How They Prevented The Citicorp Disaster

January 22nd, 2026

The Citicorp centre once had a 67% chance of falling over!

Repairs were beyond necessary but William LeMessurier and his team had to construct supports secretly at night so as not to cause panic.

Posted in Science |

Filming Light at 1 Trillion FPS

January 19th, 2026

What happens if you keep slowing down time? Sponsored by Hostinger – Make today your Day One and visit https://ve42.co/VE10. Use code VERITASIUM for an additional discount.

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

▀▀▀
0:00 How does a strobe work?
3:28 The Man Who Stopped Time
8:43 Spatial vs Temporal Resolution
13:09 1 Trillion FPS
16:56 Watching Light Move
19:04 The Straightest Building in the World
24:19 How to get 1 Quadrillion FPS
28:25 Seeing Electrons

▀▀▀
A huge thank you to Jim Bales, Kim Vandiver, Jamie Chelel and everyone at the MIT Edgerton Center for walking us through Edgerton’s demos – https://ve42.co/EdgertonC

Thank you to Tech Imaging for letting us use their Photron Nova S16 high-speed video camera – https://ve42.co/TechImg

A massive thank you Nikhil Behari, Ramesh Raskar and MIT’s Camera Culture Group for having us over – https://ve42.co/CameraCulture

Check out Prof Raskar’s original trillion FPS coke bottle video here – https://youtu.be/EtsXgODHMWk

A big thank you to Anagh Malik and the University of Toronto Computational Imaging Group.
Check out Anagh’s work here – https://ve42.co/Malik2024

Finally, a huge thank you to Aaron Groff, James Cryan and everyone at SLAC for letting us visit their electron accelerator – https://ve42.co/SLAC

The paper on the final charge density simulation is available here – https://ve42.co/Grell2023

Check out the AlphaPhoenix billion FPS camera here – https://youtu.be/IaXdSGkh8Ww

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

Visual References:

Charge density simulation video by Gilbert Grell, Alicia Palacios, and Fernando Martín, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Edgerton images courtesy of © 2010 MIT. Courtesy of MIT Museum – https://ve42.co/MITMus
Bullet Shadowgram available via CC-BY-SA-3.0 on Wikipedia – https://ve42.co/Shadowgram
Various SLAC shots via – https://www.youtube.com/@SLAC

▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:

Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, armedtoe, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Data Don, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, EJ Alexandra, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Hayden Christensen, Ibby Hadeed, Jeromy Johnson, Jesse Brandson, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Mark Heising, Marti Paull, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Moebiusol – Cristian, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Robson, Sam Lufti, Shalva Bukia, Sinan Taifour, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, Vahe Andonians, wolfee

▀▀▀
Writers: Gregor Čavlović, Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Producer & Director: Gregor Čavlović
Presenter: Gregor Čavlović
Editors: Jack Saxon, Peter Nelson & Trenton Oliver
Additional Editors: James Stuart & James Horsley
Animators: Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, Andrew Neet, Emma Wright & Rokas Viksraitis
Illustrators: Jakub Misiek, Kathryn Chan, Grace Nemanic, Nataly Zhuk & Isaac McRee
Camera Operators: Michael Cimpher, Jesse Chandler & Gregor Čavlović
Researcher: Aakash Singh Bagga & Gabe Strong
Thumbnail Designers: Abdallah Rabah, Ren Hurley & Ben Powell
Production Team: Josh Pitt, Matthew Cavanagh, Anna Milkovic, Gabe Strong, Sulli Yost & Katy Southwood
Executive Producers: Casper Mebius & Derek Muller

Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound

Posted in Science |

The Universe Itself Might Be Hiding the Gravity Particle From Us

January 13th, 2026

Head to https://brilliant.org/Spacetime/ to start learning for free for 30 days. Plus, our viewers get 20% off an annual Premium subscription for unlimited daily access to everything Brilliant has to offer.

To progress to the next level in understanding reality, we need to combine quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general relativity. And to do that, most physicists believe we need a theory of quantum gravity .. which means we need gravitons. But it also seems like the laws of physics make it impossible to ever detect this quantum particle of gravity. Almost like the universe is set up to keep the final answer forever out of our reach. So, can we outsmart the universe, catch a graviton, and finally solve physics?

Check out the Space Time Merch Store
https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!
https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime

Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/

Hosted by Matt O’Dowd
Written by Richard Dyer & Matt O’Dowd
Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer
Directed by Andrew Kornhaber
Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour
Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

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.
© 2025 PBS. All rights reserved.

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka

Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By:

Big Bang
Alexander Tamas
David Paryente
Juan Benet
Mark Rosenthal
Morgan Hough
Peter Barrett
Santiago
Tj Steyn
Vinnie Falco

Supernova
Ethan Cohen
Glenn Sugden
Grace Biaelcki
Mark Heising
Stephen Wilcox
Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke

Hypernova
Alex Kern
Ben Delo
Cal Stephens
chuck zegar
David Giltinan
Dean Galvin
Donal Botkin
Gregory Forfa
Jesse Cid Dyer
John R. Slavik
Justin Lloyd
Kenneth See
Massimiliano Pala
Michael Tidwell
Mike Purvis
Paul Stehr-Green
Scott Gorlick
Scott Gray
Spencer Jones
Stephen Saslow
Thomas Mouton
Zachary Haberman
Антон Кочков
Daniel Muzquiz

Gamma Ray Burst
Aaron Pinto
Adrien Molyneux
Almog Cohen
Anthony Leon
Arko Provo Mukherjee
Ayden Miller
Ben McIntosh
Bradley Jenkins
Bradley Ulis
Brandon Lattin
Brian Cook
Bryan White
Chris Liao
Christopher Wade
Chuck Lukaszewski
Collin Dutrow
Craig Falls
Craig Stonaha
Dan Warren
Daniel Donahue
Daniel Jennings
Daron Woods
Darrell Stewart
David Johnston
Doyle Vann
Eric Kiebler
Eric Raschke
Eric Schrenker
Faraz Khan
Frederic Simon
Harsh Khandhadia
Ian Williams
Isaac Suttell
James Trimmier
Jeb Campbell
Jeremy Soller
Jerry Thomas
jim bartosh
John Anderson
John De Witt
John Funai
John H. Austin, Jr.
John591
Joseph Salomone
Junaid Ali
Kacper Cieśla
Kane Holbrook
Keith Pasko
Kent Durham
Koen Wilde
Kyle Atkinson
Marcelo Garcia
Marion Lang
Mark Daniel Cohen
Mark Delagasse
Matt Kaprocki
Matthew Johnson
Michael Barton
Michael Clark
Michael Lev
Michael Purcell
Nathaniel Bennett
Nick Hoffenstoffer III
Nicolas Katsantonis
Paul Wood
Rad Antonov
Reuben Brewer
Richard Steenbergen
Robert DeChellis
Ross Story
Russell Moore
SamSword
Sandhya Devi
Satwik Pani
Sean Owen
Shane Calimlim
SilentGnome
Sound Reason
Steffen Bendel
Steven Giallourakis
Terje Vold
Thomas Dougherty
Tomaz Lovsin
Tybie Fitzhugh
Vlad Shipulin
William Flinn
WILLIAM HAY III
Zac Sweers

Posted in Physics |

You’re Only 6 Steps Away From Anyone On Earth

January 9th, 2026

The small world problem.

How can we be connected in 6 steps if most of us spend our lives in small clusters?

Posted in Science |

The Ridiculous Engineering Of The World’s Most Important Machine

December 31st, 2025

The insane machines that make the most advanced computer chips. Sponsored by Brilliant – To learn for free for a full 30 days, go to https://brilliant.org/veritasium and get started. Plus, our viewers get 20% off an annual Premium subscription for unlimited daily access to all Brilliant courses.

▀▀▀
0:00 The Machine That Saved Moore’s Law
3:12 How are microchips made?
9:11 What is extreme ultraviolet lithography?
15:04 Nuclear Fusion To The Rescue
21:59 How ASML Conquered The Chip World
35:35 Who are ASML’s biggest customers?
37:40 The Most Important Tech Company In The World
41:25 Inside ASML

▀▀▀
A big thank you to Marc Assinck, Jos Benschop, Jan van Schoot, and Jayson Stewart and the rest of the team at ASML.

We are also incredibly grateful to Vivek Bakshi, Andy Hawryluk, Marc Hijink, Asianometry & Claude Montcalm for their time and expertise.

If you want to learn more about ASML and how they developed EUV, check out Marc Hijnk’s book “Focus: The ASML way” – https://focus-dewereldvanasml.nl/

Explore the Asianometry channel (including a wealth of EUV videos) here – https://www.youtube.com/@Asianometry

See Jayson Stewart’s article on the EUV light source and supernovas here – https://spectrum.ieee.org/euv-light-source

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

▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:

Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, armedtoe, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Damien, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, EJ Alexandra, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Hayden Christensen, Ibby Hadeed, Jeromy Johnson, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Robert Oliveira, Sam Lutfi, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, wolfee

▀▀▀
Writers: Sulli Yost, Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Producer and Director: Sulli Yost
Presenters: Derek Muller & Casper Mebius
Editor: Trenton Oliver
Additional Editors: Spencer Wright, James Stuart & Peter Nelson
Animators: Andrew Neet, Emma Wright, Fabio Albertelli, & Mike Radjabov
Camera Operators: Sulli Yost, Richard van Rijn, Derek Muller & Casper Mebius
Researchers: Gabe Strong, Callum Cuttle & Aakash Singh Bagga
Thumbnail Designers: Ren Hurley, Ben Powell & Abdallah Rabah
Production Team: Josh Pitt, Matthew Cavanagh, Anna Milkovic & Katy Southwood
Executive Producers: Casper Mebius & Derek Muller

Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound

Posted in Science |

Black Holes. Explained. For 1.5 Hours.

December 18th, 2025

Black holes are not just the strangest objects in the universe, they’re the sharpest test we have of how reality actually works. This episode explores how these extreme cosmic laboratories force general relativity and quantum physics into direct confrontation. We look back through a decade of content to understand their formation and the theoretical diagrams that describe them, offering a journey through the profound implications of these celestial objects for our understanding of space time and astrophysics.

Check out the Space Time Merch Store
https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!
https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime

Hosted by Matt O’Dowd
Written by Matt O’Dowd
Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer
Directed by Andrew Kornhaber
Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour
Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

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.
© 2025 PBS. All rights reserved.

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka

Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By:

Big Bang
Alexander Tamas
David Paryente
Juan Benet
Mark Rosenthal
Morgan Hough
Peter Barrett
Santiago
Tj Steyn
Vinnie Falco

Supernova
Ethan Cohen
Glenn Sugden
Grace Biaelcki
Mark Heising
Stephen Wilcox
Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke

Posted in Physics |

Heisenberg Made a Discovery in 1925. We Still Can’t Explain It

December 11th, 2025

For 72 hours, enjoy 15% OFF on all Hoverpens with code PBS, or click on the link https://noviumdesign.shop/PBS – Free shipping to most countries. Also on Amazon: https://noviumdesign.shop/crQH4A

2025 is … was the international year of quantum science and technology. Yes because quantum tech is increasingly important, but especially because quantum mechanics was invented 100 years ago this year. In 1925, our strangest true theory went from being a peculiar set of ideas to describe some funny results from experiments, to a full-blown theoretical framework that overturned how we think reality really works. So today, as the centenary year approaches its end I want to take you on a little journey through what may be the most paradigm-destroying several months in scientific history.

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to:http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE

Check out the Space Time Merch Store
https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!
https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime

Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/

Hosted by Matt O’Dowd
Written by Bahar Gholipour & Matt O’Dowd
Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer
Directed by Andrew Kornhaber
Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour
Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

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.
© 2025 PBS. All rights reserved.

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka

Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By:

Big Bang
Alexander Tamas
David Paryente
Juan Benet
Mark Rosenthal
Morgan Hough
Peter Barrett
Santiago
Tj Steyn
Vinnie Falco

Supernova
Ethan Cohen
Glenn Sugden
Grace Biaelcki
Mark Heising
Stephen Wilcox
Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke

Posted in Physics |

Do We Live in the Rarest Solar System In The Universe? We’re about to find out!

November 25th, 2025

To learn more visit: https://hensonshaving.com/pbs and use code spacetime to get 100 blades for free with your purchase of a Henson Razor. Add both products to your cart for the code to take effect!

There are lots of reasons to search for planets around other stars—exoplanets. A big one is to find other places in the universe that might harbor life. We only know of one such planet so far: Earth. And so we get particularly excited when we find Earth-mass planets at the right distance from their star to sustain liquid water—also critical for life as we know it. We’ve found lots of those “habitable” worlds. But we also don’t know what factors are really critical to the initial development of life. Maybe star type? We get even more excited if that Earth-mass at the right distance from a Sun-type star. We’ve found a few of those too, and we can infer that there are lots more.

Check out the Black Friday Sale at the Space Time Merch Store
https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to:http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!
https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime

Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka

Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By:

Big Bang
Alexander Tamas
David Paryente
Juan Benet
Mark Rosenthal
Morgan Hough
Peter Barrett
Santiago
Tj Steyn
Vinnie Falco

Supernova
Ethan Cohen
Glenn Sugden
Grace Biaelcki
Mark Heising
Stephen Wilcox
Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke

Posted in Physics |

The Gravity Particle Should Exist. So Where Is It?

November 13th, 2025

Head to https://brilliant.org/Spacetime/ to start learning for free. Plus, our viewers get 20% off an annual Premium subscription for unlimited daily access to everything Brilliant has to offer

Physics is this close to understanding the entire universe. And what lives in this gap? Many physicists think it’s the elusive graviton—the quantum particle of gravity—whose discovery will finally allow us to stitch together our two great theories of nature into a single master theory. But what is the graviton, and does it even exist?

Help us determine the future of Space Time with the PBS Annual Survey:
https://to.pbs.org/2025SurveyST

Check out the Space Time Merch Store
https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!
https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime

Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka

Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By:

Big Bang
Alexander Tamas
David Paryente
Juan Benet
Mark Rosenthal
Morgan Hough
Peter Barrett
Santiago
Tj Steyn
Vinnie Falco

Supernova
Ethan Cohen
Glenn Sugden
Grace Biaelcki
Mark Heising
Stephen Wilcox
Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke

Posted in Physics |

Why Antimatter Engines Could Launch In Your Lifetime

October 30th, 2025

Thanks to Displate for sponsoring the video. Get a great Displate deal using my link https://displate.com/l/spacetime or my discount code spacetime

Discounts:
1-2 Displate: 33%off
3+ Displates: 38% off

Valid on Textra
Not valid on Lumino and Limited Edition

Antimatter drives sound like science fiction, but they may not be as far as you think. There’s a version that could, just maybe, launch within your lifetime.

Check out the Space Time Merch Store
https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!
https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime

Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/

Hosted by Matt O’Dowd
Written by Matt Caplan & Matt O’Dowd
Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria
Directed by Andrew Kornhaber
Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour
Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka

Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By:

Big Bang
Alexander Tamas
David Paryente
Juan Benet
Mark Rosenthal
Morgan Hough
Peter Barrett
Santiago
Tj Steyn
Vinnie Falco

Supernova
Ethan Cohen
Glenn Sugden
Grace Biaelcki
Mark Heising
Stephen Wilcox
Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke

Posted in Physics |

On m3i: