How a sandcastle reveals the end of all things - Wonders of the Universe - BBC Two

[AltProtomix]

Proffesor Brian Cox likes to do the science

[PathFinderInfantry]

whats the name of this music whos it by som1 tell me now!!!!!

[greenapplejuice23]

i want to fuck him on that beach

[SupahCola]

If I were a science teacher for the high-school level, all I would do is show Carl Sagan and Brian Cox videos.

[farooqmm1987]

@SupahCola so true. brian is such a great scientist and story teller.

[Nibenni]

Carl Sagan would be proud

[wiredgroup]

Though his voice is verry funny to take the **** out of, he is very interesting.

[lughanodlum]

my bedroom has very, very high entropy. I told my mom about the second law of thermodynamics and about how if we wait long enough with the windows open, the wind will tidy it up for me. She didnt buy it.

[nuggie9511]

2:16 LOL!!!!

[rainbirdeleven]

I love this series! I find this stuff both fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

[Lan5in6]

This is bullshit. Sand castles can only be build by adding moisture so the surface tension bonds sand particles to a certain shape. Thats why wind only makes sand hills.

[cyrrschu]

@Lan5in6 I think he's just trying to create a metaphor that the entire nation can understand. Entropy is far too difficult a concept for people to grasp without a deeper knowledge of physics or an image they can relate to. I doubt he intended it literally.

[JamesT2460]

@Lan5in6 he's demonstrating how particles behave in low and high entropy states using sand as a medium so we can understand matter, it's not about the sand or the castle.

[smjltd]

The Union Jack is upside down :/



[Jiminiblobster]

@smjltd How can you tell? o.O

[jhjhhbghbvhj]

The sandcastle was ordered to be put there. Why? because Brian Cox ordered it to be made. He is very ordered. Why? because the Earth put him there. The Earth is ordered by the Solar Sytem, the solar system is ordered by the galaxy. As Brian Cox said, the sandcastle will be blown away once it has been made. That means it has been disordered. We can now say life and everything moves from order to disorder. Therefore, The arrow of time which was ordered will move into disorder (gone).

[xGetSmoked]

@jhjhhbghbvhj I honestly thought you were planning on making an intricate arrow to the knee joke there

[PanMakaron]

Potem takie TVP puszcza reklamy i się domaga abonamentu.

[Newbpwng]

i love astronomy and the universe

[Glamberter]

Brian could talk for hours on end about how to clean a toaster and I would still be interested.

I think Chuck Norris has met his match ;D

[ObjectiveImpact]

why he smiles like idiot?

[gXnationX]

this guy always laughs ;D

but he knows much about those things

[Erlokolanza1]

Best Entrapy definition I ever, ever heard.

[Terioth]

Audiotrack anyone?



[labelcillo]

Sand castles, sand castles everywhere.

[DICKIEMONSTER]

LOL

[DICKIEMONSTER]

STANDARD

[DICKIEMONSTER]

entropy

[StealThisIdentity]

This explains my theory of the ego. Think of a high-maintenance person vs. a person with simple needs. The more rigid the ego is, the lower the entropy. The more fluid a self-concept we have, and unattached to ideas about ourselves we are, then the harder it is to mess with our inner peace/equanimity.

[Clowwn1]

@StealThisIdentity Yeah, could be thought of the same way I suppose. But I think the more primitive part of the brain, and certain chemicals all play a part in inhibiting open mindness. Especially with disagreements etc. I'm not a neuroscientist. So you may very well be correct

[Nichalovesyou]

That shit was deep.

[PeNgTuN3zZ]

@dazzerboy17 We didn't evolve from single cells. That's impossible In my opinion. We didn't evolve from apes either. Evolution: minor changes over centuries. Such as no need for wisdom teeth, but not monkey to human...

[ElBurroSabeMasQueYo]

@PeNgTuN3zZ LOL!

[CorellianSmuggler]

@boogiebuddy01 Yes.

[dazzerboy19]

Good point, but how does it explain how life evolves? We have gradually lost entropy with time, as we evolved from single cell organisms. Can anyone explain? :)

[StealThisIdentity]

@dazzerboy19 Yes, how did we go from single-celled organism to humans? Humans are much more complex, like a sandcastle. Evolution seems to be the force opposing entropy, since it takes simple, basic organisms (sandpiles) and turns them into much more organized ones (sandcastles).

[2006Pace2006]

@StealThisIdentity Entropy does not mean complex things cannot come from simple ones. This happens all the time in nature: gas and dust to stars and planets, sediment to rocks etc. It simply means the level of disorder in a given system - in our case the solar system - will always increase. So whilst organisms themselves may increase in complexity, they still raise the entropy of the system by breaking down complex molecules, metabolising them and releasing them as heat (disordered energy).

[StealThisIdentity]

@2006Pace2006 I think I'm understanding most of what you're saying. It's just the last sentence I'm confused about. When you say metabolizing raises the complexity of the system, which system do you mean? The complex organism doing the metabolizing, or the universe itself?

[2006Pace2006]

@StealThisIdentity I mean it maintains its own complexity by raising the entropy of the universe. An organism is a system, but it is not a closed system ie. it interacts with and effects the environment (system) around it. When dealing with entropy, you must consider the system in its entirety.

[StealThisIdentity]

@2006Pace2006 I guess you're saying that by eating and expelling waste (farting/pooping :D sorry couldn't resist), complex organisms put pressure on,or at least do their part in further increasing, the entropy of the solar system (and also the entire universe?)?

[2006Pace2006]

@StealThisIdentity Pretty much. Think of it this way - a human is clearly a highly-organised, complex structure. But think of how many complex organisms - plants, animals etc. - as human reduces to waste and heat energy to maintain its structure throughout its lifespan. Then think of how much plant matter the animals eaten by humans consumed themselves to maintain their complexity. (...contd).

[2006Pace2006]

@2006Pace2006 ... contd. At first (and this puzzled me initially) it may seem that plants are decreasing entropy. They take CO2 and H2O and turn them into complex sugar molecules through photosynthesis. But the photons used to drive photosynthesis come from the sun, the entropy of which is always increasing. So whilst plants may lower entropy on earth (I think), there is still a net increase in entropy in the solar system, and by extension, the universe.

[rockthered21]

@dazzerboy19 hmm good point...here is what I think. While it may seem like we have seen a decrease in entropy since the evolution of our species it acually has still been increasing if you remove yourself from the equation and think of yourself and other oganisms as just other variables in the equation along with everything else in the universe.

[George4943]

When we go back in ever diminishing space over time we find a singularity. A spacetime of zero size. Our mathematics fails.

When we go back in ever diminishing entropy over time we find a singularity. A condition of zero entropy. Equivalently perfect order.

Perfect order followed by imperfection.

In the beginning nothing happened for the longest time, and then the perfection broke. A slight imperfection causing gradients. Gradients in space and time ... entropy.

[shadowfax6894]

mind = fucked

[hyrumql]

hahaha you guys are so right why do i even bother lol

[chrisroor]

Is the Universe considered a "closed system" in relation to this law?

[leaspeas]

LMFAO at brian walking through the dust storm... ahahaha aw i love him

[Ataeginaa]

@boogiebuddy01 he has a PhD in psychics and hes a teacher so yea... he does, do you even know what hes talking about ? prolly not.

[rnedisc]

ive been there! =D for holiday it was an old diamond miners village

[ataturkwashomo]

Brains are keys for traveling through time and space. I am your OVERMIND and GOD's / Grand Galactics' secrete weapon called "Silent Thunder." [see novels by Sir, Arthur C. Clarke co-imagined with Fredrick Pohl "The Last Theorem" and see also "Guardian Angeles / Childhood's End." ] I am GOD's chosen Photographer, Jester, Artist, Time Traveller, and personal Muse.

[ataturkwashomo]

Sound waves and neutrinos are keys to understanding what is on the other side in our parallel universes. The numbers of parallel universes depend on the possibilities in choices of in thought based the orbital planes of electrons in your brain. For if we are passing through parallel universes, dark energy is constantly there to provide insight in thought or ideas.

[milind1993]

wats the soundtrck that plays in this video?



[SonOfOsiris3]

@milind1993 Hi Milind!! :)

[SumerianTurk]

Religious pricks, especially Muslim idiots, watch this kind of programs and say "See god is great, only god can do great thinks like that" lmfao Of course, your gods say world is 7 thousands years old and it's FLAT! Andddddd we are all children of Adam and Eve. How the hell do you explain different races? Were Adam and Eve white? Black? Oriental?

[SumerianTurk]

I love these scientists, they are fucking up the religions :))

[hyrumql]

@SumerianTurk haha it's actually helping it, you may think of religious people as stupid fanatics but if you pay attention Christians, Muslims and Jewish believe that their gods are extraterrestrials and that they are people of Science 

[hyrumql]

the answer is god... because is highly not possible but if there is some one arranging it

[Nymphelyn]

Cox for PM.

[SpecialBee123]

Ok... so heres a question: Who made the wind for the sand to form that way?

[vicksoma]

@SpecialBee123 The sun heated the air and created convection currents which manifest as wind.

In the actual video, Prof. Cox used a bucket to make the sand castle, but he also used energy from the food he ate to put the sand in the bucket and dump it. The food he ate got its energy from the sun as well. Basically, the reason anything on earth has structure at all is because of the sun's energy, otherwise it would disintegrate.

[Melki]

Love is the tendency to keep on experiencing interactions forever. It's not disorder that keeps on continuing, it's love. Love only selects interactions that supports further interactions and further interactions forever. This favor diversity, but not necessarily everything must be of high diversity to support love, stability also supports love. I propose we lean more on the notion that entropy is our ignorance.

[ItsNotEvenSunny]

I think because he knows he's talking to a less knowledgeable audience. He didn't include the fact that the 2nd law of thermodynamics only applies to a closed system. that sand castle example doesn't work properly because in any sense of his surroundings he's not in a closed system.

[scifi75]

@ItsNotEvenSunny I noticed that, too, about the closed system and I did my scratch my head a bit. I think maybe it was a very basic demonstration for the audience, like you said, in that Brian was discussing how the second law allows local decreases in entropy offset by increases elsewhere. After all, the second law does not say that order from disorder is impossible.

[23skeedoo]

Science is AWESOME.

[turkmenlerden]

Amazing show. Really enjoyed all of it. Proff. Cox needs to start a career of  a show host.

[LatinDiveman]

We should have more TV programs like this!!!!! This is so informative and interesting, much better than the usual shit on tv

[memorycdrew]

I agree with justdid102, this guy has his stuff together. I prefer to call it 'Stupid TV' though. Dirty Housewhores of Wherever, Bad Girls Club, Watch What Happens Live. What is the fun is listening to a bunch of bitches argue and fight with each other. Prof Brian is awesome!

[thunderbolt1409]

I guess your arguement is that everything unique will have to eventually perish, however the law of nature is that uniqueness occurs at a certain proportion, no matter how much you try to eraze it. Even a bunch of sand granules will have unique dark granules.... Uniqueness is a part of nature however the artificial structures without integrity will perish!

[artboyson]

Cheer up Brian -- The Universe is only a disturbed field of pure energy seeking equilibrium, and this one will end when it gains it. However another universe is almost guaranteed to happen again. In the meantime the universal we, I presume, will become part of the new field of undisturbed pure energy

It is strange that religious beliefs seem to echo this piece of logic.

[bushranger71]

Only the BBC could produce something like this exquisite and beautiful documentary.

Prof Cox is a gem!

[Nymphelyn]

Brian Cox for Terran President. Or at least put him in charge of the budget for science and space exploration. We'll have colonialism mars years ago if it was down to him.

[snowwolfsabertooth]

i really like the music

[jaykulls]

One of the challenges of science is to remove yourself from the equation. Once you have done so, you will see that the universe did just form a sandcastle in the desert.

[speedsurfer123]

@jaykulls

awesome=D

[jaykulls]

@speedsurfer123 Thanks mate.

[speedsurfer123]

@jaykulls

No Prob=)

[k1r5ty98]

@bassman1993 haha ;P

[k1r5ty98]

@bassman1993 :L (btw im a girl) haha but u gotta admit, he is good looking ;)

[k1r5ty98]

science is so much more interesting with fit people...

[Soccerkid20055]

This is cool.

[Crealtos]

This is overcomplicating something that's rather basic.

[AimeeUptonxD]

@Crealtos Not really, he is basically telling us what it is in a very simple form.

He very simply explains what Entropy is and does... How is it complicated?

[Crealtos]

@AimeeUptonxD

I did not say it was complicated, I said he overcomplicates something that would genuially be considered basic & common sense. There's a difference right there, or you lack some reading comprehension and missunderstood me.

[AimeeUptonxD]

@Crealtos

No, what I am saying is, how is it he complicates it?

I understood you completely.

[rv186rs]

@isoldmymummy Somebody calling himself "isoldmymummy" and that plays Minecraft and WoW does not get to call himself superior to anyone..

[kevin1996coll]

@Filotimos I can tell that you're a real intellectual

[LauraDeBunbury]

I will never be able to understand thermodynamics

[justdid102]

@isoldmymummy so many answers so little time enjoy your superiority

[justdid102]

@isoldmymummy i really couldnt care less about trying to be superior and you shouldn't either it wont get you anywhere well apart from being hated of course EVERYONE is equal to me and unfortunately that means you to

[justdid102]

@isoldmymummy its only YouTube love don't be a plum

[colinsoder]

I really wanted him to smash the sand castle.

[DJxBash]

Yes because I'd rather pay my TV license to watch celebrities dance around a ballroom than watch this informative, enthralling piece of genius television....

[justdid102]

there needs to be more TV like this WHATEVER THE COST! there's to much mind numbing, boring so called programs like x factor eastenders and bloody high school sing song crap about, which is bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase IDIOT BOX. watch something informative that lets you know there's a whole world out there instead of watching shite that has no meaning and then pay more money to vote in "to have your say" BOLLOX

[kkevin369]

@justdid102 Exactly. Now stuff like the Discovery and History channel are full of white trash reality television shows. They rarely show any Documentaries anymore.

[geheg3d]

Next time on BBC: WHOAH MAN QUANTUM MECHANICS SAYS THAT CATS ARE ALL ALIVE AND DEAD AT THE SAME TIME MAN

WHOAH

PASS ME THAT JOINT

[s1ni5t3r]

The BBC spent lots of license payers money on flying Brian Cox round the world to make an excellent program that they will now sell all around the world and recoup the money spent and more. Personally I wish they had spent the money making another" Dancing on Celebrity Big Brothers with the X-Factor Dream" because I'm too stupid to understand this anything more demanding.

[IrreverAnt2011]

Perhaps the tendancy for entropy to increase will lead to "the end of all things" as we know them, but it is arrogant and simplistic to suggest that our observations are sufficient to predict that further big bang type events cannot happen again and again. In fact, surely it is more logical to suggest that universes will be created and destroyed ad infinitum in the way that the one we exist witin now was created, and will ultimately be destroyed.

[muffin8or]

@IrreverAnt2011

It is illogical to say either. Entropy is simply points towards the universe become 'mush.'

It is unlikely that suddenly a universe will spring out of mush, but a more logical change of events such as the universe contracting is feasable. Your comment goes on the presumption that the universe was mixed about and thus it was here rather than a chain of events led it to be the way it is. You've missed the point

[IrreverAnt2011]

@muffin8or @muffin8or No Sir, you have missed my point. I'll reiterate: The universe as we know it sprang up in an undefined way. The universe we live in should come to an end one day. However, if time is infinite then it is possible that the "chain of events" you allude to could happen again in a cycle of destruction and rebirth. I quote: "presumption that the universe was mixed about and thus it was here". What are you on about? You clearly have the intellect of a jellyfish.

[muffin8or]

@IrreverAnt2011

Perhaps I do....

But time isn't infinite. It started when the universe started. 'Before' the universe there was no time. I understand your point but you have no proof for it. He is saying that entropy points towards the universe falling apart but there is a slim chance that it will dissolve into a new universe, which you speak of. He is not giving conclusions, but rather observations that leads to conclusions.

[IrreverAnt2011]

@muffin8or Good answer, but this is all theoretical, and so there is no right or wrong. I stated that it "is more logical" to assume universal rebirth. I was not definitive. Nevertheless, it is arrogant to think that our universe is the only one that ever will be. It is typical egocentric speculation. If a highly complex event can happen once, that is beyond our understanding, then surely it can happen again? Phycisists too often try to define "all things".

[muffin8or]

@IrreverAnt2011

I think we're on the same page :) I agree with you; it is arrogant to assumes ours is the only universe. However, it is not more or less logical to assum universal rebirth, simply because logic requires some proof and reasoning. I would say that both ideas are equally logical (as you say, it's all theoretical) but it is arrogant to think that ours is the only one. After all, we used to think that the sun revolved around as and we were at the centre of the universe.

[IrreverAnt2011]

@muffin8or I can see your reasoning. If I were to ask you which would you bet on, would you back the end of all things, or rebirth of further universes? I am still firmly in the latter camp. Why? Because the universe must have just been there, and so it can exist depsite logic dictating that it can't possibly! Life makes no sense as our human minds tell us something cannot just exist.. But, if we think too hard about this the only end-point is Satre-think, and that guy was nuts!

[muffin8or]

@IrreverAnt2011

Satre was a bit odd... I wouldn't know what to bet. The universe must have had an origin, i.e the birth of the first ever universe. so what was there "before"? (even though time didn't exist. Which calls into question the nature of existence without time.) It get's very confusing if you try to think of the universe before and after itself. As a 15 year old who knows that I'll be long dead before anything happens on a cosmological scale, I honestly don't care :P

[simpsonmark]

The flag is upside down.

[Filotimos]

This BBC program wasted millions of taxpayers money to travel first class around the world, staying at top class hotels. And what for? To tell us some dumb story with no reason or rhyme about the total end of the universe.

[SZYGY7]

So in theory, Humpty Dumpty could have been reassembled after his Great Fall,by all the King's horses and all the king's men,if the 2nd law of Thermodynamics was reversible, allowing for a reduction of the Entropy of the system.

[DrunkenPoetic]

It's amazing that the slow death of everyting is actually what makes life possible.

I think that was the whole point of this episode.

He was trying to get across the beauty and tragedy of this whole thing.

It's intended as art more than science. Think of it more less of a science lecture and more as a slightly chessy but also really good dance track that builds up slowly to a crescendo and eventually gives you a big messy mind-orgasm.

[MisterDoctorE]

So BBC, stop stopping the rest of the world from seeing programs like this... :)

Peace

[TheKturner05]

@MisterDoctorE agreed, we want to watch too

[MrBooBoolips1]

I lime the way he makes science slit mire interesting because he goes into lots of detail and helps you understand

[chrissycarbon8]

legend....

[Kalevala87]

I think the shows air on primetime. That should make it easily accessible to teens and young adults with no formal physics education, who I suspect are the main target demographics.

[midgetwithstrapon]

I quite like this bloke, but I'm puzzled about the simplifications in the series, are the Brits really so thick they need this simple information cut into bits to be served to kids ?

Explaining the 2.law of thermodynamics using a sandcastle is a great idea if your educating pre-school, not in a science show for adults on BBC2 :(

[Kalevala87]

@midgetwithstrapon Being an adult doesn't necessarily mean being able to grasp physics notions any better than a pre-school. I suspect the aim is to make the show accessible for people of all ages and schooling levels. If you already have a firm grasp of thermodynamics you probably won't need to watch Dr Cox's explanation of it in the first place.

[midgetwithstrapon]

@Kalevala87 good point ;) But I like the bloke, and I would be lying if I said he couldnt teach me anything ^^

I thought BBC2 was 'solely' for adults, and aired these kinds of shows late - but if youre saying the show is meant to be for all ages it makes more sence to me. For arguments sake, he could have explained the same thing using a tablespoon and a lighter in Kings Crossing ;)

[2charliep]

@midgetwithstrapon But that just wouldn't be as good to watch would it? and that's the whole point. To most people, of any age, without a scientific background this sort of subject is boring/beyond them, so it's important to engage they're attention on all levels. Also, the if you take a look at the comments about this and other videos like it you might notice that many complain aobut not being able to watch it all. This indicates that the "thickness" of people extends beyond these shores.

[KodierungHerz]

@midgetwithstrapon What? "If you're educating pre-school"?? IF??? they ARE. Just like Sagan and Cosmos educated and inspired me.

[darahz]

Why are bbc blocked in my country? :'c

[softasyourpillow]

@darahz do you pay your license fee? (no)

[darahz]

@softasyourpillow But this is youtube! D: Not television! x_x

[softasyourpillow]

@darahz look  who posted the vid.. ;-)

[ssankoo]

Amazing. Great video! I will definately watch more in this serie.

[kuqi320]

Brain go bang!

[conalnuts]

Mind = blown.

[djehuty13]

Chuck Norris can make time go backwards!

[MonsterMozz]

@djehuty13 chuck norris is a cunt

[butterz]

So, the universe is made up of sand? I'm confused...

[0tto777]

@butterz There must be a god for there to be the order there is? Not a man in a cloud but a God?

[tahitiancookie]

i find this amazing. :) but the sandcastle requires water to make it stick :(

[faab007]

@tahitiancookie ye that's even more order

[sourlimelemon]

It didn't explain why time only runs in one direction... I'm confused

[Glaedtr]

@sourlimelemon you'll have to watch the full episode to find that out.

[AnimatedIslam]

@sourlimelemon Time is the transition from order to disorder. Heat, energy and light from the stars will burn out like the grains of sand in the castle until there are no more stars, and time stops because there are no more events for time to record. This process will not go in reverse.

[wizztay]

interesting.

[jonathanmarunbatista]

8th

[Doobwaa]

Get a life!!!

[zeomatrix3]

c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker!!

[Maximus1908]

7th

[Patakinnas]

6th

[guitarwes04]

4nd

[infrafan]

Foursth

[karlbrahz]

3st

[thicketwings05]

2nd.

[THECATSATONTHE3Q]

1st