Why are snowflakes like this?
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- čas přidán 24. 04. 2024
- Dr Ken Libbrecht is the world expert on snowflakes, designer of custom snowflakes, snowflake consultant for the movie Frozen - his photos appear on postage stamps all over the world. This video is sponsored by Brilliant. The first 200 people to sign up via brilliant.org/veritasium get 20% off a yearly subscription.
Thanks to Dr Ken Libbrecht for showing us how to grow designer snowflakes. Obviously, this video would not have been possible without his help and his expertise. His website is full of information about snowflakes snowcrystals.com. His new book is also available to purchase from here -- ve42.co/SnowCrystalsBook
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References:
Libbrecht, K. G. (2019). A Quantitative Physical Model of the Snow Crystal Morphology Diagram. arXiv preprint arXiv:1910.09067. -- ve42.co/Libbrecht2019
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Special thanks to Patreon supporters: Luis Felipe, Anton Ragin, Paul Peijzel, S S, Benedikt Heinen, Diffbot, Micah Mangione, Juan Benet, Ruslan Khroma, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Sam Lutfi, MJP, Gnare, Nick DiCandilo, Dave Kircher, Edward Larsen, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Dumky, Mike Tung, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Ismail Öncü Usta, Crated Comments, Anna, Mac Malkawi, Michael Schneider, Oleksii Leonov, Jim Osmun, Tyson McDowell, Ludovic Robillard, Jim buckmaster, fanime96, Ruslan Khroma, Robert Blum, Vincent, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Alfred Wallace, Arjun Chakroborty, Joar Wandborg, Clayton Greenwell, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Ron Neal
Written by Derek Muller
Filmed by Derek Muller, Raquel Nuno, Trenton Oliver and Emily Zhang
Edited by Trenton Oliver
Animations by Ivy Tello and Trenton Oliver
Additional video supplied by Getty Images
Music from Epidemic Sound
Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev and Emily Zhang
"We just kept making books until they sold 0 copies and then we stopped" Sound strategy I respect this man.
Ken for president!
Kinda made me sad, if I had more tha 10 euros in my debit card I would buy one
Wait, isn't that just known as "print on demand"?
@@giovannifalso6342 lol the man is rich why sad?
@@mal2ksc My impression is he meant he kept making new books with pictures of snowflakes, not just printing copies of the same book.
Honestly I 100% agree with his approach of "I'm studying this because it's cool and we don't know how it works". Really that's the foundation of science.
heh
it's cool
This is actually really ethically important and oft overlooked. A majority of research is performed in a matrix of biases related to future funding, grant writing, extensions, and pay. It's neat when people can research a topic without being motivated to seek conclusions that benefit something, or someone, even if it's 'the greater good', medicine etc. All serious scientists know about these biases and work hard to avoid them and produce good ethical science. But it's neat when people like him can just focus on something cool.
@@kiprs heh heheh
Tbh that is kinda where a lot of innovation came from. I always like joking about how scientists came up with the theory of the particle/wave duality of matter. They were like "light works, so how about we chuck random subatomic particles at it and see what happens?"
Gotta have the almighty $
As an Australian, I can tell you I've never seen one of these things before and find their existence fascinating.
Not like I love snow because I don't but I cant imagine not ever seeing or touching it. It's gonna be pretty wild when you see it for the first time lol.
That's indeed a curious thought, never to have witnessed snow in direct contact. Living in the Netherlands and visiting Germany and Austria on a regular basis, I cannot imagine what it means not to know the sensation of touching snow, ice and all of its shapes and sizes. How to feel the snow collapse under the weight of my feet, the sound that it makes, the way in which I can gather some snow and make a ball from it, and how that ball can be thrown, so as to hit a surface and disintegrate again. The ice crystals at a badly insulated window, the view of a million snow flakes, gently falling from the sky in winter, the small Dutch canals on which we can go ice skating, it's all part and parcel of our seasonal experience, just as the warm summers are.
Australia has some snowy areas in Victoria and NSW, but I guess that the majority of the Australians does not frequently visit these places.
@@Guido_XL yikes
As a singaporean, I have also never seen or touched snowflakes before and really want to experience it at least once.
@@Kvltklassik Who
Very interesting. As a brazilian, I grew up thinking the shapes of snowflakes were just a cartoon representation, until I traveled to Canada and was amazed by the real snowflakes. I loved watching them melting on my coat
Brasileiros estão por toda parte. Hehe.
I'm Canadian, and love watching the snow melt, because it means that winter is finally ending and I don't have to see the snow for another 7 to 8 months.
@@dominicbonogofski I'm Canadian too (from Saskatchewan), and I hate it when winter ends. Winter is my favourite season. It's so beautiful. There is nothing like the quiet hush, and cozy evenings, that come in deep winter.
This winter has been so disappointing! It didn't snow until JANUARY. And if you're from around here you know that is crazy. It normally is snowing by around Halloween, sometimes earlier. I'm sure I've seen it snow it September.
And, even now, there's not a lot of snow. At least, not by Saskatchewan standards.
I hate summer. It's hot and sticky and gross. There's bugs everywhere, and tornados, and the heat is horrible. Why do people think plus 35 is a nice temp? Ugh. It's gross. You're all hot and sweaty, and sticky with sunscreen and bug spray. I mean, I know - to each their own. I just honestly don't get why anyone would like summer.
I honestly believe people here have been brainwashed/conditioned to think summer is good, and winter is bad. They've been told that since they were like five years old, and now they just go along with it, without pausing to think about it. That's what I think, anyway.
Bugs. Tornadoes. Power always going out because of thunderstorms. Being boiling hot. Not being able to sleep in the unbearable heat. Being sweaty. Being all sticky with sunscreen. Mosquito bites. Bugs all over the place. The drunks roaming the streets (too cold for them in winter to do so), the endless noise, all the contructions noises, motorcycles without mufflers breaking your eardrums, nothing peaceful or beautiful or quiet about it....until winter finally comes.
That is so interesting to hear! I'm Canadian. But I can really see, how, if you didn't grow up with snow, those could seem like a cartoon-like representation.
I liked reading your post, because it gave me a perspective I couldn't have myself, having grown up here in Canada. I would have never though of seeing it as a cartoon-like thing.
@@Julia-nl3gq I'm also from Saskatchewan, and I don't particularly care for any season, as they all have downsides to them. The one I hate the least is spring. And there's no such thing as "standard weather conditions" in Saskatchewan. We literally had one year where it snowed in September, melted by October, and didn't snow again until January. The next year, there were like 2 blizzards in the span of two months where I live. I'm pretty sure it was also that same year where during the summer, it reached 46°C outside. Our climate is chaos.
“Snowflake can be shaped like a bullet”
_Frozen 3 gonna take a pretty gangsta turn_
I would watch that one.
please let them do so. i am traumatized due to excessive exposure to those two movies due to my kids.
@@coskuarsiray well I mean, the kids who watched Frozen are probably over 18 now so the movie can adapt to the new demographics 😏
Americans: * invest *
Lol
This man spent his career studying snowflakes and he is happy, that's the life I want to live
Make sure to not become the anteater guy ^^
@@sogari2187 😂
@Aaaa either be happy with what you have, or endlessly search for something that makes you happy
Except he left the place (North Dakota) where he experienced what he loved naturally, to California where they make everything perfectly fake.
@@motifity3416 The ideal would be to be happy with what you have AND endlessly search for anything that will make you happier (not just materialistic obvs).
If one was to be happy with what they have and have no desire to endlessly acquire anything else that would sustain or improve that - they would starve to death.
I don know how this guys warmth hasn't melted every snowflake he has ever created
one time i accidentally witnessed a perfectly symmetrical stellar dendrite, i was playing around with some snow a few years back, looked at my hand and boom, a perfect snowflake, and since that day i have fallen in love with the beauty of snowflakes and the way they form.
For me it was noticing a snowflake on my jacket and realizing I could see the actual shape of it, and that it was actually a hexagon! It made me realize “wow, they’re actually shaped like that!!”
@@Piper_____ yess i cant believe how they are "extremely rare" but people find them on accident, LOL.
@@justsomeguymustache I mean, with however many snowflakes come down during one snowy day, even a one-in-a-million chance probably happens a few times!
I did an art project on radial symmetry and teared up multiple times looking at images of snowflakes. The awe I experienced discovering the immensely beautiful designs that had been invisible to me for my whole life was overwhelming. I feel so lucky to have had that moment.
The artist I looked at was Alexey Kljatov.
Listening to people talking about their life’s passion is my favorite thing ever
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Is that your passion?
When I do that, nobody cares :(
@@somerandom7672 find new friends
Thats cap, you wouldn't actually listen to somebody talking about something boring, snow and snowflakes are intriguing topics to you.
If I started talking about paper you would fall sleep or click off the video in 2 minutes. Even if it was said passion.
Love what he said at the end. To be able to understand things as complex as the formation of snowflakes, even if it isn't remotely "useful", is a testament to our humanity. People like him who are curious and can share his passion with the world, recognize that knowledge is not a means to an end, it's an end in itself.
Understanding the formation of snowflakes is not directly useful. But a better understanding of the formation of micro-crystals in general can be enormously useful for material science and chemistry. This has direct industrial application.
I agree, and I would add that even the most apparently "useless" knowledge often can lead to amazing insights down the line.
And who knows what it might be used for, one day. I can think of anything from better weather forecasts, to models how you get from snowflakes to glaciers (and in turn the climate), or even other substances that form hexagonal crystals (like carbon; so this may be relevant for understanding carbon nanotubes as well, which have huge potential for technical applications). When you start doing basic research, the possible applications are not at all obvious.
Well, we shouldnt forget about those who are doing the really necessary stuff (workers, engineers, doctors etc.), though. We need to keep in mind, that while this man makes things which might be useful for someone on a one out of ten days, he still needs to eat on the other nine days as well. The only reason why he is able to do what he is doing is the fact that someone else is creating enough value to provide for him. Its nice to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars, but someone has to look down and worry about our place in the dirt as well.
It isn't that complex that's the point of the video, it's action and region to the list basic level.
We are lucky to have scientists like him, that give us the answers to how nature works.
It's the most valuable thing.
This is how scientists were made at Caltech 40 years ago. Now Caltech is mostly full of poorly educated, DEI students. What a shame as our meritocracy is destroyed.
Understanding the formation of snowflakes - their shape and size - has a lot of practical applications. For example, different types of snowflakes have different coefficients of frictions when they are part of a snowpack layer on a mountain side. Such knowledge helps in understanding the conditions under which avalanches occur, therefore help in modelling and forecasting avalanches.
"As a scientist, you want to figure something out."
Contributing to the collective knowledge accumulated over millenia just because it's not already known. Badass.
They didn't go down this rabbit hole, but like Steve Mould has explained before, sometimes searching for answers leads to discoveries that are useful, whether the initial question was "important" or not.
The whole point of science is to figure stuff out, this guy gets it
@@kruks exactly! We won't fully understand how useful something like this is off the bat. It could be one of those things that in 100 years someone looks back and it solves some super complex problem.
Such a vast area of discovery too. Aplicable to a degree in all forms of crystalisation. Pushing the unknown always further back, for ever.
Has anyone figured out women yet?
Can we get a scientist on that?
My favorite thing is that Dr.Ken is smiling the whole time, what an achievement it is to be that excited about your work. For over 40 years at that!
this. finding something that brings you joy for this amount of time in your life. In my eyes this is what life is about.
Snowflakes are fun
Yeah - he looks like a really Good person - Reminds me of Dr Emoto. Both studying water crystallization...
He looks like a scientist who is not only psyched to have this as a job, but super-psyched that a very notable youtuber brought a camera crew to actually share it with the world. I mean, he starts out by talking about how his research is both valued by professionals, but also sold zero books after publication. It really do be like that in the wilderness of scientific research sometimes.
@@pirojfmifhghek566 You misunderstood. He published two successful books, then kept publishing more until eventually there was one that sold zero copies.
I was shocked but the ending. Never have I asked myself during this whole amazing snowflake documentary why is this scientist researching this topic. It feels so naturally compelling to me to be deeply attracted to solving the mysteries of life and the universe. Questions lie in every topic and their answers are interconnected, understanding one topic will better your understanding of the whole.
It would be sad if human beings only directly seek to increase their comfort and safety... Which we do a lot already.
We've reached a point in animal evolution where we have the luxury to ask "who and why we are". Seeking to increase comfort and safety is an animal instinct. When we are finally comfortable enough, the energy we use our brains with can shift else where
Currently a very great deal of us live in misery and insecurity due to the pursuit of unfulfulliable greed by a few. I do not see the pursuit of comfort and security for the many as a vice at current time.
I'm 14 and this is deep
@@Whatismusic123 Just wait until you're actually aware of how little _you do know,_ and how much you take for granted *that you don't.*
There's also selection bias here though- you are the kind of person who clicks on a video about how snowflakes form. Which means that among the hundreds of thousands of potential videos, you were served this video by an algorithm that guessed you might like it. And then, even more unlikely, you actually clicked on it. I think most people who would watch a video like this wouldn't be the same group of people who would feel the need to ask why you'd study such a thing.
It's like asking diners in an Italian restaurant which of them likes tomatoes. You're probably going to get a higher-than-average number of people who like tomatoes in that selection group than if you asked more broadly to the general populace, or in an unfriendly selection group- like a kindergarten classroom. The people who ask him that are likely more the latter two kinds of groups, the people who have neutral or negative interest themselves.
That’s the “coolest” thing I’ve seen all day! Love how the professor is just “chilling” in his chair while explaining complex science! ❄️
Underrated 😭
You can feel how much Ken likes learning about snowflakes from his face. He was enthusiastic from the start to the end of the video.
He's a perfect example of "If you love your work you'll never work a day in your life." He just feels like he's playing all day and getting paid for it.
I think he wonders though :p
He’s so comfortable talking about his study and you can easily tell because of the way he sits, holds himself and emotes so enthusiastically. His excitement is palpable.
The best part is that you could tell he wasn't forcing it, it was real.
you understand if you ever was on camera. Try not to smile is difficult. Smiling is common.
I love seeing someone speak as passionately as this dude talks about his snowflakes, great content
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@@MrUssy101 bru wtf?!
@@MrUssy101 just let him do what he likes to do man
@@MrUssy101 "who cares about snowflakes", says the guy clicking on a video abt snowflakes
@@MrUssy101 People care more about snowflakes than they care about you
Few years ago I visited Hokkaido University and came to know they are the pioneer who discovered snow flakes patterns. We were so grateful to meet a local lady professor at the entrance and have her offer to guide us walked through the campus. During that time she posed me a question do I know how many shapes of snowflakes, my guessing was about five types. Now I know the better answer from this video. Thank you for this sharing!
30-40 minutes to make each snowflake BLEW MY MIND! 🤯 Hands down my favorite piece of your content ever! As other's have mentioned, this one really was a “drop what you're doing and pay close and undivided attention--this is *VERY* Important!” So much so, I actually had to restart the video, since I'd only marginally tuned in for the first few minutes. Sure, it may never lead to atom splitting and probably even less likely to lead to atom combining, but this right here, The Snowflake Guy, this is the gas that drives the whole vehicle of humanity's progression. Curiosity for curiosity’s sake. Imagine where the world would be if A. Everyone were so uncompromisingly passionate about their work. And B. Allowed themselves to turn that passion into an unapologetic search for meaning. We'd have conquered the cosmos centuries ago!
A fraction of passion this guy has for snowflakes will make a massive difference in the world around us.
Bbfreagjmin quota people you mean
No
@@egggge4752 a
that's smart :D
also I'd like to know why are individual snoflakes only a few cenitmeters at max size
I don't know of an explanation . . . and could be because this is so complex
@@DrDeuteron that's one part of it
are there any updrafts ?? . . a strong updraft can hold quite large objects in the air
"Does each snowflake in essence reveal its history through itsshape?"
"Yeah absolutely, to some degree"
That's a good pun, Dr.Ken!
@J J explain to me i dont get it
@@ccriztoff bruh 💀
@@ccriztoff Correct. Snowflakes don't work,. They bitch, complain, get offended & avoid work at all costs.
A code representing changes in environmental conditions the snow flake has encountered during formation.
The 'shape' of every human being does the same...
I love his comment on the saying "no two snowflakes are alike" because yea he's right most things with really any degree of complexity in nature are going to be differing in some way
The world needs more people like this guy who absolutely loves something as simple and complex as snowflakes...
When people call this guy a snowflake, he just says “oh my goodness, thank you!”
Hahha yes. Beautiful and complex
Ha Ha! I knew there would be a snowflake joke in the comments. =)
"thats the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me :') "
best reply ive ever read
😂😂😂
That man is the embodiment of: *“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”*
He snowflake maxxed
If you ever did the stuff you love as a job - you'd VERY quickly find out how BS that quote is...
With the exception that he left North Dakota for California to do it.
U likey the irony?
you forgot to add "If you're lucky".
I love sleeping, but it 'aint gonna get me nowhere.
@@TheUltimateBlooper couldn’t agree more 😂
As a Scandinavian I bow before the master of Snow.
Naahh, but really - Truly fascinating research and what an incredibly wonderful man! I could listen for hours upon hours on him talking about snowflakes. Thank you Derek for always bringing the most interesting people onto your channel!
This guy seems so happy to be talking about his work. That smile the whole time.
This is the sort of content I need, just some guy who’s an expert on an extremely specific area of life
hi i’m ur biggest fan
Hi i'm ur smallest fan.
Hi I'm ur average fan
*_Hi I'm ur somewhat fan._*
Hi I'm just fan
“We have to know how that works damn it!” That may be the best definition of science I’ve ever heard. Absolutely love you and Dr. Libbrecht! Thanks for introducing him to us :)
He is such nice and genuine guy.
I couldn't possibly say it better, Maryah!
That is true. It also may be a definition of why we might destroy ourselves! Double edged sword. Sounds about right though. haha. I am that way myself.
Veritasium has some of the best put together content on CZcams. It's so high quality. The fact that it's about such fascinating scientific topics is just a huge benefit to us all.
A constant end-to-end smile. So awesome to see someone that in love with what they do.
I watched this 4 times yesterday, showing it to family. My son has a paper to write on any topic for school and decided to write about snowflakes now. We went to the library yesterday and picked up a copy of Ken's beautiful books "Secret Life of a Snowflake" and W.A. Bentley's "Snow Crystals." Thank you so much for exploring and sharing this with us!
And just like that, you've found an excellent application!!
Yaaay! I love this
@Aaaa technically yes but usually people will specify college. Normally when you hear "school" being used this way it means somewhere before college
It's amazing, the incredible amount of diverse information, your son has, at his fingertips, compared to when I was a boy. Books, and the internet.
As one who enjoys learning about the world around me, I am grateful to live in a time, to see such changes.
You sound like a good dad. Best wishes, for your families health/happiness.
And hope your son gets a good grade 😀
@Aaaa Yes, and no. School is a general term that can mean college, but can also mean other types of education as well. College refers specifically to a university (or community college) education.
just that genuine smile on this guy's face while talking about snow flakes shows how happy he is with what he's doing :) that's enthusiasm
and that somebody else wants to know something special like that, is making him happy
he just had too many crystals in college parties.. got himself onto the cause... LOL
It's probably more about making money than snow flakes.
The key is to find what we can do in our own lives to bring us the same type and intensity of joy.
Easier said than done for most of us, but we can start looking at what we want to do in the world that makes us enthusiastic.
@@Xapheus U see, this in itself changes over time. what is interesting at age 10 is no longer interesting at age 16 and age 26 makes anything but pleasure a pointless task.
Dr. Libbrecht's enthusiasm is contagious! I'm lovin his love for science!
From the perspective of a grad student of Complex Systems, this video is incredibly educational, it hits all the right spots, from the purpose and extents of modelling, to the cross-validation with experiments, to the sheer joy of discovering that you might have got it right :)
And ultimately, the drive of science - of studying anything, really - is human curiosity and even intellectual pride after all, and it's marvellous and fun as it is.
Keep up the amazing work!
Mad respect to this man. He has complete joy to dedicate his life to a specific area of science, to such an extent that he can probably confidently say that he is the worlds expert on the subject.
Admirable for sure
Learns more and more about less and less until, in the limit, he knows everything about nothing. Managers, on the other hand learn a little about more and more until, again in the limit, they know nothing about everything.
@@borysnijinski331 ?
@@borysnijinski331 - Socrates
@@borysnijinski331 are you saying he sucks at science
Ken's excitement about his field is truly captivating.
If you or everyone want to have Ken's knowledge about this filed then you need to be teaching Foundational principle of electric instead the base 101 of electric. All electron moved or behave just like what ? If the earth is proton then the moon is electron, If (the earth + the moon ) is the Push gravity then the sun is Pull gravity. An Atom's constructional space is just a fraction super nano version of Solar system that' s all.
@@baogiangsongque5507 @Lac Di you really don't know what you are talking about.
What you are describing is the very naive teaching in high school to give a first intuition.
In higher study you will learn that quantum physics is completely different from solar system and it's gravity.
Electron don't orbite the nucleus like earth around the sun. It has a probability distribution around the nucleus that can have many different shape, some spheric, some very strange. The electron is not really localised in one place, it is diluted in its atomic orbital.
Search orbital atomic to learn more.
@@inconnuunknown8770 Your mind set really has big problem. There are 2 main principle: human's law and nature's law and combine both Which one is powerful best then that's as is. Rain from up to down by the nature's law but you can make human's rain from down revert up by a sprinkler pressure. You tell me that the human's law better than the nature's law. I hear this voice everywhere when the uneducational right kids want something from their mother >>>???
P/s: the problem nowaday that the education teched the kids what are right but not what are wrong >? Self learning every moment thinking is how compare between right Vs wrong and how it is forming ???
@@baogiangsongque5507 I find it really difficult to read your comment and interpret it as something wrong with current education. The way science has progressed is by asking whether something should do one, or another thing. Figuring out which it is by carefully testing it. Now you know the answer and can use it. Nature is only exploring some of the careful tests, humans build more because we look for answers nature alone isn't giving. There is no conflict in that, no wrongness. Just science and the fruitful search for answers
this was deeply satisfying, having only ever seen images of perfect, symmetrical snowflakes. It felt difficult for me to believe that something that's the result of so much variation would always come out looking exactly perfect
Really enjoyed Dr. Libbrecht! Such enthusiasm, passion, and sense of humor. Glad he's doing this work.
impressive that this guy is apparently doing both the theoretical and experimental physics
among us is my favorite cereal
None of the work he presented was theoretical, it was all practical hands on. That is how science should be done.
@@sonpopco-op9682 At the end he did his prediction for form variation of the snow crystals and it fall perfect with his data later on so he was doing both.
Atomic molecular structure visible in the macro world
Yes. At first he gave the impression of only doing experiments, but that changed later in the video.
"Snowflake Guy" is a hell of a job
Yeah helll right,,,
LIBRULS BE LIKE
Snowflake Scientist
@@joratto2833 HE'LL YAEH BREATHER🤘🤘🤘
He made them a little safe space and everything
I was so surprised when I found some on my windshield one day. I could not believe it and wanted to preserve them. But I had to brush them off and start driving.
Snowflakes are interesting but you really upped the game. Well done 👏
This man spent his life making snowflakes and trying to understand them and the most amazing thing about this is his enthusiasm.can you imagine spending your whole life worrying about snowflakes and still being so enthusiastic about them?
Sadly I think there are many people who be that enthusiastic if had the opportunity to truly pursue what they wanted. 99% of the ppl who wanted to study snowflakes all ended up in do wage slave labor instead :/
he didn't spend his whole life just on snowflakes.... snowflakes presented an oppertunity for him
@@MrPLUR You know NOTHING about this man, his taxes, bills or anything beyond his fascination with and study of snowflakes. The world is chock full of interesting and meaningful ways to spend a life, in this country it’s a choice each person must make and live the consequences of that choice. If you are disgruntled by the lack of having found your own ‘snowflake’, it’s likely you have only yourself to blame.
@@rainofkhandaq6678 My grandmother used to tell me, ‘If you’re looking for ‘fair’, it’s with the cotton candy and carousels.’
The power this man wields is astonishing
Why does this obnoxious guy he knows everything and we are the dumb ones !!!!!
@@MrUssy101 Because he uses correct grammar.
@@MrUssy101 stop it, get some help
Frieza's full power is only 1% of this man's full power
Power?
This is just ONE example of how creative the designer is. Like it has no end to it.
Wow that physicist was so articulate and smooth talking! I could listen to him all day. Very interesting, yet so relaxing.
I love the way he approaches that concept of "why study that?" The curiosity is what drives him. He wants to know how they work. There doesn't need to be any more reason than that.
Exactly, there are many fields where research has been done on topics noone yet knew how to use, but proved very useful later on. One example is number theory, which is now ver, important for cryptography
@@EvilTaco Or Boolean algebra
@@EvilTaco ahh I love breaking down code
But I can only do basic such as Cesar cipher and thats that. Hahaha
@@EvilTaco It's also good for people to seek knowledge that never turns out to have any "use" nor make anybody money. Knowledge is its own end, not just some means to an end.
Okay, but then you don't get to complain about college costing too much. It's your tuition dollars that are funding this.
I work in meteorology with part of my job being to photograph and determine which types of snowflakes are falling at a given time. Basically I travel around Canada chasing horrible winter weather to take measurements and identify snowflakes.
Love the video! You just made my week.
Does a wetter heavier snow, versus a lighter fluffy feeling snow have a makeup that favours one type of snowflake over the other? In terms of flat plate like ones and rod/bullet shaped ones?
... you know, discounting slush and old treaded-upon snow that always gets wet and heavy feeling.
I am sorry for the weather
Sound like the best job anyone could have.
@@smillman437 I don't know if I can perfectly answer your question, but I'll give it a long-winded shot.
Snowflakes form way up in the sky where the temperature and humidity is far different from ground temperature and humidity. For this reason there is no real strong correlation between ground temperature and snowflake type. That being said, you do notice trends especially at a given location with similar weather fronts. I am up in BC right now and am finding because of the mountains and landscape the sky can be much cooler than in the valley below causing snow to fall at much warmer ground temperatures than in a more flat area. For this reason you can get plates or needles at above zero temperatures and have it be wet and "packy" snow.
We classify snowflakes into one of 10 categories that we put on a scale from F1 to F10. F1 F2 being a plate, F3 F4 being needles and columns, F5 - F7 being what we call irregular crystals (like a broken clump of crystals, not flat like a plate or long and skinny like a column or needle), and F8 - F10 being different forms of snow pellets, hail, and ice pellets. When snowflakes are shifting to a different type, you generally see it change to something that is next to it on the scale. For example I rarely observe snow go from an F1 to F10, but often obverse an F1 to F3 to F7 to F8 to rain transition.
Intensity and snowflake type are not correlated. You can get every type of snowflake at every intensity. What is correlated though is visibility and snowflake type at a given intensity. Plates, with their flat and large surface area, make visibility way worse than if you had a needle or column falling down with the same rate of intensity. This is why using visibility as a metric for snow intensity is not accurate and far from ideal.
@@filosofodemierda That was the last thought on my mind last February when I was out testing in 110kph winds....
The quality of explanation and animation in this video is far superior to all the other videos I searched around for trying to learn about how snowflakes grow. Thank you for the effort that went into this!
As an IT guy, I appreciate the cable management on display here.
My science quote of the year:
"When you make a model and you sorta find it's supposed to do somethin' and it sorta does, it's just like...
...This might be RIGHT!"
This is why I love scientists. This man is staring at a near perfectly matching graph that you'd be lucky to get once in your life and... It *might* be right is the strongest he's willing to go.
Sorta right - he concludes there are NO 2 snowflakes alike - he calls it near impossible. BUT the remaining mystery in my eyes is WHY are there SIX poles to the the water 💧 molecules and hence the snowflakes ❄️?
@@BuildHardMuscle From a structural pov, could it be because of the shape of the water molecule itself and the position of the separate charges on the molecule...?
@@BuildHardMuscle I think it was somewhat explained in the video
@@BuildHardMuscle 6:35
His final comments are so accurate. Science is about answering questions regardless of how important. Snowflakes are a question everybody has but few people answer. Most of us just assume "its interesting, but its not important enough for me to put the time in" and forget about it. Ken's curiosity sought him to put an immense amount of time into answering that question. That is the physicist at its most pure fundamental level. As a (far lesser) physicist myself, this really explains why we love physics. Its the joy of learning in its most pure form and the absolute need to have an answer to our curiosities in such a strong way that we will spend hundreds (thousands) of hours until we get there.
As a mathematician I agree a lot. It's so awesome how some math deemed to be completely useless and merely a "mental exercise" is being applied on different disciplines nowadays.
His snowflakes research might have some awesome everyday application someday.
I would love to make a video about obscure science stuff, but people care so much more about the shoes they wear or blouses they buy
@@RickFleischman I see your point sir but do not underestimate the intelligence of the intelligent or how many are out there. A huge amount of people care about discovering new things no matter how obscure they might seem. An easy proof: This video is trending at number 5 on youtube:P
@@sirris4330 That's why we're here: To find out things that aren't - that - useful (who knows tho!) but still worthy enough to be interesting, because why not find out why/how something works 👍 In a way, everything is kinda meaningless if you start looking at the "big picture". We all die eventually and according to some theories, in a way so does the universe and nothing of us will be left behind, so why bother. But we do and that's an awesome thing.
@@finnishfatman Hell ya man I like your mindset and I agree. Just have one thing to say about the "theories" you mention. That's just nonsense science my guy. Yes we all die but absolutely all of us is materially left behind. Our molecules slowly decay, whether cremated, buried, donated to science etc... we will all eventually become part of the earth and therefore the universe to be randomly divided into new life. It takes a long amount of time but all organic matter is recycled into the universe. The "why bother" part is much more complex of course. It has yet to be proven that the universe will die. It's possible that the spatial expansion(the expansion of space itself) will decelerate at some point in the future of the universe. There is no real understanding of things on that scope in science as we understand it. If you mean nothing left of us as a conscience entity, that's already a foregone conclusion. Perhaps the cycles of chance will allow you to be renewed in a multiverse scenario trillions of years in the future?:) My philosophy however tends to agree with you. It may not be healthy emotionally but I have always thought about how tiny we are as human beings. A meaningless drop in a universe so massive and complex that we as sole human lives can barely make a difference on our tiny planet in our arbitrary galaxy. However, the "big picture" for me is so freeing that it brings me joy. That's exactly why we can do what we feel passionate about. We can chase whatever feelings and dreams we have. There is no responsibility to an overbearing truth; only responsibility to our limitations imposed by a ignorant human brain. The universe is beyond comprehension truly. Along with insane economic privileges', that curiosity is why we are able to explore the limit of the human brain in our limited place in this unimaginable world.
I spent a winter in the Arctic and the snow was so different from what I had experienced all my life. With average temps around -40 and seeing this research I finally get why. Thanks
How & why did you spend a winter in the arctic?
@@-flanders-8975 work
2 channels. This one, and Smarter everyday. Love their contents not just for uniqueness, but for their way to present subjects. These two guys took nerdness to a level of art. NGL, these two channel works as ASMR for me, and helps me to fall asleep. Every night. 💗💗💗
32 years ago, in my second grade elementary class we were learning about snowflakes or basically getting ready to just make one out of construction paper. I asked a question that has forever bothered me since that day "how do snowflakes get their shapes?" I was told "its because it turns to ice" and when I said "that doesn't answer how the shape is made", then I was told "we just don't know how snowflakes get their shape". Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht FINALLY answers this not just for himself but for anyone who asked the question "how do snowflakes get their shape" and was just told to accept a non answer. Now I can someday explain this to my kids. THANK YOU!
Maybe we can get a Doctor to answer the question I had for my DARE officer in grade school.
If heroin is from poppy plants, why did I eat a hamburger last night covered in poppy seeds?
Some questions NEED answering.
Others complicate the enjoyment of the beauty of nature.
@@truthsRsung ignorance is bliss I assume for some people. Someday this finding could be the missing piece to understanding fusion reactions or quantum computing, but maybe it's best we just sit back and enjoy nature instead.
@@truthsRsung yo eat hamurgers covered in poppy seeds to get high of course
@@alkemix .....I still haven't gotten an answer on the poppy seed buns.
I find that more relavent to my life than any benefit decoding the power of the sun has brought humanity.
How many nuclear reactors have we produced as opposed to nuclear bombs after Einstein?
Do we tend to use our education to help, or hurt our fellow man?
Don't be so flippity floppity when you reply.
Understanding EXACTLY how crystals grow is a VERY-VERY useful knowledge in real life. The quality of our electronics today is totally dependent on the purity of the semiconductor crystals, and that is just ONE example from the many thousands.
As a scientist growing graphene crystals everyday, I'm always fascinated by crystal growth in snowflakes.
Although its from a different field, i'd love to introduce you to crystalline glazes in ceramics!! Zinc Silicate(willemite) crystals can be grown in the glaze matrix by controlling temperature and duration during the firing process. I think this fusion between art and science is just simply beautiful to witness.
do you see any parallels between the different researches?
Do you think it would be possible to grow super efficient solar cells using CRISPR to modify a fungus from Fraser Island, Australia and glass sea sponge DNA?
Could you apply crystallisation occuring here to graphene?
@@abyssstrider2547 I was wondering the same thing. Like what parameters could you use to drive the crystalline structure? Temperature and pressure? This would be fascinating.
There is something so nice about seeing someone being incredibly enthusiastic and enjoying doing something because they just like it and they can
Dr. Ken love and energy for the subject was simply inspiring 🙏🏻
A constant smile on my face watching this. His joy working on this deceptively complex puzzle that has been hiding under our noses is infectious. His pursuit of knowledge is admirable.
some useless ed math theoreom is now useful again !
Plants use the same system to grow.
@@legobrickabrac I do. I use excitement to write music and lyrics and to conceive of and mentally work on ideas for machines that I later set about building. I don't know why, but excitement is powerful fuel.
@@rowanmurphy5239 Are you a musician or are you using metaphors?
@@legobrickabrac lol plants don't use the same system to grow.... there's a slight difference what with the DNA
snowflakes all turn out differently, plants somehow manage to grow to nearly the same shape.... it's not even a good analogy
6:39 this 'locking into place' animation is so good, all the molecules barely move and yet instantly create a pattern
not just an animation, I think it's a simulation ^_^
Also, very easy to animate / simulate. Just start with a grid pattern like you see at the end, then from left to right unfreeze them and let them move freely and play it back reversed :)
@@UlookP i was wondering the same lol
@Dmitry 4c ^^
@Dmitry 4c Interstellar contributed huge parts of their work to black hole research and built an entire engine to simulate them for the movie
This guy shows what attitude youll have when you follow your passions in life
Very complex stuff. I have learned a lot on this channel. Snowflakes always fascinated me. Such delicate and often very complex structures. Thank you for sharing this with us, educating us.
A math professor of mine researches bubbles and shares his research with similar enthusiasm. It’s incredibly motivating.
He may live in a bubble lol
@@cz2301 I hate internet snowflakes!
I thought this video was going to be about liberal art students, not math professors
Bubbles are extremely important. I would assume he is studying cavitation. Bubble dynamics are incredibly important for so many areas that the general public aren't aware of. Every leading academic institution has a bubble dynamicist - usually a mathematician (fluid mechanics).
@@klmn2000 thank you for bursting the bubble on this obscure part of science
I had one of this guy's snowflake books as a kid. It really fascinated me. Whenever it snows and the snowflakes land on my sleeve I always find myself trying to look at them up close.
which book
I always looked at them up close and was fascinated!
I did that without reading any books ☺ and I️ still do it.😜
Book would be a nice gift 🎁 for holidays
If I wanted to think about tomorrow, I would really want to think about yesterday again. This spicy writing is supposed to represent an exclamation, a kind of scream from an inwardly oppressed soul. I am almost blackish on the inside when I think of the current circumstances of our society. But not from an egoistic perspective, no, rather from an altruistic, self-sacrificing perspective that foresees a bad future for this world. For a world in which nothing dominates anymore. In a world that is an anarchy of feelings. But even here it doesn't matter how I feel about the world. I know you disagree. That’s yours. But only according to the rules of this world. Because in the end, when the beginning and middle and end of the times are over, only what you did counts. You can do whatever you feel like doing. We live in a society of pleasure, in which every individual pursues his goal erratically: the satisfaction of his needs. Be it sexually, financially, or otherwise. It no longer matters what needs you meet. The only thing that matters here is the fact that every person who kills their time here is a lost person. I know you're only here because you're acting out of fear. Fear of rejection, fear of failure? I hope for you that you know that if you waste your time here, your fear will not decrease. Because every day is worse than the previous one!
This is the first time I see someone who is doing stuff related to science and Is happy and excited about it.
Dr. Ken you are a cool, chill and funny person at the same time. Big respect from me.
It's wild coming across this video, since my father did his PhD thesis on the physics of ice crystal growth in 1978. We grew up hearing so much about snowflakes (in a place with no snow XD) and seeing the detailed photographs he took with the equipment that was available then. He probably would have loved this.
Bless your father!
What a legend this guy is. I can really appreciate scientists like this, who are just so interested in a thing that can sound so useless to us. I believe that we as humans can benefit from doing research on every small thing there is. It will help us to understand more about the strange world we live in.
An amateur scientist who first discovered spectral lines in France just prior to the revolution, brought his finds to a premier aristocratic scientist who dismissed his presentation as substandard and not worthy of his attentions. He was at the time a well known official tax collector. the man he dismissed took his revenge by denouncing him during the reign of terror.
Yes. Studying more about prism facets can be really useful when designing macro smooth surfaces and how matter adheres to it... and how to design geometry where matter can stick too.
this research could have massive implications for nano technology
Here I sit, listening about real snowflakes as I crochet them out of cotton thread for Christmas gifts.
this guys enthusiam over his work is inspiring
This dude has my kind of curiosity, he didn’t like the fact that no one knew how snowflakes worked and it really bothered him cause he wanted to know too so he just figured it out himself. I love that, the determination just out of curiosity always fascinates me.
@nieooj gotoy I love it, so thankful for people like this.
yea but who gave him money to do it ... u need support . you cant feed your children with curiosity or snowflakes .. he was lucky that he had the support of university .. i wish the world we live change in a way so everyone with that level of enthusiasm would go and discover new things .. without worrying about how they gonna survive day to day life .
@@wingman751 Communism in Cuba in regards to the public health sector
That intrinsic curiosity is fundamental to the whole enterprise of science and also of technology. Even if we don't find a practical application for a discovery, there's intrinsic value in understanding the world around us. Curiosity really is a core human value that defines our species and has made us what we are today.
And if you need more motivation to do basic science (basic science is science that looks at how the world works on the most fundamental level, rather than tries to solve a specific problem or application), sometimes we have no clue as to what we're looking at or what the applications could be, such as when we discovered quantum mechanics and developed quantum field theory. It seemed so far removed from our everyday lives, like how could this be practically relevant? But only after we did the basic science did we have the first sweet clue as to what was possible using quantum mechanical principles, and currently we've already found many applications of quantum principles that we never would have if someone hadn't first asked "Why?" purely for it's own sake.
I have never seen someone so happy and dedicated about snowflakes. And I'm sincerely glad to live in a world where someone like that exists.
Imagine a world with to little collaboration that this level of specialization isn't possible for anyone. This is the pinnacle of civilization.
Be glad to live in a world with me too. **FARTS LOUD AF**
To stick to such a seemingly simple topic for such a long period is real dedication. I get bored from any topic in a few hours / days.
"You want to see how things work." very scientist :)))) Love it! This video is amazing!
I love this guy, he even has the Christmas wizard personality
LMAOOO so true
Makes me think of him as the guy at the snowflake lab in a winter special
Perfect in the Americas..... Not so Christmasy in Australia lol
Ikr
This guy is so genuinely buzzed about ice crystals. He forgot the haters and now Disney pay him generously to inform them exactly how Elsas magic should look at a scale impossible to discern at even 4K resolution.
This is such an amazing demonstration about natural formations in nature that appears to be intelligently designed.
Congratulations! I'm from Ukraine!
I really like your channel, it was always interesting to find answers to seemingly long-understood problems and phenomena.
To see in a new way what you have to face all the time.
Thank you for making such wonderful videos.
I really want your channel to pay attention to what is happening in my country. Our talented people will be very grateful for your support.
I have always believed that science is outside politics, but it is very closely intertwined in our lives in all its spheres.
It's always fun to watch someone who is a master of their craft.
Someone should collaborate with him to make a jewellery collection
@@allamasadi7970 Dude, that's an amazing idea. Algorithmically generated snowflake shapes, so each product is different.
I love his reasoning for studying snowflakes! Maybe we won’t really ever learn anything of any value from snowflakes but the curiosity is why we are where we are today and leads too undiscovered break troughs. We need way more people like him.
In order to understand snowflakes, he developed methods and experiments.
Snowflake technology is going to lead to Worm Holes, and then we can travel the galaxy. Didn't you hear what he said ;)
@@Scarrylaw It is a possibility.
Autistic & Asperger Syndrome people usually have "special interests" and somewhat obsessions over very specific stuff, so we already have people like him, we only need to encourage and support them to get where they want to be
@@cottonsheep2367 Yes, individuals are important. Beware of collectivist thought.
This guy never tends to disappoint me. He can make a simple topic into the most complex problem in the universe lol
And vice versa!
I once had a shitty birthday, it was snowing and thus only 3 people could show up.
I ran upstairs and just looked at the snow, I saw a few form in front of me and was amazed.
Ever since then I've loved snow and loved playing in snow even if I'm older.
What an exemplar of a physicist! “We have to know how that works damn it!” That's physicists in a nutshell. I loved this!
he sounded so guilty but proud saying "damn it", too xD
@@ERROR-ei5yv I noticed that too haha; maybe he wasn't sure if it was ok to say on the video or not.
or scientists in general lol
bro
This guy is absolutely awesome, science needs more people like him. The excitement and joy he shows while talking about snowflakes is freaking contageous 😃
This is why he's so successful at it
@@Madmaniakid you are right.
would probably be a lot more common if people could divert all the money wasted on killing eachother in the military towards science.
he is so wholesome
I'd be enthusiastic af about lookin at ice crystals too if it was paying my bills
i spent a long time as a ski bum in UT, all this makes perfect sense. temp, humidity, wind and time are so critical to snow character. so glad i did what i did. ive honestly seen most of the shapes on those charts... and in fact know how they ski
That moment when you shone the flashlight in the chamber made me feel like I was in a fantasy, I could stare at that for a long time. Would love to see a large scale of that
I had a smile on my face the entire time I was watching this. I love seeing people so passionate about their work. What a wonderful guy.
16:24 "When you make a model, and you sort of find it's supposed to do something, and it sort of does, it's just like, 'This might be right!'" This is the reward for dedication and passion in science. That feeling you get when you finally crack the nut and nature reveals just a little bit of herself is so gratifying.
I was a little afraid of confirmation bias when I heard him say that. But I am counting on the reviewers and sc. community to try to properly disprove the idea - if possible ;)
@@lorenzakastylecrew he did everything correctly according to the scientific method. Make a hypothesis, and then do an experiment to test it. After that it's the work of him and everyone else to try and disprove it like you said.
That's the same feeling I get when I change a light bulb and I flip the switch. The bulb lights up my emotions of success.
Awesome ! Thank you very much for explaining this mystery in such a clear and easy to understand way !
The music and editing for this video are on point
My favorite line, and one I've used in the past: "No two snowflakes are alike, because no two follow the same path." Years ago I was having a discussion with a friend about why we're all different and I replied, "It isn't just genetics. Just like snowflakes, we all follow our own path -- and that helps make us who we are."
True. Phenotype = genotype + environment. Everyone's environment is different.
I guess you must be waiting just around the riverbend as well.
This is really true especially when considering identical twins separated at a young age. They often end up looking very different due to environmental factors causing different outcomes from dna expression (i dont recall the actual terms or mechanisms but it’s basically like that.)
WOW ur, like, making my mind, like, implode maaan. What an original take thought you had.
@@ibrahimtall6209 you're obnoxious
I really like how his eyes are shining while sharing his works to people. Is it weird that I feel motivated to do anything from his enthusiasm?
Not weird at all
Yes.
Please repress any feelings that might have awoken.
Please refrain from going outside to explore and or discover anything.
Please do not learn or share knowledge at any time.
Just take it as it always has been and always will be.
Thank you
Fox News
Hes so happy doing this stuff, it really makes me smile.
Ken's energy is amazing.
I wish my physics teacher was as enthusiastic about science as Dr. Ken is. His passion for his field of study makes me want to learn about snowflakes too.
That's the difference between passion and salary.
I had the honor to have an enthusiastic physics teacher. Actually even twice. Definitely the best lectures I've ever had. Unfortunately that still didn't make me a physicist.
@@sicfxmusic exactly
I also had a great physics teacher and he was one of, if not, my favorite teachers. I love that class so much and learned so much from him too. I had lots of questions and he took his time with me to see if we can answer almost all of them which felt so satisfying!
It is so wholesome to see Dr Libbrecht light up talking about his favourite topic!
Thank you, Derek, for giving those people a chance to share their findings to milions of people! We really enjoy it!
This bring new meaning to you can be whatever you want
I must say the scientist in this was such a interestingly cool person, I love the drive and passion he has for his work. He’s what I strive to be in my own work one day! Truly a cool and very smart guy haha
Loved this episode great bit of science explaining natures beauty formed in snow crystals. Fascinating and fun.