James Webb Space Telescope and the Traveling Salesman Problem

[@badguy562]

I am stunned how deep the problem goes and the parallels of it to others. I liked the way you introduced the problem by an familiar question of shortest path.

[@paulallenscards]

This is a problem that Amazon has been trying to solve for the better part of 15 years now

[@Quadr44t]

Totally, I first was thinking of molecular dynamics/Monte Carlo simulations. Then obviously self learning algorithms..... And I think, tho it wasn't at all mentioned here, that I finally understand why Quantum Computing could have so much potential for protein folding. And, well, organic chemistry/supramolecular chemistry/material science in general. There is a pretty obvious variable that needs minimizing. Minimize conformational (Gibbs?) free energy (and maybe occasionally ramp up temperature to 20! to avoid those nasty fake minima). Edit: This is the beauty of physics, tho. The more you learn, the more you see underlying concepts/mechanisms repeat like everywhere. It is ridiculous how much the concept of the euler unit circle comes up. Like, everything can be described by motion around a unit circle (or the 1D projection thereof, i.e. waves). Didn't expect this knowledge to be this damn useful in a hobby like music production (like in practice), but man, Fourier transforms and wave-dynamics really make a lot of (more technical) music production concepts super intuitive. But I digress

[@havenbastion]

It's not that deep. Certainty is always and only sufficient for a given use case, as proven by the fact that when you're certain enough to accept the fact or take the action there is no further reason to gather more information.

[@Quadr44t]

@@havenbastion That's true. And when you dive deeper anyway, you realise that you never really understood it in the first place. (which never ends, you can always go deeper)

[@CircuitrinosOfficial]

A correction at 3:00 Because the routes are always a complete cycle, it doesn't actually matter which point you start at. The actual equation for the number of possible unique routes is R(N) = (N-1)! The equation you used is overcounting the possible routes by a factor of N. Another way to look at it is you want to count the possible connections between cities and not the cities themselves.

[@cameronreid8383]

Seems like he missed that detail in the whole video. I'm not sure the TSP even applies to JWST, since afaik there's no requirement to return to the start point, and there is a designated start point

[@CircuitrinosOfficial]

@@cameronreid8383 Yeah, it technically isn't the traveling salesman problem, it's the Hamiltonian Path. In that case it does matter where you start.

[@DemPilafian]

This particular salesperson is young, unmarried, travels light, and has no permanent home.

[@sagoot]

Because it isn't a complete cycle... you don't go back from the last point yo the first

[@CircuitrinosOfficial]

@@sagoot Then it isn't the traveling salesman problem.

[@jayitsthenerdyninja9891]

I really hope you keep this up, your videos are SO AWESOME

[@physicsforthebirds]

I'm glad you liked it! It's fun for me, so there's no reason not to keep it up

[@giladhr3559]

I really like your two newest videos! The way you connect different topics is really cool and interesting! Please keep going

[@physicsforthebirds]

Thanks! I'm having fun with these, so expect more!

[@mihailmilev9909]

Ikr

[@jamesphillips2285]

3:00 Well played. Once was trying to solve a visual challenge where you are supposed to draw a line crossing every line once. I Decided to try simplifying it before throwing a week of CPU time at it. Once I was able to simplify the problem to a pentagon: I was able to prove it was impossible. Due to the odd number of sides any line starting inside will end up outside after crossing each side once. Since the figure I transformed in simplification had 3 pentagons, but the line has 2 ends: no solution is possible.

[@Xoque551]

You might have stumbled on the Planarity Problem! Your graph contains a K_5 complete Graph or a K_{3,3} complete bipartite graph if-and-only-if your graph is not planar. And thus, you can't ever totally eliminate line-crossing (at least not in the Euclidean Plane).

[@codiserville593]

I knew of a visual problem that sounds similar where you had to do I think the same. Cross every line in the shape but only once and see if it was possible or impossible

[@jamesphillips2285]

@@codiserville593 I think the "gag" is that it is impossible, but that there are so many possibilities that it can keep you occupied for years. I think I proved it impossible after 2 years.

[@codiserville593]

@@jamesphillips2285 yeah sounds like it. See when it was my friend who showed me the problem he told me. " In high school our teacher showed it to us. He never explained if it was possible or not"

[@jamesphillips2285]

@@codiserville593 The version I was talking about was 3 horizontal lines with the top divided into 2 boxes and the bottom into 3 boxes. My initial simplification was proving that I could cut the corners off of the 3 box row. I then realized I could distort the remaining shape into 3 conjoined pentagons.

[@johncosico5266]

your chanel is criminally underrated. Hope you keep this up!! Really entertaining vids so far hihi

[@physicsforthebirds]

Thanks! I plan on keeping it up!

[@blkzyhkishg8453]

Just wanted to say that you shouldn’t stop making videos! You have a great writing style and you break down hard concepts so well.

[@dariomendoza9136]

These videos level up the education we get from the internet. Sometimes I feel educational videos get stuck on appealing to general audiences.

[@aaronmcdaniel7768]

I'm a machine learning researcher by trade who specializes in multi-objective optimizations. This was a great explanation and so enjoyable to watch, thanks for the content! I'm subscribed now

[@donatoclemente4421]

You are one of my top science education youtubers now that I've gone through your channel. Absolutely amazing stuff.

[@bradarmstrong3952]

Great videos on your channel. Explaining a topic clearly and completely, without dumbing it down, is a real skill. Doing it in a way that turns out to be interesting, educational, and understanding is rare indeed. Keep up the great work!

[@dittilio]

I'd love to see you do a video on P=NP. You have a fantastic way of going surprisingly in depth with your explanations while keeping it in view of more digestible examples. Your popcorn video being a shining example.

[@chetricker]

I seriously thank you. You are a gift from the gods. I'm on a optimization contest on wind turbines which involve optimizing both vibration damping and power generation and reading related papers i found out the Pareto front and I had no idea of what they were. Thank you so much

[@rohanganapathy8]

Well this is my first time I am watching this channel and what a great video. This is kinda like my liking towards how I would want a video to be presented. Keep the good work man!

[@Etyenneuh]

Insanely easy to understand while subject pretty complicated Thanks and nice work !!!

[@marmight739]

I found your channel an hour ago and now I’ve committed the rest of my day to watching all your videos. These are brilliant.

[@chancejewell8625]

I just finished work on a research project for TSP in communication networks. I would have never thought it would have an application like this… bravo

[@augustday9483]

The quality on this video was excellent and it surprised me to see how small your channel is. I leave this comment in the hope that it boosts your rank in the algorithm and more people find your channel!

[@quinton1630]

Yeah it’s crazy to find such an enjoyable, entertaining and educational science video with so few views. Usually the low view videos are missing one of the trifecta above. This channel is great!

[@MemeStar3900]

You sir, are going to be one of the best KZbinrs of this year. ❤

[@gort1863]

First time seeing a video from this channel and it was very nice. I liked the way you united so many different fields and still kept it cohesive. Very well explained, too.

[@bastiaanvanhoorn6306]

Good lord this is so high quality content. Love it

[@cmsxjc]

Pls make more vids. Made so many connections to so many other topics in my mind. Beaut lad

[@mellowandblue]

super fun that you combine so many fields in one problem. like econ with pareto, optimization with minima, physics with the gears' momentum... i had a good time thank u

[@DanielaAngulo]

Great video. It made me feel better and in peace before I went to sleep. Math and physics are just gorgeous.

[@HeatherHolt]

Thank you. Usually KZbin videos make me dumb dumb, but this one… me feel more smart smart. Fr tho thanks man 👍

[@esnevip]

Explanation 10/10 Graphics 10/10 Pronunciation 7/10 Subscribed 1/1

[@kasuha]

In fact, even nature does not "know" the solutions. It's getting stuck in local minima all the time. For example, most stable configuration of elementary particles is Iron or Nickel, yet most of the visible matter in the universe is in the form of Hydrogen, local minimum that is pretty far from the global minimum. Our whole existence is thanks to that "geetting stuck in local minima" principle, not just atoms of our bodies but the whole chemistry, biology, and evolution.

[@duoquendo]

i like how you end every video with a lesson, this channel is worth my time

[@sweetegg]

I love your tone and flow you have in this video. Please keep that up, it's a rare thing to come across.

[@l.mcmanus3983]

One more place this problem shows up: cross stitch! I only just started working on my first project last month, but quickly got frustrated with wasted thread and how messy the back of the work got if I only followed the simple instruction provided with the kit. So I started trying to find better ways to place my stitches while still creating the same look on the front. Was only after I saw this video pop up in my feed that I realized this was the same type of problem.

[@shmackydoo]

Amazing video. Love the "42" easter egg at the end, and that computer/universe graphic is such a great way to visualize data

[@vitey2441]

Your videos are the best I've ever seen, it's insane how you get everyday situations, show how they are actually, extremely complex, and then proceed to explain all of it in a perfectly understandable way. Thank you. Keep up the good work man

[@marcovillalobos5177]

Your channel is awesome bro

[@CurlBro15]

Beautiful video! 😎 I recently read the book “Physics from Finance” and I can feel the same type of amazingly simple explanation of complex ideas from your videos. 😎 I am sure many people (myself included) would love to see a video with topics on QFT!

[@physicsforthebirds]

QFT, huh... that might be fun

[@mihailmilev9909]

Oh I think that could be really good

[@mihailmilev9909]

@@physicsforthebirds what do u know about it?

[@physicsforthebirds]

@@mihailmilev9909 I've studied it casually before, but I'd definitely need to do my research to make a video about it.

[@Yee-Haw_Bird]

This was really well done. Fantastic lecture/essay type content that strikes a great balance of being easy to understand while not being patronizing.

[@David-xq3bg]

Really love these videos, all the little quips, animations, etc. The personality that comes thru is wonderful. Best of luck and hope to see more :)

[@minieyke]

I really like how you show the applications of higher level math concepts that I’ve only understood from an abstract perspective

[@alexanderkruszewski7306]

Once again, incredible work!

[@ivyannanet]

I share your vids almost every time I watch one. Thank you for the work you do!

[@sayidachmadmunthahar2983]

I like how you order the topics. It flows in sync with my thoughts while watching.

[@BreadSauce4]

There’s also a fungi that spreads between locations in the fastest possible route, and engineers in Japan are using it to find routes for bullet trains.

[@Andre-kb2vj]

Really appreciated the nod to the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy at 10:32 😌

[@blakelowe8468]

Loved the piece on multi objective optimization and your explanation of attitude control for jwst was spot on :)

[@fetch300]

Just found out about this channel, you've changed my perception of my own field of study through these casually distinguished videos. Liked and subscribed.

[@Superscout8]

good job! can't wait for more.

[@spud7234]

amogus

[@radekt.7843]

I don't know why KZbin algorithm recommended this to me, but... This video is awesome

[@hammadsafeer4283]

Man! Discovered another gold channel... Loved the content, you literally summarised some of my AI classes lecture under a 10mints.

[@emj-music]

Oh my goodness I love your channel. Thanks for the wonderful content!!!

[@aterxter3437]

UNBELIEVABLE, I wouldn't have though that the TSP would be explained so simply. I already had an introduction to the graphs theory and the issue of finding the shortest path from one point to another in my IT classes, but damn, it is so well presented; A HUDGE THANKS

[@davidshi451]

I'm blown away! This is the first video of your I've watched, and I'm amazed by the all the ideas you packed it. Well done!

[@kali_muon]

I have to say, your videos are REALLY damn good. The voice, the explanations, the animation, the topics... amazing combination. I already have a couple of your videos on my "Favorites" playlist so I can find them easily and show them to people. I love the way you signal the end with the outro music. Speaking of, it's a really pretty track. Something about it makes me tear up, especially when -- like in the shape of space video, or this one -- things get a bit philosophical. Phenomenal job; I'm looking forward to seeing more content from you!

[@The800pa]

cant add much more than the others said already. keep on doing your stuff. its great!

[@wertacus]

Great video. I'd never heard of the paredo front, what a great concept!

[@maxxel_]

thanks youtube for recommending this video, i love your channel

[@harrisonmundschutz2654]

We have an app for this at my work that sometimes fails to find a seemingly obvious improvement to the route. I have great difficulty explaining to my co workers that it isn’t practical to find the best possible route by brute force and that the algorithm has to compromise

[@basedad]

This video was such a good watch. Thanks for the content, keep it up.

[@Micw1417]

I love your visuals, I watched ur first vid and I was hooked!

[@cpicascio626]

shoutout to the pendulum and the Lagrangian equation of motion. Instead of studying for my dynamics final, I am procrastinating by watching your videos :)

[@AmlanjyotiSaikia]

I once spent a semester writing a Genetic Algorithms based solution to solve TSP, only to see my laptop melt when trying to solve more than 50 cities at a time and crawling to a halt. Factorials are tricky little imps.

[@benwinstanleymusic]

Amazing video. This is really interesting stuff and you make it so digestible. You've got a brilliant way of explaining things. Please keep the videos up!

[@emilsitell5484]

Super interesting video! Even after having seen countless videos on TSP I still learned something new.

[@prep3628]

Waouhh such a good job !! It’s been a long time since I have discovered such an interesting channel !!

[@johnnicholson8811]

Love the play on 42.

[@mrjourneyman]

This is one of the very best videos on KZbin. 👏

[@gustavosaid6549]

I took a 1 semester subject in college about this exact topic (which involved n-hard problems more broadly) and you did a fantastic job of explaining it. Well done

[@Spyblox007]

7:26 I think this might be slightly incorrect. The sail has a small piece near the bottom that can be angled to actually counteract the solar sail effect. Thrusters are still needed though. The L2 point where the telescope is stationed is unstable, and objects will fall out of place eventually, either towards the sun or away from it. The telescope only has thrusters on the sun side, and it would damage it to rotate facing the sun, so if it were to leave the L2 point in a direction away from the sun that would be the end of the mission. They must keep it slightly short of the L2 point so it will always fall back towards the sun, and then reset it's position when it does by firing the thrusters slightly.

[@LegendBegins]

And this is exactly why complexity theory is valuable. Great video!

[@This-Was-Sparta]

Oh man that was great. This channel is criminally underrated, imo. Leaves me with the same mind blown feeling Vsauce's older content did.

[@juliocardenas4485]

This was extraordinary 👏👨🏽‍💻

[@emilsinclair4190]

Your videos are extremly well made and very interesting. However I consider this video to be your best

[@IronFairy]

I've decided this video is definitely worth my time

[@aayushgautam4919]

We loved the video- continue the good work!

[@devinda_me]

very nice video ! great distilation of the concept and an even summarization - loved the line >> Computers are our way of tricking the universe to give us the answers ...

[@santircastillo]

This was brilliantly explained. Thank you

[@_invencible_]

Awesome video! I loved the reflection at the end about computers being how the universe answers questions about itself. Reminds me of Carl Sagan's quote "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself"

[@tannerbuschman1]

subscribed mid video, very rare for me. Keep up the good work!

[@ivarsandin7275]

Underrated channel

[@Thergh]

Incredible video, thank you for letting me start the day with something interesting to think about!

[@vintyprod]

What a joy this was to watch. Beautiful work. Thank you

[@user-ye9ff7gr4b]

Interesting concept, dynamicly explained good content.

[@sjswitzer1]

Another variable for optimization is which instrument is cued up for observation. It takes time and energy and wear-and-tear and possibly calibration to change the selected instrument.

[@emmeXXtreme]

Awesome video! And also they have different time windows for every observation due to the necessity of always facing away from the sun on top of different priorities of the observations

[@jairo8746]

It only took one video to subscribe. Great stuff.

[@didierseverac]

This video was definitely worth my time !

[@illinialumni]

Such a great explanation! Personally I use annealing geometry models for passing out cookies, but to each their own.

[@exitmult]

This channel is great. Please keep making these excellent videos.

[@johnped37]

The fact that you have 50k subs blows me mind. This channel is going to grow substantially in the future. You do an excellent job of explaining complex topics in simple terms. Thanks for the high quality content and keep up the great work.

[@exploding_pineapples]

How do you, at the end of a video about the traveling salesman problem, casually drop a beautiful and accurate observation about it all!?

[@dr.jacksonbright5723]

"but that can't be right, humans don't overheat and cease to function every time we have to pass out snacks" I already love this channel

[@st.altair4936]

I like how the japanese translation for "What's up?" on the phone at 9:55 literally says "What is upwards?" while you say tech can't solve everything, supporting that argument. Funny coincidence.

[@beybladeguru101]

10:01 Lol, I love the literal word for word translation of “What’s up?”

[@tabrakan]

the whole ending scene is one of the most awesome things on youtubd

[@iridescentsquids]

Yes! Thanks great video. Entertaining and thoughtful

[@KataisTrash]

"Your friends wouldn't have the patience for that" made me chuckle :)

[@KalebPeters99]

This was so beautifully presented, Bravo 👏👏

[@josipgrgic2409]

I wonder if the solar push could be/is calulated in the computation of the shortest path. For example, if the push is directing you in a path that roughly takes you to some spots you need to be at with no power spent

[@Leyfindrake]

New favourite channel

[@onemorechris]

invariably there was someone at NASA who had to try and explain this to that politician looking down the wrong end of the telescope 😬. i want to meet that person!

[@dude2648]

Loved the hitchhikers guide Easter egg

[@edwarddeng7710]

these vids are so good wtf