海角大神

While the term 鈥渧iral video鈥� may bring to mind clips of sneezing baby pandas or teens doing the Harlem Shake, millions of viewers are proving they have a taste for the weird and wacky world of science. Perhaps it鈥檚 the result of a generation raised on 鈥�Bill Nye the Science Guy鈥� and 鈥�MythBusters,鈥� but virtual tours of the Large Hadron Super Collider near Geneva, high-speed photography exposing the laws of physics, and clips of elusive giant sea creatures are driving a lot of YouTube traffic these days.

Last spring and summer, nearly 2 million viewers logged on to NASA鈥檚 YouTube channel to learn how astronaut Karen Nyberg washes her hair in zero gravity while living on the International Space Station (see photo). Another 2 million subscribers regularly tune in to AsapSCIENCE鈥檚 explanations of such questions as 鈥淐an plants think?鈥� and 鈥淲hat if you stopped sleeping?鈥� Some 20 million viewers 鈥� nearly the number of NBC鈥檚 鈥淪unday Night Football鈥� viewers 鈥� watch Vsauce, the 鈥済ee, whiz鈥� science videos created by Internet personality Michael Stevens each month.

The availability of inexpensive, high-quality, digital video tools has brought scientists and their work out of seclusion and into the public sphere. The result: Science and other educational videos have become so popular on YouTube that they are giving cat videos a run for their money.

These explainer vignettes, directed toward our inner geeks, offer up science content in a digestible form 鈥渨ithout losing the wonder,鈥� says Crystal Nurazura Hall, an aspiring inventor at a technology cooperative in Pittsburgh and a self-professed science video nerd.

Of course, the level of educational value delivered through digital video content varies greatly and their 鈥渙therworldly鈥� wow factors can make viewers vulnerable to a scam if they aren鈥檛 invited to think for themselves. Remember the viral photos of the 鈥済iant squid鈥� that washed ashore in California from the direction of Japan鈥檚 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant? They were a hoax. Or the 2012 video of a neodymium magnet falling slowly through a copper pipe (1.2 million YouTube views)? It was a visual delight that taught nothing about the scientific rules it demonstrated. But that may not be such a bad thing.

鈥淧eople who see that video and experience a sense of wonder might be inspired to actually look [deeper into the subject],鈥� says Ms. Nurazura Hall. That鈥檚 the beauty of quick videos that capture the layperson鈥檚 interest, she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like choose your own adventure.鈥�