Moon Beavers & Other Hoaxes - Objectivity 66

Brady and Keith look at some unbelievable claims about the moon and its inhabitants in the 19th Century, as well as a newspaper article that caused a stir at The Royal Society.
Films by James Hennessy and Brady Haran
Royal Society website: bit.ly/Royal_Society
The Royal Society's own KZbin channel: / royalsociety
Facebook: / objectivityvideos
Twitter: / objectivity_vid

[@chillsahoy2640]

It's like a Buzzfeed article, "9 weird experiments that scientists can't figure out", Victorian Edition.

[@collinbardini]

+Mr Schrödinger - I am the one who reviews. "Fellows of the royal society hate him! Find out why!"

[@gizatsby]

+Collin Bardini "astronomer looks through his new telescope and you won't BELIEVE what happens NEXT"

[@mariorossi9655]

lol Did Keith just own Brady ?

[@MartinSStoller]

Keith does have an admirable and wonderful knack for pithy retort, does he not?

[@soledsnak6632]

You mean there aren't beavers on the moon?!

[@seanisawesome000]

They went extinct 45 million years ago.

[@JulianGamboa]

Hm. Nice try but the 25 page letter is quite a Parker Square of an attempt to solve the problem.

[@otakuribo]

The problem itself was a Parker Square of a problem. Still, cheers for giving it a go!

[@NotGettinAny]

+Julian Gamboa This comment earned an audible chuckle.

[@unvergebeneid]

1:32 Slightly disappointed you didn't photoshop a beaver into this picture.

[@2nd3rd1st]

By the way, no matter what this video tells you, do not moon beavers. There have been reports about retaliations from the semiaquatic rodent community in the form of dammed up and flooded nude beaches and gnawed away lake-side saunas.

[@AlRoderick]

+2nd3rd1st I mean honestly the teeth are reason enough.

[@Yezpahr]

This has got to be my favorite episode so far. The moon hoax from the 19th century is in my opinion the best manifestation of humanity's curse. Trolling on a global scale.

[@PMW3]

moon beavers sounds like a euphemism.

[@anthonyflores1606]

Keith is always so dapper.

[@Siezemore]

Every time I watched a new Objectivity I notice I was smiling by the end of it. So many interesting little things the Royal Society seems to possess. If I ever make it to London, I know my first stop. Thank you for the video's Keith & Brady!

[@DGaryGrady]

Years ago I was stranded at the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania airport and the airline arranged a free stay in a hotel. In the shuttle bus to said hotel I saw a highway sign reading MOON BEAVER. The driver assured me that this was not a reference to wildlife but to two locations, Moon being a place just north of the airport and Beaver another located farther up I-376. And a bit farther along is, I see now thanks to Google Maps, is "Bradys Run County Park" (!), which happens to be a bit west of New Brighton (this one on the Beaver River rather than the Channel). You can't make this stuff up. (Meanwhile, in old Brighton, the one in East Sussex, there is, or was circa 1989, a shop called Miami Dolphins Fish & Chips, which seems just wrong.)

[@ASSamiYT]

These are so wonderful things, not just for their history, but also for the language that Keith, Brady and others use. After a while puns are puns, even in English, but there are some moments like: "That's a great way to put that in words." Edit: Some of it is liking what is read from the journals, actually.

[@BlackHayateTheThird]

Another video just in time for a pick-me up from studying for my Korean exam (your videos and podcasts let me reengage in thoughtful English conversations while I'm studying in Korea). 브레디 (Brady) 씨는 열심히 일을 고마워습니다!!

[@jamespklett]

OMG !!! Your videos are so great, but this one made me laugh, and I was so happy it wasn't a short one. Please keep making them and keep up the great work !!! Thank You

[@465maltbie]

fantastic...love it and thanks for taking the time to find this. And also so nice that the Royal Society took the time to save and catalog so many things. Even if at the time they probably didnt seem worth the effort.

[@mrjoa96]

I love the dynamic Keith and Brady has

[@crispincain5373]

FYI, The Washington Institute on 13th Street was a private school for boys; in the late 1840s the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity acquired the property and founded St. Vincent's Hospital there.

[@Muonium1]

It could just be down to location of the experiment. I find it's almost impossible to be blown off when in a fancy library surrounded by bespectacled archivists and cameras as well.

[@mathman1923]

If I could still grow hair, I would wear a do like Keith's.

[@ChandrasegaranNarasimhan]

That joke about beavers puts my paranoia into perspective. What will beavers do when their time arrives?

[@gaylordpantamime]

Love the banter

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

I wish that there were beavers on the moon. Anyone ever read Italo Calvino's "The Distance of the Moon"? It's beautiful :)

[@jebus6kryst]

Stuff You Missed in History Class did a podcast about the "moon beavers". It is one of my favorite episodes.

[@bulldogs224]

After watching so many of these I'm really feeling the need to go to a museum.

[@christinecrawford]

"you find them in quill shops" lol! #KeithRocks

[@horsetuna]

But did they also sell sofas?

[@HM-sc4to]

have you made a video about analemma? or has it ever been mentioned in a video? if you haven't, it would be really cool if you could find a paper or some scientific illustrations about it.

[@MexieMex]

Whatever! Great response to the experiment LOL

[@DigGil3]

That one about the quill sounds like a modern trolling attempt or one of those "challenges" people post on youtube.

[@PinkChucky15]

The Moon beavers thing was hilarious :-)

[@neruneri]

Today I learned that clickbait and fake news is not a new phenomenon.

[@CyclingSteve]

Googles 'Moon Beavers' finds out there's a law firm called Moon Beever. WTF.

[@ohmynoun]

It's been fascinating watching Keith come out of his shell.

[@Bladavia]

Interestingly, the French text under the moon drawing actually says "New Discoveries *IN* The Moon" (or rather *inside* the moon). It's interesting to see that even 300ish years after Copernicus, the language hasn't caught up and people still talk about the moon as a two dimension spot in the sky rather than a spherical object with a surface.

[@linkVIII]

I've gotten a reply from brady before. that's all I need

[@MrBirdattack]

I can't find much information on the Washington Institute in New York, besides some references to it. (The institutes with similar names that exist today were founded well after the writing of this letter, often more than a century later). Does anyone have any info on it ?

[@Dreamagine1]

Keith with a zinger right off the bat!

[@twentytwo_22]

6:17 send Keith to decode ancient glyphs because apparently he can read everything

[@pepperspray7386]

Any possibility to see anything by Dr. John Snow?

[@pepperspray7386]

I figured it might be click bait considering that Jon Snow might just be coming back ;)

[@911gpd]

You can't blow a Parker square Brady. Well, Keith might be able to, who knows...

[@yendub]

Where do you buy quills? Diagon Alley!

[@hamishkane6545]

Portsmouth? I'm from Portsmouth. How relatable!

[@douro20]

I wouldn't had thought of Edgar Allen Poe being the kind to make hoaxes.

[@mjacton]

Who was it who wrote on the catalogue card that it was irresponsible?

[@TheHazyshade]

Instead of a medal they had their homework preserved for future generations.

[@Jenked]

They look more like moon otters to me.

[@U014B]

Hoaxes and men on the Moon? Pretty crazy how the Royal Society predicted Andy Kaufman.

[@Cythil]

Hmm... Just making a quick guess here on the whole paper puzzle thingy. I would guess that air pressure is keeping it in place. while you might be able to blow it up a bit once the air start to escape from the sides you get lower pressure between the paper plates. A bit how a wing works really. But that just a quick guess from me.

[@scghost]

+Cythil you are basically right, Bernoulli's principle is right around the corner

[@Cythil]

scghost Yeah I though so. Though I have the benefit of living in a era we are taught many of these basics in school and where flying machines are common place.

[@TheSamWise]

The first story of the hoax around the new telescope reminds me of the James Webb scientist who posted a picture of some peperoni and said it was a star

[@erictaylor5462]

Where do you buy quills? Diagon Alley of course. Come on Brady, don't be stupid!

[@himbocialist]

"Whatever." ~ Brady Haran, 2016

[@ArnimSommer]

So, now Objectivity has to make a video about writing with quills and making appropriate ink...

[@KPopsicleSNSD]

Wait, without context, could Keith read those words individually?

[@straywasp]

Portsmouth!

[@infrabread]

Where is The Royal Society located? Because you know i want to go there.

[@Ross_mo]

There's this thing called google

[@ky-gp4sz]

Well, did anyone get it right?

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

Now with smoke machines and air pumps and slow motion, has anyone explained or written a paper as to what the answer is? Sounds like it's a good one to try at the lab in a future video.

[@Caarnji]

+Chuffered FUoogle I think the dynamic of wings applies there like Bernoulli's principle (higher pressure underneath and lower above pushes wings/planes etc. upwards...low pressure is created by increased speed of air). So my guess is if you blow air between them and it escapes it creates lower pressure in-between than it has on top, so the top one doesn´t get blown off. Not that I really know fluid dynamics in detail, so hope that wasn´t completely off... XD

[@tarmaque]

@@Caarnji Five years too late, but it will probably sooth your soul to know that you are exactly right. 🍺🍻🍺

[@GetOffMyLawnYouDangKids]

I'm surprised no one has started a moon beaver religion or at least a society like Flat Earth Society, but with moon beavers instead.

[@jimmyjumbo2006]

Moon beavers? Great band name.

[@Fiyaaaahh]

How come you're 18 days late with this upload?

[@TheSevenCrowned]

5:24 Profefsor of Mathemathics?

[@Graeme_Lastname]

And the answer is???

[@boldblazervids]

'Tis be a prank, dear brother!

[@KeyMan137]

I feel bad for the guy wrote wrote 25 pages.

[@Tfin]

+Spencer Key I feel a dead newspaper owes a dead person some money for that.

[@Fawnarix]

I guess they were being naughty!

[@michaelsheffield6852]

I think I saw my last name Sheffield

[@WheatleyOS]

Goodbye moonmen

[@eddotron1224]

Moon Beavers sounds like the name of a prog rock band

[@jgalway]

Hi

[@erictaylor5462]

Please guys, I have a fake leg, it'll come off if pulled.

[@johnallardyce4164]

1:01 That piece of hair sticking out on Keith's head is so distracting!

[@WujuStyler]

I'm joke. Too early?

[@joshuajurgensmeier4534]

CLICK BAIT! I love it.

[@HangLooseMongooseYT]

I don't know about this hoax. It's depth was a little bit of a Parker square

[@WokeCrusade]

A bit late for the prank video

[@phoule76]

Brady might consider doing a video to link these old-timey hoaxes to modern trolling (flat-Earthers, etc.) and how their internet-expanded audience is more susceptible to fall for such hoaxes nowadays, and subsequently react so vibrantly to them.

[@alexeysaranchev6118]

Just an irresponsible newsletter report, bro.

[@Xatzimi]

It's just a hoax bro! Bro! It's just a hoax!

[@rasaecnai]

So fake news?

[@coolboyrocx]

First?

[@BlackHayateTheThird]

+Liam Callaway lol oh how dare you

[@coolboyrocx]

+BlackHayateTheThird First comments are officially Brady approved :D

[@BlackHayateTheThird]

+Liam Callaway lol so true~ But at least you are first first.