What Would Happen If You Went In a Mirror?

[@TheActionLab]

Lol, I said Star Wars...where are my fact-checkers?!

[@nerdscurvy1092]

Sorry I was late.

[@GrimmHades]

Spock was always my favorite Star Wars character

[@joe_croupier]

Dude said Star Wars 😂😂😂😂

[@akshithmanjunath8557]

I don't think I ever saw a mirror in Star-wars Saga. Like for real. Not even in a single clip.

[@vhawk1951kl]

Busy lying to some other idler

[@mandelbraught2728]

My suspicion that as a science educator, James recognized an emergency lol. Plus he squeezed in some chirality as a bonus! As always, I'm grateful for the Action Lab putting out the good info.

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

Pretty short comment considering you could go on forever.

[@DragonOfTheMortalKombat]

We are evolving backwards.......................................... Thanks Social Media.

[@darklordflash2117]

what is happening to people ?

[@Moct3zoom]

I used to think he cringed too much to some basic science facts when explained and personally found that a bit disturbing, now I understand the meaning of his constant cringing to basic science facts...

[@jluck1590]

@@DragonOfTheMortalKombat No, it's the liberal Marxism that is designed by KGB agents to infiltrate a country and destroy it from within. Morals, Education, Family Values, etc etc is destroyed to overthrow the country. Social media is just one tool being used.

[@amateur-madman3047]

The worst part is the way people describe it as the mirror “knowing” something

[@melody3741]

Science educators make frequent and casual use of anthropomorphization because thats how humans fucking think. God dude I know for a fact yall would not have been so brutal if it were a man.

[@lubomirkubasdQw4w9WgXcQ]

yes the people that said that have no idea how reflection works

[@izuix5629]

Optical computing is a thing

[@pixobit5882]

​@@lubomirkubasdQw4w9WgXcQyup

[@TheBowersj]

@@lubomirkubasdQw4w9WgXcQ how do you reflect something that can't be seen?

[@minacapella8319]

I love that this goes from "let's show you how the mirror can see this thing" into "if you ever end up in a mirror universe YOU WILL DIE" so casually

[@6fingers_gaming]

😂

[@lyghtkruz]

Yeah, it got dark fast 😅

[@russellzauner]

my molecules inverted when I went in so I just match the reflections of the food

[@kevinknight777]

I literally live in this world and have slowly started documenting jt.

[@AllAmericanGuyExpert]

Death pivot. Follow the science!

[@Natural_Power]

He's so friendly, kindly answering such a dumb question Edit: My God people are still adding replies to this comment after 2 months, mainly along tbe lines of "this comment is the dumb thing" Please realise it's the top comment on a science video

[@salpertia]

Humanity is doomed

[@MarkAhlquist]

It's only dumb to people who already get it. I remember being young and playing with mirrors, and being mystified. I love that kids have these videos now!

[@vit.budina]

@@MarkAhlquist I think I'd be totally fine with that if the people oblivious to this simple fact were children, but seeing that they are grown adults, you can't blame the person above calling them dumb. It's nice that they are curious, but when you post something like this on the internet, you have to expect to be called dumb by some people. Also, the people in the video acted like it was some kind of magic or something, while an average person their age would at least try to think about why things are that way.

[@MarkAhlquist]

@BlackboardIdeas You're not wrong. ( I'm older, they look like kids to me.) I'm all for cutting u.s. defense budget and spending it on education instead, but u.s. is run by a handful of sociopathic billionaires so, oh well.

[@Valcuda]

@@vit.budina Yeah, the fact it was adults asking it, just makes it go from "Child mystified by mirror" to "Grown adult doesn't understand mirrors"

[@soot.mp3]

I will NEVER understand how Action Lab can start a video with a simple question that I already know the answer to, and end up unlocking a new part of my brain with something I never even contemplated existing. I'm so glad I subscribed to this channel.

[@shrimpbisque]

The book _The Boy Who Reversed Himself_ by William Sleator also explores chirality for part of the story. In the book, the main character makes friends with a boy at school who can enter the fourth dimension, and during her first visit to the fourth dimension, she gets flipped around and comes back to the third dimension as a mirror image of herself. In her mirror state, she discovers that everything she tries to eat or drink tastes terrible (except for ketchup, oddly enough), because her molecular structure is flipped with respect to that of the food. She's able to flip back before going too hungry, though, and most of the rest of the book is her exploring the fourth dimensional world with the boy. I definitely recommend reading the book, if you can find it. It's written at a middle-school-ish reading level, but does a great job exploring the idea of a fourth (and even higher!) physical dimension.

[@solandri69]

"Technical Error" (aka "The Reversed Man") by Arthur C. Clarke is an earlier story (1950) with a person flipped via the 4th dimension.

[@rippedtorn2310]

sounds great but isnt it strange we all think mirrors flip the image ???? They dont .They only reflect back exactly what we show them .

[@mikael9325]

​@@rippedtorn2310 That's just semantics. You can say that it does and it doesn't.

[@wecirclethesky]

Ah! Ana and kata, the other two directions! I used to love William Sleator's books!

[@monad_tcp]

I would be worried about being flipped inside out, which is a valid rotation in the 4th dimension

[@ChadKapper]

You always do a fantastic job of explaining things! Instead of just shaking your head, and thinking people are idiots, you take the time to explain things in a very digestible way. Thank you!!

[@carlkenner4581]

But he did subtly call them fat, and say they needed Factor. lol

[@inxomnyaa]

whilst this is true, i am pretty sure most people still didn't get it

[@dynaspinner64]

​@@carlkenner4581 i skipped the sponsor segment but went to watch it after reading this.

[@ExtraSpinach]

Butt can our mirrored selves digest thisinformation🤔🤔

[@cd23]

Can't explain why gum is $6

[@cowgba]

Phrasing it as "how does the mirror know what's on the other side of the paper" really drives home the absurdity of this whole thing. 😅

[@DeathnoteBB]

Everyone is so camera-brained now. They forget mirrors *aren’t* the same thing as your front camera

[@MindFlowBYT]

At the same time, I absolutely adore how simply and calmly you explained this, and I cannot belive such a trivial question makes so many people confused...

[@Bro-vs5mk]

I thought this whole thing was an April fools thing but no people actually didn’t pay attention in school or even research things on their own time

[@Sokofeather]

Thank goodness. My forehead crunched up painfully when I realized what was boggling those poor ladies.

[@BombaJead]

​​@@Bro-vs5mk My guess is that most are faking it for views, or at least l hope so.

[@CHRodz]

A view into the current state of intelligence and education sadly...

[@wifegrant]

@@CHRodz I believe light and refraction was covered in 6-7th grade. However, with no education this should be pretty simple. What they teaching them kids in the US? Spend 3-4 times more than the European average on education...and people freaked out by mirrors.

[@victoriajeanleslie3116]

I love how you extended this to a discussion of chirality, very cool

[@westonding8953]

It’s genius!

[@arifbagusprakoso2308]

Yup, that's unexpected.

[@COL3A1]

Some D-amino acids are toxic or trigger an immune response or anaphylactic shock because they are present in bacteria.

[@zakirreshi6737]

That time our body will be so that it will accept those mirror images biomolecules only.

[@_just_looking_thank_you]

And to introduce me to my newest phobia. 🤦‍♂️

[@tkinker]

0:13 creepy would be if the thing didnt appear. if that happened then im sorry little house you will meet my friend fire

[@darknight991]

Interestingly, some chiral compounds are used as sweeteners because while they can taste equally as sweet, they don’t have any calorific value (to our bodies) or significantly less (due to enzymes still working at certain bonds) for the same reasons you described with amino acids.

[@russellzauner]

and that's why they mess with our bodies regulatory systems and subsequently can trigger unusual reactions that seem out of the blue - it's just our systems being confused and regulating incorrectly. Wow, that really sounds like type 2 diabetes and they weren't even eating sugar.

[@RCassinello]

Additional note to point out that chirality is how some artificial sweeteners work. The tongue can still sense a distorted version of sweetness from the tail end of the "reverse" sugar molecule, but the whole molecule itself can't be digested, and passes through the intestines like fibre. Which is why sweeteners can also cause diarrhoea. In fact, in the mirror universe, all food would do this to you - so you would in effect end up dying of the shits. :)

[@bsadewitz]

Of course it can be digested. It will be broken down to its constituent amino acids eventually. (In the case of aspartame).

[@bsadewitz]

In the case of those that are digested, I don't think chirality is the issue. Xylitol isn't even chiral, IS metabolized, and can cause the same sort of GI distress.

[@litetaker]

The mirror image version of our cells should be able to process mirror image version of the proteins no? The receptors etc in the cells are all mirror imaged and should be able to connect with the mirror image version of the proteins and other food molecules... So the mirror image version of you will survive. But the real you will die of the shits.

[@casadelosperrosstudio200]

​@bsadewitz I remember using DL Phenylalanine supplements back in the 80’s.... two versions in one pill. Perhaps at least some of the mirror world molecules would behave similarly, having slightly different effects than our food if digestible at all.

[@bsadewitz]

@@casadelosperrosstudio200mirror world would be the same because e everything is mirrored (?)

[@aryasaktiflister_aw]

I did not expect a biochemistry ending to an optical physics video. Great content

[@xavier9739]

good one😂

[@mike1024.]

I watched the intro clip at least three times with the question "How does what know what's there?" I didn't see anything out of the ordinary at all lol. It's amazing the "quality" content that can go viral when there's kids making it and kids watching it.

[@bigsmall246]

I mean, it shows the level of intelligence of those kids, and also the state of science education in the US.

[@Nulley0]

I was like, yo just imagine the light rays, they are simple with mirrors that are flat too

[@g0nzal0id]

@@bigsmall246 they believe the mirror is sentient or what?? wouldnt it be terrifying if the object didnt show behind the paper sheet?

[@glarynth]

Yeah I need a little nap after that

[@livebungusreaction]

Same I was wondering if it showed the back of the gum I couldn’t see what was wrong lmao

[@treyramirez9932]

I appreciate that he knew how simple the answer was but made it seem More complex.

[@frenchjamdawg]

this answer needs to be more complex

[@_S.H_]

I agree, the answer could have been presented in a different and simpler way.

[@lenaotaku5905]

Yes. Our eyes see what the light bounces on and that case the mirror. We see in 3D so leaning forward we see the rest of the space in that case the reflection.

[@MindlessTube]

​@@frenchjamdawgnot really If u can't explain something in a way a 6 year old would understand then U really don't fully understand it your self.

[@BarkerVancity]

the fact you need this explained at all is embarrasing @@MindlessTube

[@sprshb1852]

The fact people don’t know that eggs are big enough to reflect light at a shallow angle across the mirror making it visible at those angles astounds me. Like if you put a sticker, sure the mirror doesn’t show it because the light reflected off of it doesn’t hit the mirror no matter which way you look at it. An egg (or any other decently big object) if you imagine light shining off of it as a bunch of lines, does contact the mirror at certain angles allowing you to see them AT those angles. This is why smaller objects require a shallower angle, because they reflect off the mirror at only those position.

[@shellia1929]

This is an answer. Not some 3D camera non-explanation.

[@cherryfruit5492]

It can help to realize that the reflection of the gum is not coming from "behind" the paper. The mirror is flat, and the reflection is coming from the flat surface closest to you. It looks impossible if you forget that the mirror has no depth, it is flat.

[@Supremax67]

I only came here for the lulz. But your explanation works too

[@alainmarroquin5742]

this is the actual reason why people is confused, and this is the answer they need, thanks.

[@alanbarnett718]

I've just been re-reading Alice Through The Looking Glass. Lewis Carroll was obviously aware of just what you were telling us in the first part of this video, that the parts of the Looking Glass world that you can't see from this side are *undetermined*; but instead of filling them with blank white space he populated them with extraordinary characters and impossible events. Don't think he knew about chirality, though...

[@Whocares1987]

Deleuze has an entire book on the work of Lewis Carroll called The Logic of Sense….probably the deepest most complex writing ever composed regarding concepts within the Carroll universe. Extremely difficult text but worth the effort if you enjoy challenging works of philosophy

[@OfentseMwaseFilms]

I’m upset that these Tik tokers made you make this video!

[@ashtronut676]

i love how you take small minded questions seriously and put them into perspective (no pun intended) and then even manage to connect it to interesting facts of nature! you're a real scientist ❤

[@thedislikebutton1907]

and make money...

[@ashtronut676]

@@thedislikebutton1907 we all need to, don't we?

[@gangstaboy9387]

​@@thedislikebutton1907yeah he should do this for free just for people like you. That's the only way how he can prove to the world what a good person he is

[@jcmurr2669]

The fact that she wanted to know and then asked the question literally makes her smarter than anyone who thinks its a small minded question. In fact exponentially smarter. Why is it a small minded question? Answer that question and it will back up what I said.

[@ashtronut676]

@@jcmurr2669 i disagree. if you understand how a mirror works you can easily see how that question doesn't make any sense... it just shows she's never really thought about it.

[@Znatnhos]

I'm just impressed you explained this without any condescension at all.

[@holywatergum6890]

Totally

[@Max_Jacoby]

Ikr, I would facepalm at least

[@o0o-jd-o0o95]

I personally think the condescension is a much needed thing. It's like telling a fat person that they're not fat and they're perfectly fine when in fact it looks like they're gonna have a heart attack every time they try to move. Sometimes feelings need to be hurt if in fact you care about these people

[@chrisleggatt3240]

​@o0O-JD-O0o There are many people reading this that wish to respond, but they don't care enough about you to do so.

[@drob128]

@@o0o-jd-o0o95 There are better ways to convey those ideas than condescension. This video is a good demonstration.

[@NahM8]

I swear the people acting as though they’re the shining beacon of intelligence couldn’t even explain why this happens beyond just saying it’s a mirror. Take any random person from any country and show them the reflection of the mints placed directly on the mirror. Afterwords, slide a paper beneath the mints and have them explain why they still see the mints. Adding in the paper would likely confuse a lot of people that never thought much into reflections.

[@ckpioo]

i don't understand whom you're trying to criticize, the girls or action lab?

[@TheBowersj]

I really don't think anyone here understands reflections, they say its the reason but its not the reason, because the paper blocks the viewpoint of the mirror from reflecting anything.

[@BuffaloBilliam]

I'm not sure if I should be thankful this is out there, or sad that it needs to be.

[@jcmurr2669]

Well if you think its sad that it needs to be that would be a bad thing. Any person who feeds a hunger for knowledge they dont have is ALWAYS a good thing. The fact that what any of us know is always much less than what we dont know. There is so so so much more that people know then there is things that we do know. So thinking someone is dumb for asking a question is dumb. Smarter people do not overestimate how smart they are. That is something that dumb people do. You had a good comment and I think you know the answer to it. Peace!

[@huzzzer6083]

​@@jcmurr2669 Well said

[@sweetreamer5101]

@@jcmurr2669 Nah, there are in fact stupid questions. Someone who can't understand this mirror example innately is never going to use their knowledge to create anything of value (unless they're like, 5 years old). Personally, I think adults like this should be put on boats and left to drift into the ocean; or airdropped into Australia.

[@russellzauner]

I'm sad that people are feeling pretty smug when sometimes what's behind the paper isn't what you think (it's just what you see). If nobody questions what they see, then nothing new is discovered, and if you have been told what a thing is by someone else then your cognitive bias is unavoidable when coming up with "your own" result. We can look, but we still just assume. We can look behind the paper, without moving. Maybe there is something we didn't expect there. Ghost imaging (also called "coincidence imaging", "two-photon imaging" or "correlated-photon imaging") is a technique that produces an image of an object by combining information from two light detectors: a conventional, multi-pixel detector that doesn't view the object, and a single-pixel (bucket) detector that does view the object.[1] Two techniques have been demonstrated. A quantum method uses a source of pairs of entangled photons, each pair shared between the two detectors, while a classical method uses a pair of correlated coherent beams without exploiting entanglement. Both approaches may be understood within the framework of a single theory.[2]

[@otallono]

@@jcmurr2669 they're making viral videos trying to make people question something that they most likely understood otherwise. People are being fooled in to thinking a mirror is not just a flat plane reflecting light but some kind of 3 dimensional space, that is why it's sad. If you first thought that the reflection was BEHIND the object rather than next to it, that's extremely sad and an indication of a drastic dumbing down of society. You've got to admit, when everyone's face is glued to their smart phones all day, they'll probably lose touch with reality. We didn't have that problem so much a decade ago. If these were children, then you'd have a point and I'd agree.

[@TheJOVVA]

I instantly and perfectly understood mirrors from the moment I shot the Duke Nukem 3D Freezethrower from around the corner in the mirror to freeze the monster on top of the toilets.

[@AnthonyBeGymin]

Love that you work for Vandelay Industries and still have the time to research such important topics.

[@thebsmith820]

yass someone else gets the reference lol

[@chriswilson1853]

My grandmother had a very large mirror on the wall in her living room. As a child I used to spend quite a bit of time staring into it looking at the doorway behind me, the backwards stairs and the front door. I used to imagine going up those stairs beyond what I could see, and wondering if it would be different to the real world. Somehow, there was something slightly surreal about that identical but backwards world. My guess is that it's to do with the way the brain processes that scene which is so familiar yet so different. It's obvious to me that this is what influenced Lewis Carroll to write Through the Looking Glass.

[@organist1982]

I had similar thoughts as a child! Of course, you could just take a hand mirror up those stairs and into the other rooms to see what they would look like in a mirror image (or cell phones in selfie mirror mode).

[@mx.yellow]

one time, my sister changed apartments on the same building and she got a room on the other side of the building and when I went to visit her my brain was a little confused as to why this felt so familiar yet so foreign to me lol it took a while to process it was just the same place but everything was flipped

[@larryroyovitz7829]

Liminal spaces.

[@OneEyedJacker]

All the physics in that reflected world are not the same as the original world.

[@Mahlak_Mriuani_Anatman]

​@@OneEyedJacker damn, so I could be op there?

[@AnkerPeet]

I think one reason this was so confusing to these kids is because they are used to seeing a similar effect on their phone’s screen using the selfie camera. The main difference is your phone generates that image from a single frame of reference, but a mirror essentially has infinite frames of reference.

[@chrism3784]

yes. growing up in the age before camera phones, I can easily see how you can see the pack of gum where they were standing.

[@arunprasad1022]

No, Action Lab you are wrong. The gum is specifically programmed to be visible in the mirror even if there is a paper blocking it. Though, I guess it might just be a bug in the simulation.

[@robotdookie]

Definitely my favorite Star Wars Novel. 😂 Seriously though, love this channel

[@themysteriousunknownrevealed]

😂😂😂 star trek wars!

[@austinmoore245]

This is the same reason why your reflection in a spoon is upside down. If you look at the tip of the spoon, the angle that it's reflecting the light is towards your chin, and the bottom of the spoon is pointed towards your forehead. Repeat that over the entire surface of the inside of the spoon and you get your upside down image. Which also happens to be reflected opposite to a regular mirror from right to left. You can test this by touching one of your cheeks and see your reflection touch the opposite cheek.

[@russellzauner]

What's in the mirror if there is no visible light?

[@austinmoore245]

@@russellzauner I don't know for sure, but the fact that you can see heat signatures with a thermal camera in a mirror would mean that the mirror reflects infrared light as well as light in the visible spectrum.

[@Kelly_Jane]

@@austinmoore245 And here I would have imagined the mirror universe would be cold. Visible-spectrum Bias at its finest.

[@karma4U2]

There is no spoon. It is not the spoon that bends light, it is only yourself.

[@UPGRADEDTITANCAMERAMAN662]

All i know is that: a mirror can reflect us because the light gets you know, reflected, at us, and if the light goes back at us, then we are visible in the mirror, the thing about the more you get closer to the mirror the more darker it gets, this is because less light is reflected by the mirror, thus, making it darker, in water somehow, the light gets reflected back at us too, so when the water is clean, it gets reflected, but, if the water is dirty, the dirt and particles in the water makes light hard to reflect thus making it nearly impossible or literally just impossible to see ourselves, the water also turns green because mostly the color green is presented in the dirtiness of the water( i actually dont know if its because the dirt particles are color green and are reflected to the water thus making it color green or other stuff). But again the water also reflects our image by light that it reflects, but, some of the light passes through the water causing some aurorae looking things in the water, its mostly visible in more soft or flat surface and in rough surface, its mostly not visible, another thing is that bubbles in the water are shown as shadows but they are not full, as only its sides are fully shadow-like but the the whole bubble is made up of air and gas that are mostly not visible so they remain as hollow or not shadow-like. Back to the mirrors, mirrors can create a loop if another mirror is put in front of another mirror, thus creating a loop of mirrors as the mirrors reflect light to each other, ive tried this before and have proven its infinite, though, its probably not true as infinite goes through alot of numbers, so we cant really see if there is an end, either if the end is dark due to lack of light of the end is bright due to lot of mirror reflectance causing a bright end that could possibly be true but false too, or beyond infinite, meaning we wont have an end, thus creating numbers we never thought about, or hollowness, as to mirrors reflecting things, reflecting itself will result to hollowness, as the inside of the reflecting mirrors are what they reflect, so if they reflect themselves, then they'll be hollow, no end, with no start too, as the start is the end, and if you do manage to get to the end youll be at the start again, which makes no sense, but it will if someone figures out how to see whats inside the mirror, these are probably not true yet not false too, as they are not proven yet, ill keep up the research for things that might answer these possible endings to infinite reflections. But needless to say, a mirror is something that reflects whats infront of them by using light to reflect the image, mirrors can also create loops, although, some mirror refract but finding one is hard and also creating one. Thats all i know, if you read this far, thank you. I put efforts to this, but, consider correcting me if im wrong. Also im starting to lag. Sorry if you did not understand this, im sometimes bad at typing,so sorry for that.😅😅

[@Chaddilaculus]

Great video as always! It is a little disheartening how the educational system has failed so badly. I’m pretty sure this information (minus the chemistry bit) was taught in science 101. So unfortunate that the schools are failing kids upwards (letting them into the next grade without meeting the required criteria) as a result of parents getting personally offended when they’re told that their kid failed to learn the material. It’s a good thing channels like Veritasium are around to pick up where schools come up short!

[@probablysomeguy4806]

Some schools are no longer teaching evolution in their classrooms so I’m sure this will get worse.

[@PADARM]

Didn't you hear the news? now the new trend is not the flat earth but the mirrors are fake and UN and NASA are behind them

[@Havron]

Sadly, all according to plan by those political entities who stand to profit from a voting base unable to think for themselves.

[@CommanderNissan]

I don’t remember this from elementary science, but you do learn it in high school physics. Elementary science is much more basic fundamentals like the water cycle.

[@ThatsMySkill]

@@CommanderNissan i mean i learned in elementary that on a shiny surface, the angle of incidence is the same as the angle of reflection. thats all i needed to know and my brain just did the rest. i find it mind boggling that people actually dont understand how a mirror works.

[@AlteredStateGaming]

I've been fascinated with mirrors and how they work ever since I was little and had a hand mirror sitting on the floor. I wondered how I was able to see things reflected at such strange angles. I always appreciate your videos and explanations!

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

You sound like the kind of kid who would hang upside down over the side of the sofa and imagine walking on the ceiling the way I did.... or looking at a painting and wondering was around the bend in a river (for example) in a landscape painting my mom used to hang over the same sofa and I'd gaze at it for minutes on end inventing various places the bend in the river might go to, most of them being something like Oz. I could even imagine the sound of the leaves crunching and the smell of the muddy riverbank.

[@arifbagusprakoso2308]

You love mirrors? then I would recommend his video about "why mirror only reflect writing horizontally?". (Kinda forgot wether this video is actually ActionLab's, Veritasium's, or Steve Mould's)

[@AurelienCarnoy]

❤ love ya

[@maxttk97]

Didn't you go to school?

[@AlteredStateGaming]

@@paulaharrisbaca4851 I feel so called out right now with that walking on the ceiling comment. 😂 But absolutely was I that kind of kid.

[@dr.chungusphd108]

That video is truly one for the “ museum of why humanity failed” exhibits when ever society rebuilds.

[@winterburden]

Spock is my favourite Star Wars character- so fascinatingly logical! 🤩

[@samhodge7460]

Back then, it was pretty progressive for a TV character to be half-Vulcan and half-Jedi

[@onurshenol]

3:44 just imagine how we would be shocked and thrilled if we saw the drawers on the other side

[@darkblade51224]

I immediately knew the answer to this it's perspective of the mirror reflects your own vision meaning it reflects in the way that you're looking at it which is why the reflection of the gum is not visible until you move the way you're viewing to the side allowing it to reflect it. It's simple perspective

[@TheBowersj]

what? thats complete nonsense of an answer

[@aviccilostboy1755]

i had a similar MIRROR situation in this all marble bathroom. the light in the room would be reflected by all the slabs of marble except where the grout was so in effect i had DARK shadows being reflected , it was kinda eerie they looked like shadows but were actually less light being reflected by the dull grout.

[@Consistentguy_10]

I love the way you said "never go into the mirror." It had a lot of humour in it.👌🏻

[@stanleybochenek1862]

Matrix

[@12saltstar]

I was just trying to find this comment

[@maxttk97]

Yeah he just can't hold it in😂

[@ninjaslash52_98]

The only exposure I have to this question is denji and power freaking out over it. I thought it was a dumb joke cause we were all taught in highschool how a mirror works…

[@bugoobiga]

0:35 the tiktok videos are just low key flexing of their $6 gum

[@GregArmWrestling]

Lol

[@Fipsh]

Honestly, the fact you had to answer this question really says something about people's education.

[@rachelhutchinson5464]

yes! theres a huge difference in education quality in the US. It could also be that the students didnt fully understand or didnt have too much care for this small sect of science and it didnt get committed to memory. We are all so different and beautiful, and I love seeing people learn and grow in these things!

[@Fipsh]

@@rachelhutchinson5464 🤨

[@sheshasaibabagujjari3481]

@@rachelhutchinson5464 are you serious? Are you justifying the dumbness of these people? I am pretty sure a beluga whale with no degree can understand how this works. It's common sense not even science. Mirrors are so simple. If you can look at something through mirror, that means light is falling on it and reflecting. Simple as that. And without even knowing anything I love how everyone assumes they are from US 😂

[@jaisuriyar5259]

Imagine seeing everything instantly vanish behind the paper including your hands.

[@TheBowersj]

thats what supposed to happen

[@tusharyoungster7732]

If every school has a science teacher like you.....there would be more scientists in world

[@inside_us936]

Dia sudah menjadi guru. Tanpa terbatas institusi sekolah. Hanya membuka KZbin, anda langsung dapat belajar. Meskipun secara kasar.

[@Quantum_mechanica]

@@inside_us936 okay?

[@yuriwolfvt]

I wanted to be a scientist, then I learned it's all paid for and if you find something that doesn't go with the General consensus, you will be shut out.

[@Axlken214]

Whahaha, I imagine my science teacher promoting something every 10 mins in class.

[@gesarts3625]

Thank you for explaining this wayyyy better than I ever could. I've been battling with people who believe the mirrors are portals and other crazy things.

[@taylorkurtz1513]

Well...they could be portals

[@Rebius]

@@taylorkurtz1513 yeah, you just have to run fast enough to get through :D

[@hamhampangpang_customer]

@@Rebius severe cuts, bruises and brain damage: 🍷🗿

[@zach11241]

You didn’t run fast enough

[@gesarts3625]

@@taylorkurtz1513 please stop

[@nightwishgaming08]

Its in your eyes, it doesnt matter whats in front of the mirror, its the relection in our eye how we perceive the scene what we see

[@dg8620]

Beautifully explained with undertanding and humility. Embarrassed to say i shook my head and scoffed at the original video. You sir are a gentleman and help bring the world together. Meanwhile I need to have more patience.

[@elkudos6262]

Exactly the question I entertained around a month ago. I wager mirror oxygen and water would work just fine, but lack of nutrients would cause starvation sooner than prion-like inversion cascades would show their symptoms.

[@ChallengeTheNarrative]

One slice of pizza would not sustain energy a good duration in any case.

[@chrism3784]

unless you ate mirror food which would be reflected and be fine for you to eat

[@skaltaccount]

I've seen a lot of science youtubers explaining this, and I honestly cannot believe it. How is it possible that such a dumb question has to be answered so many times?

[@Two_Ravens]

This is one of the things I wish would get mentioned in SciFi more often. You could find a lush alien world and even if nothing was poisonous you may simply starve to death from not being compatible molecularly. It would make sense.

[@somyongkim8237]

Master Chief stepped upon the lush greenery of the Halo. He was ready to fight the Covenant and win the war. Then he starved and died because the food on the Halo consisted of D-amino acids and not L-amino acids. 👍

[@zer0nix]

The explanation would have been easier with a diagram showing an angle of reflection and how it intersects with a straight line to the object in the mirrored world

[@Jordan-n1m1u]

WHAT IF... we have things backwards; and sight actually leaves our eyes, reflects off the mirror, to the gum? 🤯

[@MunkeeMedia]

So could you breathe with in the mirrored space? If the air molecules are mirrored??

[@SpydersByte]

dont think air molecules (or more specifically the oxygen, nitrogen, ect) are chiral so yes you could still breathe. I could be wrong though, Im not a chemistry expert.

[@SteveOnTheInterweb]

Love how you added the bit about chirality on proteins and used two different technologies to visualize!

[@illomens2766]

People not knowing how a mirror works is incredibly depressing

[@TheBowersj]

how does this work exactly, the mirror is not working correctly

[@LifeSimplifiedvns]

​@@TheBowersjbruh what do you mean the "mirror is not working correctly"

[@Revoltition]

​@@TheBowersj damn I'm speechless if you're actually serious

[@Revoltition]

​@@TheBowersj mirrors only reflect light, it's not about the mirror it's about properties of light

[@vctrsigma]

Wow, the food issue was what I first thought of and yet did not expect you to cover. Mirror universe could be a fun/profitibable trip to the pharmacy. In mirror world you could buy meth over-the-counter since we use its chemical mirror, levomethamphetamine, as a common nasal decongestant.

[@EGRJ]

Okay, but when you'd bring it back, it would turn into regular decongestant.

[@MizunoKetsuban]

@@EGRJ If that's what happens, then the entire issue of being incompatible with mirror-image chemicals is null and void. Because what you're basically suggesting is that going into the mirror at all turns you into a reflection.

[@akaya0166]

The fact that people actually sent the video to The Action Lab asking to explain this is kind of embarrassing imo

[@lagartixabeats]

we are in the TikTok era of philosophers, it's hard to them to come with explanation for mundane life experiences, like how mirrors work

[@_BangDroid_]

@@lagartixabeats China is loving it

[@lagartixabeats]

@@_BangDroid_ hahaha great insight, let's see in 2033 when this generation gets older, what they will achieve, all thx to the algorithm

[@linkbond08]

"Never go into a mirror" I'm glad that glass is keeping me from suddenly falling into the mirror world.

[@warrentan831]

Don't get pulled by mirror monsters

[@DarkDesertMovies]

"Since when does gum cost six dollars?!" is now my favorite Action Lab line cuz man, you spoke for all of us

[@Lampe2020]

If you could enter a mirror's image you wouldn't notice ANYTHING weird, as you yourself would get mirrored as well. This means that looking back makes things look mirrored but you and words you see and proteines you consume would be in the relatively right orientation again. But luckily you can't get into any mirror because there's always the mirrored version of you which presses you back out exactly as hard as you press into the mirror.

[@stephenclark6236]

Stupid mirror-me! Get out of my way!

[@mjmulenga3]

I like the thought that the mirrored version presses you back out of the mirror.

[@Lampe2020]

@@mjmulenga3 That's (I think) also how many animals see that (humans are also animals but they live differently to most other species), just another one of them pressing them back.

[@k_tess]

I don't think that's true. From what I understand just inverting the chirality of every chemical and protein in our body, the chemistry would no longer function correctly.

[@k_tess]

@@chalichaligha3234 you'd think. But from what I understand right handed protein folding can't get near as complex.

[@duprie37]

Whooah that was such an awesome fact about how chirality would affect your body in the mirror world! I was not expecting that! Nice job 👏

[@7585luiz]

Some people did not go to school, but most likely general education fails in most part of the population

[@AerialAge]

you need to go to school to know how mirrors works ? they just need to turn on the brain and go off social media .

[@_BangDroid_]

TikTok is the problem, it's designed to turn westerners into medieval peasants who think basic science is sorcery

[@Valcuda]

@@AerialAge yeah, I was never taught exactly how mirrors worked, yet a bit of experimentation, and I realized "Hang on! A mirror kinda acts as a window to a flipped version of the world!"

[@jelly.212]

As if you are so smart lol

[@whyamiwastingmytimeonthis]

They were likely homeschooled

[@paulbrooks4395]

I understood light better when I learned about path tracing and global illumination. Once we understand that all light hitting the eye or a camera has to have a visible path to it, we can trace back the angles to show where things are going and coming from.

[@Zurpanik]

That was not a dumb question at all! It's wonderful to see a human become fascinated by nature and find it mysterious! It's a feeling I go for all the time. When you go deep enough, every question is silly and brilliant at the same time

[@crabby7668]

Fascinating video. I never knew that lidar could measure behind a mirror. Does this mean that there is potential for lidar images to be incorrect if there is a lot of reflective material in the measured area?

[@thatguy5525]

4:29 I love how he decided to address the original question (which could be answered by a 5th grader), then turns it into an actually interesting video.

[@sapputraa]

What if a mirror is just a portal to another universe but we cant get in because we always hit ourselves?

[@worldnews2660]

Mirror world, parallel reality

[@KyBrancaccio]

If you care to show an exception to this, (one in which you CAN read writing on a paper facing a mirror) Simply use 2 inch thick glass with the reflective coating on the back of the glass. Now you will be able to read some of the text on the page facing the mirror.

[@EqualsThreeable]

yeah but thats the same thing as holdin the piece of paper 2 inches away from a regular mirror

[@Moriandrizzt]

This is a much nicer way of describing this. The Lidar was a nice touch. If someone was inverted (mirrored) like Spock would we even be able to see them?

[@CommanderNissan]

Well, yes. But only the side not facing us.

[@pindebraende]

4:08 I love how he basically said it's easy to understand how a mirror works if you imagine that it does exactly what a mirror does

[@reymangustavo]

The tiktoker is definitely a 5-year old ...brain

[@Plaegu]

Idk how you stayed so calm…. I literally lost it and face Palmed when I saw these videos trending.

[@qwwq4115]

can't believe that this required a video explanation

[@Sigma_Eight]

What do you expect from the tick tock generation, to actually pay attention in third grade science when basic shit like this is taught? You expect too much.

[@kodicogburn935]

The fact that you had to explain how a mirror works and even do it without a condescending tone makes you a better man then me. Haha

[@steps2psychosis]

Of all the possible horrors of a mirror dimension I really didn’t expect starvation but the more you know.

[@obadboy]

Our public schools systems hard at work

[@DanielGrovePhoto]

Omg I love this video! As a photographer the whole "how does the mirror know" thing was a huge face palm. But thanks for showing the light angles with a laser and the mirror universe stuff was interesting!

[@mikecapson1845]

0:03 .. I facepalmed so hard, I passed out. Otherwise I would be 1st comment

[@leakahoshi5049]

That’s good theory, but Imma stick with mirror dimension theory.

[@Tprince26]

5:33 “In the 1970’s STAR WARS novel” Are we doing a little trolling or was this a genuine mistake? Lol

[@theplaguedoctor6271]

As someone from the mirror world i can confirm you are right

[@Switchell2]

Don't you mean left?

[@kauymatty841]

I think the logic of it is simple. But it's not completely intuitive for our brains I reckon

[@Илюминат]

00:08 Я в шоке! Такие люди бывают???

[@BiasOfficialChannel]

Same, some people just aren’t intelligent!

[@Gelca510]

That's really interesting about mirror image food. I never really thought about that. It was really cool to see what it would look like in the mirror side ❤❤❤

[@maxttk97]

Yeah the mirror image food thing was smart.

[@joshuasgameplays9850]

I very much respect your ability to explain how mirrors work to grown adults without any hint of condescension, I certainly wouldn't be able to do so.

[@bradserfass4710]

That last bit about the mirror image proteins made the whole video worth watching, I already understand mirrors but I never knew about the mirror image proteins thank you for always making educational and interesting videos

[@RonnieJamesOsbourne]

Like all of his content, The Action Lab had us so intrigued about the topic, I nearly missed his comedic, yet brilliant shirt! Art Vandelay, of Vandelay Industries. The best latex "importer" and "exporter" in the business! 😂🤣😂

[@abmbosamajakaragmbhco.kgat5215]

It's a little scary that such a great explanation from you is even necessary. You would think that the people in the TikTok video would know how a mirror works. I'll be honest, I'm disappointed in the TikTok generation who are so small-minded. My children could easily explain to me why "the mirror knows what is in front of the paper". This is actually primary school level. But I am still grateful to you for making such a good video to clarify this question. Your clips are top-notch, as always.

[@Metal_Master_YT]

same! I thought it was a no-brainer..

[@juliavixen176]

A vast quantity of people of all ages who live in all times and places don't know how a vast quantity of anything works. My personal experience is that the younger generation of (US) Americans on average know much more about the world than the same age cohort knew about the world in the 1960's or 1980's.

[@chrisleggatt3240]

Does tic tok works on view count? If so, there is a possibility they may be feigning their persona to gain, you know views etc.

[@abmbosamajakaragmbhco.kgat5215]

@@chrisleggatt3240 Yes, probably. The wrong turn was to install TikTok in the first place. I'd never use that app. I highly recommend everyone here to uninstall TikTok.

[@gnordigian]

Maybe I don't get the chirality thing very well, but if you become the mirror image of yourself when you go into the mirror, wouldn't your mirrored body be able to recognize/process the mirrored proteins? Or would things have to be not just mirrored and instead flipped in all directions (since we're 3D) to be able to recognize them?

[@enzo9525]

Chirality happens when you can't overlap an object and its mirror 3D image just by rotating/translating it. Humans can only digest some types of food (many D-oriented sugars for example) as nutrients. My guess is that people would still starve to death since their internal organs would also be flipped in relation to their "mirror version". Internally, they would be different.

[@oriongurtner7293]

I’ll try to explain chirality in a way that can be easily visualized and seen up close if necessary, with nuts and bolts 🔩 Just about every nut and bolt you will find spirals to the right, and the bolts match, this is why “Righty tighty, lefty loosey” is a thing, the thread (spiral part) of bolt fits into the thread of the nut because they both spiral in the same direction, simple enough Now imagine that thread (spiral part) going to the _left_ instead, how would that work? No need to imagine it I’ll tell ya, it flat doesn’t work. The end of the thread of the bolt ‘clicks’ endlessly against the thread of the nut without engaging it, they just don’t fit into each other They _do_ make these left-hand nuts and bolts, but they’re not used commonly, due to not being interchangeable with right-hand threaded parts, which all work just fine One place they are commonly used is in a particular part made to remove bolts that can no longer be removed conventionally, it’s a left-handed drill-like bit that forces a right-hand bolt to loosen by drilling inward and to the left (I’ve used them, it’s definitely a treat to experience the first time) I can’t explain how this translates to proteins, but i think I at least explained the basics of chirality

[@matteopascoli]

@@oriongurtner7293 nice explanation, but I think the OP point was: wouldn’t BOTH the nut and the bolt be flipped, and so still compatible? Also, behind the mirror you would be left-handed (if you aren’t), but you would never know, because your brain will be flipped too and the left hand would appear as the right hand to you!

[@oriongurtner7293]

@@matteopascoli if you were to take a right-hand nut and bolt through the mirror, into the hypothetical mirror world, then no, they’d be opposite to the ones there unless made in their opposite direction, assuming all things are an exact mirror reflection there (which is what’s being assumed already) You can see this by holding a bolt up to a mirror, the threads on the reflection go in the opposite direction of the bolt you’re holding

[@sam_c95]

You understand just fine. You're imagining swapping roles with and being the mirror image version of yourself in which case you'd be correct and you'd be fine in the mirrored world. But the video is imagining the mirror is like a window you can climb through into a mirrored world but without changing yourself, in which case you'd retain the opposite chirality to the mirrored world around you. Obviously your way of imagining accessing this hypothetical world isn't wrong because it's completely fictional anyway haha, you were just misunderstanding how James was imagining it.

[@kylespevak6781]

The lydar or the mirror room is pretty cool. Would make for some cool vfx

[@DanPx8]

So, this escalated from seeing something through a mirror to "if you enter the mirror you're dead!" 😂

[@sushantpvs5195]

man took a gum question to an entire branch of organic chemistry.

[@cgsweat]

It's like instead of paying attention in school, kids these days just live on tiktok...

[@matthumphries6004]

I went into a mirror once.. lmao well the chemicals I was playing with tricked my brain and I got caught in a 'Infinity' mirror.😂 Thank you explaining this and confirming what I've been telling people! Now I don't feel like such a mad man 😅

[@reddaB]

This is nice and interesting. People have been extremely snide about people not understanding this illusion. Meanwhile I'm sure loads of people would actually struggle to explain it.

[@viiking01]

Wouldnt the protein receptors in our bodies be a mirrored image version as well. Rendering the reversed proteins operable to the reversed receptors? Also the first sarcastic response that came to mind when asked how the mirror knew what was behind the paper was: #1: the mirror isn't sentient. #2: The pool table paradox.

[@LightStrikerQc]

1:00 Looks like a dumb question at first... and at second, and third... Yeah, still a dumb question. Gee. Slow day in science.

[@hhjpegg]

Asking about seemingly simple things is how we learn more about the world.

[@LightStrikerQc]

@@hhjpegg I guess, if only people were listening to the answers.

[@ysakhno]

Amazing.. A grown-up person discovers the world around like if she was a toddler... This is the sad state of things we all have on our hands. That's what's creepy.