WATER.

TL;DR

Water is essential for life on Earth and covers more than 70% of the planet's surface. It can create challenges like making an Earth sandwich and affect Earth's rotation, but it also showcases interesting properties like hydrophobia and super-hydrophobia.

Transcript

Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. And I'm in London, right outside Buckingham Palace. Oh, I'm actually running a little bit late for tea with the Queen. Yeah, she's really into tea, but do you know what tea's mainly made out of? Water, and so today, we're going to talk about water. Now, we all know that water is vital for life on Earth to exist and that w... Read More

Key Insights

• 💦 Water is crucial for life on Earth and covers a significant portion of the planet's surface.
• 🙃 Making an Earth sandwich, where bread is placed on opposite sides of the Earth, is challenging due to the prevalence of water.
• 💦 The Three Gorges Dam in China affected Earth's rotation, demonstrating the impact of large-scale water transfer.
• 💦 Hydrophobic materials, like the lotus plant's leaves, exhibit interesting properties as water forms spheres on their surfaces.
• 💦 Humans can experience hydrophobia, which is a psychological aversion to water.
• 🥺 Rabies is a disease that can lead to a fear of water due to severe neurological damage.
• ❓ Vaccination efforts have significantly reduced the threat of rabies globally.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why is making an Earth sandwich challenging?

Making an Earth sandwich is challenging because the majority of the Earth's surface is covered in water, making it difficult to find two points of dry land exactly opposite each other.

Q: How did the Three Gorges Dam affect Earth's rotation?

The Three Gorges Dam, by transferring a massive amount of water to a higher elevation, caused Earth's rotation to slow down slightly. This resulted in each day being longer by .06 microseconds.

Q: What are hydrophobic materials?

Hydrophobic materials are resistant to getting wet as they do not form good hydrogen bonds with water molecules. They are usually made of hydrocarbons and cause water to stick together and form spheres.

Q: Can humans experience hydrophobia?

Yes, hydrophobia can occur in humans as an actual psychological aversion to water. This goes beyond being afraid of swimming and can be seen in disorders or aversions related to the sight of water.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Water is vital for life and covers more than 70% of Earth's surface.

• Making an "Earth sandwich" where bread is placed on opposite sides of the Earth is extremely difficult due to the predominance of water.

• The Three Gorges Dam in China, one of the largest hydroelectric dams ever constructed, caused Earth's rotation to slow down slightly due to the transfer of massive amounts of water.