Top 7 Episodes of Because Science w/ Kyle Hill

It occurred to us that we hadn’t compiled a List of 7 recently (unless you count the mini one I did in my review of Paizo’s Bestiary 6). Why lists of 7 instead of 5 or 10?  Because everyone else is doing those and we wanted a little corner of the internet all to ourselves. If you Google “Top 7”, we’re the first results!*

I told Clave I could whip up a listicle quick, fast, and in a hurry. I had unreasonable confidence in myself to accomplish this. Even as I told him I could do this, my internal monologue was all, On what?!  All of the nerdy things you’re doing right now are already posts, you fool!  

Well, not all. I don’t have cable or any paid streaming subscriptions in my house, so if I want to watch something – Youtube it is! Even this doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, I of course drift towards the nerdier corners of that site.

That’s how I came to find “Because Science w/ Kyle Hill.”

In 5-8 minutes, Hill uses pop culture to present all sorts of science. His videos sometimes debunk, sometimes enhance various aspects of comics, movies, and video games while always entertaining with a neat visual style involving markers and animation.  Here are my Top 7 Episodes of Because Science (in no particular order)!

Top 7 Episodes of Because Science w/ Kyle Hill

1.  Magneto’s 7 Secret Powers

It is a running joke on Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men that Magneto’s mastery of magnetism (side  note: Claremont’s purple-prose-y Magneto would approve of that alliteration) seems to enable him to do pretty much whatever the narrative calls for–even if it has seemingly nothing to do with magnetism.

In this episode, Hill points out 7 things Magneto could totally do with magnetism from achieving super speed to controlling human beings.

 

2.  How Forceful is an Anime Nosebleed?

If you’ve watched pretty much any anime ever, you’ve seen the visual gag before: A character (typically male) gets aroused and a fountain of blood rockets from their noses–sometimes sending them flying.  Kyle discusses the physics involved, whether humans could actually achieve liftoff, and, if not, what requirements need to be met first.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U7cSP6txrE&t=394s

 

3.  Could Wolverine’s Claws Cut Superman?

Sometimes Hill tackles some of the more classic nerdy debates that populate forums all over the internet, and this is one example of just that. And because his goal is always more than a simple “yes” or “no” (duh, adamantium can cut through anything), he uses science to show just what kind of cut would be made (spoiler: it involves talks of splitting cells and molecules).

 

4.  How Much Can Captain America Drink?

This was a question I didn’t even know I needed the answer to, but hey, when the source material opens the door to speculations with definitive statements about a super hero’s metabolism…someone’s going to ask. I particularly love Hill’s conclusion to this one: It’s impossible for Steve to get drunk…but not for the reason you might think.

 

5.  Would Dragon Ball Z Gravity Training Kill You?

If you grew up watching Dragon Ball Z, there is a list of things you’ve tried or wished you could try.  Powering up is undoubtedly one (and don’t you deny it!). Another is wishing you could train under higher gravity too and get those results super fast! Hill asks

• A) Could we even build a device that could simulate the levels of gravity Goku and Vegeta trained under? and
• B) Could we survive the experience?

 

6.  Fast and Slow Zombies: Is There a Scientific Difference?

In which Kyle makes an intriguing argument for the existence of both fast and slow zombies according to science.

 

7.  12 Ways Superman Could Beat Batman Instantly (But Won’t)

Hill gets creative in conjuring up some ways Superman could beat Batman; sometimes instantaneously, other times tortuously slowly, and still others without killing him at all–just severely crippling him. Of course Superman could beat Batman. BECAUSE SCIENCE! But because of characterization, Batman lives another day. (You’ll have to get past the way Hill makes SuperMAN and BatMAN sound like SuperMEN and BatMEN…it’s some sort of accent thing, I guess?).

 

I love these quick and nerdy videos, and there are over 130 of these bad boys on his channel covering these franchises and more. New episodes drop on Thursdays, so check in weekly or subscribe to stay on top of all the science-y, nerdy goodness.

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* Fake news