On a cosmic scale, we live laughably short lives on an almost completely inconsequential planet. On the planetary level, we could be described as a constantly evolving delivery system for our DNA, with – at best – marginal control over our surroundings. Part of the Munich-based design studio Kurzgesagt’s In a Nutshell series, Are You Alone? (In the Universe) is a short, animated appraisal of humanity’s place in the cosmos amid scientific findings that seem to keep making human existence less and less significant.
Video by Kurzgesagt
videoEthics
What’s an idea worth? How prominent thinkers have understood intellectual property
6 minutes
videoKnowledge
Why David Deutsch believes good explanations are the antidote to bad philosophy
10 minutes
videoEvolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
60 minutes
videoChemistry
Why do the building blocks of life possess a mysterious symmetry?
12 minutes
videoPhysics
Why the golden age of total solar eclipses is already behind us
5 minutes
videoDeep time
When algae met fungi – the hidden story of life’s most successful partnership
4 minutes