Documentaries · Encyclopedia · Science labs
True stories you never heard of,
and the science behind them.
A volcano that was heard 4,800 km away. A solar storm that set off a minefield. A telegraph that ran on the northern lights. Each story is a documentary on YouTube and a page here, with every fact sourced and an experiment to try.
New · Physics game
Newton's Cannon
Newton asked what would happen if you fired a cannonball so fast that it never came down. Find out on a real, round, windy Earth: eight missions from your first lob to escape velocity, plus a new daily challenge every day.
New · Daily quiz
Five questions a day
True stories, real science, one new quiz every day. How long can you keep your streak?
The documentaries
Watch nowThe Sound That Circled the Earth27 August 1883 · Sunda Strait, Dutch East Indies
Watch nowThe Day the Sun Blew Up a Minefield4 Aug 1972 · Hon La, North Vietnam
Watch nowThe Night America Nuked the Sky8 Jul 1962, 11 pm Honolulu time · 400 km above Johnston Island
Watch nowMidnight at Noon19 May 1780 · New England
Watch nowHow the Moon Was BornAbout 4.5 billion years ago · Earth and Moon
Watch nowThe Doomsday Equation | Friday 13 November 20264 Nov 1960 · University of Illinois, Urbana
Watch nowThe Hugging Face Hack2026 · the AI agents' Hugging Face hack
Premieres 11 NovThe Summer Nights You Could Read By30 Jun – 3 Jul 1908 · Europe, after Tunguska
Premieres 24 NovThe Fog That Starved Egypt1783 · Laki fissure, Iceland
Premieres 21 NovThe Volcano That Invented the Bicycle1815–1817 · Tambora to Mannheim
Premieres 17 NovThe Telegraph That Ran on Aurora2 Sep 1859 · Boston–Portland
Premieres 20 NovA Moon of Jupiter Clocked the Speed of Light1676 · Paris Observatory
Coming soonA Tea-Shop Chain Built the First Office Computer1951 · J. Lyons & Co., London
Coming soonApollo 12 Made Its Own Lightning1969 · Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Coming soonFixing a 1977 Computer One Light-Day AwayNov 2023 – Apr 2024 · Voyager 1, interstellar space
Premieres 19 NovHow the Solar System Was Born4,567 million years ago · Allende, Mexico, 1969
Coming soonThe AI That Found an Affair in the InboxMay–Jun 2025 · Anthropic stress tests, San Francisco
Premieres 18 NovThe Cannon That Tried to Shoot Into Space18 November 1966 · Yuma, Arizona (Project HARP, 1962–1967)
Coming soonThe Eleven Days Agatha Christie Vanished3-14 Dec 1926 · Sunningdale, Surrey to Harrogate, Yorkshire
Premieres 12 NovThe Enslaved 12-Year-Old Who Unlocked Vanilla1841 · Sainte-Suzanne, Réunion
Premieres 14 NovThe Lake That Fell Into a Hole20 Nov 1980 · Lake Peigneur, Louisiana
Premieres 22 NovThe Magician Who Trolled MarconiJune 1903 · Royal Institution, London (and Poldhu / Porthcurno, Cornwall)
Coming soonThe Night It Rained Stars on America1833 · Eastern United States
Premieres 15 NovThe Oil Prospectors Who Found the Dinosaur Killer1978–1991 · Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
Premieres 23 NovThe Penguins' UV Love Spots They Might Not See2015–2023 · Kerguelen Islands, Southern Ocean
Premieres 16 NovThe Plague Doctor Who Gave the World the Face MaskDec 1910 - Apr 1911 · Harbin, Manchuria
Premieres 03 DecThe Woman Who 'Gave Birth' to RabbitsSep–Dec 1726 · Godalming, Surrey and London
Coming soonThey Blew Up a Whale. It Went Badly.12 November 1970 · Florence, Oregon
Coming soonThis Knowledge Was Free All Along1968–2026 · public archives worldwide
Coming soonTutankhamun's Dagger Fell From the Skyc. 1323 BC · Valley of the Kings, Egypt