & Casper Mebius
Producer & Director - Sulli Yost
Editors - Jack Saxon & Peter Nelson
Camera Operators - Adam Bonomo, Jacob Ruocchio-Cole, Henry van Dyck, Thomas Matheis, Derek Muller & Sulli Yost
Animators - Allama Nandi, Andrew Neet, Emma Wright, Ivy Tello, Fabio Albertelli & Rokas Viksraitis
Illustrators - Jakub Misiek & Maria Gusakovich
Assistant Editor - James Stuart
Researchers - HyoJeong Choi, Callum Cuttle & Gabe Strong
Thumbnail Designers - Ren Hurley, Ben Powell & Abdallah Rabah
Production Team - Zoe Heron, Casper Mebius, Josh Pitt, Rob Beasley Spence, Henry van Dyck & Sulli Yost
Executive Producers - Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Pond5
Music from Epidemic Sound

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jlvanderzwan
6 days ago
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35:00 So technically we could use natural rubber to build a heat pump, right? EDIT: apparently this is called an "elastocaloric heat pump"
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