Topics › Physics, Space & Chemistry

Best Everyday physics & science demos videos, as recommended on Hacker News

124 videos about everyday physics & science demos that Hacker News commenters keep recommending, mentioned between 2009 and 2026. Mostly explainer, demo, music. Channels that come up most: Veritasium, SmarterEveryDay, Technology Connections, Applied Science. Sorted by how consistently HN recommended them over the years.

The most recommended is AT&T Archives: Similiarities of Wave Behavior (Bonus Edition): HN repeatedly calls it the clearest introduction to waves and transmission-line behavior, better than modern explainers.

• lectureAT&T Archives: Similiarities of Wave Behavior (Bonus Edition)AT&T Tech Channel · 12 HN recommenders · 2014–2026
• explainerHeat Pumps: the Future of Home HeatingTechnology Connections · 17 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
• interviewRichard Feynman Firenebulajr · 8 HN recommenders · 2010–2023
• demoBuilding a realistic artificial sun (for dark winter days)DIY Perks · 9 HN recommenders · 2020–2025
• explainerBrown; color is weirdTechnology Connections · 8 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
• explainerThe Biggest Misconception About ElectricityVeritasium · 7 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
• explainerWatch electricity hit a fork in the road at half a billion frames per secondAlphaPhoenix · 5 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
• explainerOld-fashioned rice cookers are extremely cleverTechnology Connections · 6 HN recommenders · 2020–2025
• explainerFourier Optics used for Optical Pattern RecognitionHuygens Optics · 5 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• explainerHow Trees Bend the Laws of PhysicsVeritasium · 4 HN recommenders · 2013–2026
• explainerBut why would light "slow down"? | Visualizing Feynman's lecture on the refractive index3Blue1Brown · 5 HN recommenders · 2023–2026
• explainerTraffic Waveswbeaty · 5 HN recommenders · 2013–2022
• demoWhy You Should Put YOUR MASK On First (My Brain Without Oxygen) - Smarter Every Day 157SmarterEveryDay · 5 HN recommenders · 2016–2025
• explainerRichard Feynman talks about lightsdfhsfh · 4 HN recommenders · 2018–2025
• lectureIntroduction: The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday (1/6)engineerguy · 4 HN recommenders · 2018–2022
• explainerHow an Atomic Clock Really Works: Inside the HP 5061A Cesium ClockCuriousMarc · 4 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
• explainerHow Do Nuclear Submarines Make Oxygen?- Smarter Every Day 251SmarterEveryDay · 5 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
• demoBest fan placement to move air through the houseMatthias random stuff · 4 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• explainerMost People Don't Know How Bikes WorkVeritasium · 7 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• explainerMars Helicopter (before it went to Mars)Veritasium · 10 HN recommenders · 2020–2021
• demoMystery of Prince Rupert's Drop at 130,000 fps - Smarter Every Day 86SmarterEveryDay · 4 HN recommenders · 2013–2024
• explainerThe Moon's Orbit is WEIRDminutephysics · 4 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
• musicOK Go - Upside Down & Inside OutOKGoVEVO · 3 HN recommenders · 2018–2026
• demoThe Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter Every Day 133SmarterEveryDay · 4 HN recommenders · 2015–2025
• explainerIs This What Quantum Mechanics Looks Like?Veritasium · 4 HN recommenders · 2016–2025
• demoSingle particle creates interference after double slit - Wave particle duality at the workshopheligone · 3 HN recommenders · 2015–2021
• interviewThe Future of War, and How It Affects YOU (Multi-Domain Operations) - Smarter Every Day 211SmarterEveryDay · 4 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
• explainerWhere Do Trees Get Their Mass?Veritasium · 3 HN recommenders · 2015–2021
• explainerWhy Machines That Bend Are BetterVeritasium · 3 HN recommenders · 2019–2021
• explainerThe Incredible Sounds of the Falcon Heavy Launch (BINAURAL AUDIO IMMERSION) - Smarter Every Day 189SmarterEveryDay · 5 HN recommenders · 2018–2022
• talkDoug McLean | Common Misconceptions in AerodynamicsMichigan Engineering · 4 HN recommenders · 2019–2021
• demoNeutron movie of coffee makingAnders Kaestner · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2024
• explainerWhy Do Reversing Trucks Not Beep Any More?Tom Scott · 3 HN recommenders · 2016–2026
• explainerFeynman: Mirrors FUN TO IMAGINE 6Christopher Sykes · 3 HN recommenders · 2012–2024
• explainerWhy It's Impossible to Tune a Pianominutephysics · 2 HN recommenders · 2015–2026
• explainerBed Bugs- What You've Been Told is Totally FalseMark Rober · 3 HN recommenders · 2023–2025
• demoBackspin Basketball Flies Off DamVeritasium · 3 HN recommenders · 2015–2021
• explainerHow does a whip break the sound barrier? (Slow Motion Shockwave formation) - Smarter Every Day 207SmarterEveryDay · 2 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
• explainerWhy does light slow down in water?Fermilab · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
• explainerYou've (Likely) Been Playing The Game Of Life WrongVeritasium · 4 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
• explainerSlow Motion Flipping Cat Physics | Smarter Every Day 58SmarterEveryDay · 3 HN recommenders · 2012–2023
• explainerHow big is a visible photon?Huygens Optics · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
• explainerLight Waves Visualized using Photon Sieves.Huygens Optics · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
• explainerRisking My Life To Settle A Physics DebateVeritasium · 5 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
• demoDIY mass spectrometer measures potassium in dietary salt substituteApplied Science · 3 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
• explainerTurning Waves Into ParticlesHuygens Optics · 2 HN recommenders · 2025–2025
• explainerReynolds Number - NumberphileNumberphile · 3 HN recommenders · 2019–2021
• explainerA Physics Professor Bet Me $10,000 I'm WrongVeritasium · 3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
• tutorialHow to Properly Heat a PanRouxbe · 2 HN recommenders · 2014–2024
• explainerMagnetohydrodynamics - Propelling Liquid Metal with Magnets!Tech Ingredients · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
• demoWhy Figure 8 knot is NOT hard to untie!Hard Is Easy · 2 HN recommenders · 2021–2022
• demoHow Smoking vs Vaping Affects Your Lungs ● You Must See This ! !Chris Notap · 2 HN recommenders · 2019–2024
• explainerComplete Solution To The Twins Paradoxminutephysics · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2021
• explainerThis Is Your Brain On Stale AirTom Scott · 2 HN recommenders · 2019–2025
• explainerHow a TV Works in Slow Motion - The Slow Mo GuysThe Slow Mo Guys · 2 HN recommenders · 2022–2026
• demoJet Fuel VS Diesel VS Gasoline how they burn and what color are they.Just Think · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2022
• demoNo Body Steering Bike of the California Superbike Schoolsuperbikeschool · 2 HN recommenders · 2021–2022
• explainerMOLTEN GLASS VS Prince Rupert's Drop - Smarter Every Day 285SmarterEveryDay · 2 HN recommenders · 2023–2023
• explainerThermoelectric cooling: it's not great.Technology Connections · 3 HN recommenders · 2025–2025
• demoCan You Fool A Self Driving Car?Mark Rober · 2 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
• explainerDefeating Microwave Weapons! - Part 1Tech Ingredients · 2 HN recommenders · 2022–2025
• explainerHigh speed camera reveals why sodium explodes!Thunderf00t · 2 HN recommenders · 2015–2024
• demoLiquid Sand Hot Tub- Fluidized air bedMark Rober · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2025
• demoCopper vs Pex vs SharkBite - Freeze TestingMatt Risinger · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2022
• demoOlympic Cyclist Vs. Toaster: Can He Power It?The Toaster Challenge · 3 HN recommenders · 2015–2023
• explainerThe simple, clever sensor behind automatic windshield wipersTechnology Connections · 2 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
• explainerHow Do Night Vision Goggles Work?Veritasium · 2 HN recommenders · 2023–2024
• explainerWhat if you could only see the world in UV?Veritasium · 2 HN recommenders · 2019–2021
• demoNew vs Old Room Fire Final ULjarhead96 · 2 HN recommenders · 2017–2021
• explainerExperiment! How Does An Owl Fly So Silently? | Super Powered Owls | BBCBBC Earth · 2 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
• demoPlanes clouds and vorticesflugsnug · 2 HN recommenders · 2017–2026
• demoHovering a Helicopter is Hilariously Hard - Smarter Every Day 145SmarterEveryDay · 2 HN recommenders · 2017–2021
• demoFiring the Lorentz Plasma CannonLightningOnDemand · 2 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
• explainerTesting if 60 minutes of silence drives you crazyVeritasium · 2 HN recommenders · 2014–2019
• talkBTD10: The 835kph Sailplane and Dynamic SoaringTNG Technology Consulting GmbH · 2 HN recommenders · 2022–2023
• explainerHow Do Bikes Stay Up?minutephysics · 2 HN recommenders · 2016–2024
• demoTesla Valve Explained With FireNightHawkInLight · 2 HN recommenders · 2019–2021
• explainerThe LED's Challenge to High Pressure SodiumTechnology Connections · 2 HN recommenders · 2018–2021
• explainerThe Bizarre Behavior of Rotating BodiesVeritasium · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2025
• demoDIY Scanning Electron Microscope - OverviewApplied Science · 1 HN recommender · 2015–2025
• explainerThe Snowflake MythVeritasium · 1 HN recommender · 2022–2023
• explainerIs 5G Spelling Our DOOM?! How EM Waves Can HurtElectroBOOM · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2024
• demoDangerous tattoo remover from eBay is a MILLION watt laserstyropyro · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2022
• tutorialAir Conditioning isn't free... but we're close.Tech Ingredients · 1 HN recommender · 2023–2025
• demoHow dangerous are magnetic items near an MRI magnet?practiCal fMRI · 1 HN recommender · 2011–2023
• demolevitating frogGraham McLeod · 1 HN recommender · 2012–2014
• explainerThe Universe is Hostile to ComputersVeritasium · 1 HN recommender · 2021–2024
• explainerWhy is light slower in glass? - Sixty SymbolsSixty Symbols · 1 HN recommender · 2018–2021
• explainerWhat if you swam in a nuclear storage pool?xkcd's What If? · 2 HN recommenders · 2024–2025
• demoVisualizing video at the speed of light — one trillion frames per secondMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) · 1 HN recommender · 2011–2025
• demo.38 Special vs Prince Ruperts Drop at 170,000 FPS - Smarter Every Day 169SmarterEveryDay · 1 HN recommender · 2017–2023
• explainerThe Original Double Slit ExperimentVeritasium · 1 HN recommender · 2019–2021
• explainerHow anti-theft tags work - magnetostrictionApplied Science · 1 HN recommender · 2017–2020
• demoCan you fold paper more than 7 times with hydraulic pressHydraulic Press Channel · 1 HN recommender · 2016–2026
• demoLaser diode self-mixing: Range-finding and sub-micron vibration measurementApplied Science · 1 HN recommender · 2019–2025
• demoSpace Shuttle Thermal Tile DemonstrationRoscket Tasartir · 1 HN recommender · 2014–2023
• musicCYMATICS: Science Vs. Music - Nigel StanfordNigel John Stanford · 1 HN recommender · 2019–2023
• demo1 million fps Slow Motion video of bullet impacts made by Werner Mehl from KurzzeitMatt Rece · 1 HN recommender · 2009–2023
• explainerMechanical circuits: electronics without electricitySteve Mould · 1 HN recommender · 2022–2024
• musicOK Go – The One Moment – Official VideoOK Go · 1 HN recommender · 2016–2026
• demoWhat salt tastes the best? Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs and moreExplosions&Fire · 1 HN recommender · 2019–2024
• demoShockwave traffic jams recreated for first timeNew Scientist · 1 HN recommender · 2009–2026
• explainerHow to Surface a Submarine in the Arctic Ocean - Smarter Every Day 260SmarterEveryDay · 1 HN recommender · 2021–2023
• talkImaging at a trillion frames per second | Ramesh RaskarTED · 1 HN recommender · 2012–2019
• demoTMS Bicycle, stable without gyros or trail (TMS=two-mass-skate)Arend Schwab · 2 HN recommenders · 2013–2019
• demoThe artificial skylight that you won't believe isn't realLux Magazine · 1 HN recommender · 2016–2020
• explainerThe artificial gravity labTom Scott · 1 HN recommender · 2022–2025
• explainerIon drive: The first flightnature video · 1 HN recommender · 2018–2022
• demoYour toothbrush is worn-out!Applied Science · 1 HN recommender · 2023–2025
• explainerThe moiré effect lights that guide ships homeTom Scott · 1 HN recommender · 2024–2026
• otheramazing starlings murmuration (full HD) -www.keepturningleft.co.ukraisingmaggie · 1 HN recommender · 2013–2022
• musicAlvin Lucier - I Am Sitting In A RoomTrilobiteJuice · 1 HN recommender · 2016–2023
• lectureThe Extreme World of Ultra Intense Lasers - with Kate LancasterThe Royal Institution · 1 HN recommender · 2018–2020
• demoHypercentric optics: A camera lens that can see behind objectsApplied Science · 1 HN recommender · 2022–2026
• demo[593] Gallium vs. Titalium - Abus Padlock Meets a Gruesome EndLockPickingLawyer · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2024
• talkOptical illusions show how we see | Beau LottoTED · 1 HN recommender · 2017–2023
• demoThe pilot-wave dynamics of walking dropletsMITMathLab · 1 HN recommender · 2016–2017
• explainerReveal Invisible Motion With This Clever Video TrickSteve Mould · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2022
• tutorialMaking YBCO superconductorApplied Science · 1 HN recommender · 2021–2023
• explainerThe Surprising Secret of SynchronizationVeritasium · 1 HN recommender · 2021–2021
• demoExperiment: Coca Cola and Drain CleanerHome Science · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2021
• explainerThe Weird World in RGBTechnology Connections · 1 HN recommender · 2020–2021
• tutorialHow to Make/Build a Lifter or IonocraftRimstarOrg · 1 HN recommender · 2016–2022
• explainerFeynman: How the train stays on the track FUN TO IMAGINE 7Christopher Sykes · 1 HN recommender · 2013–2022