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Cleo Abram

Cleo Abram

A Technology and Science podcast

#89 in Technology · 🇰🇷 #196 in Technology · 🇯🇵
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About the show

Video journalist making optimistic tech explainers. Huge If True.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabramTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Twitter: https://twitter.com/cleoabramIf you'd like to sponsor a Huge If True episode, reach out at the email below.If you're looking for my bio, here it is:Cleo Abram is a video journalist who produces Huge If True, an optimistic show about science and technology. Huge If True is an antidote to the doom and gloom, helping a wide audience see better futures they can help build. In each episode, Cleo dives deep into one innovation that could shape the future. She has explored humanoid robots at Boston Dynamics, supersonic planes at NASA, quantum computers at IBM, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and more. Previously, Cleo was a video producer at Vox and directed for Explained on Netflix. She was the host of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, as well as co-host of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.Links:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabramTwitter: https://twitter.com/cleoabramUnofficial fan audio feed — not affiliated with or endorsed by the original creator. All content belongs to its respective owner.

Newest episodes

The Real Reason We Should Revive Extinct Animals

19 min

The real story about “de-extinction”... Try RHINOSHIELD with code CLEO for 10% off https://url.rhinoshield.io/CLEO The Tasmanian tiger was declared extinct in 1982. But now… scientists are trying to bring it BACK.And it’s not alone! You might’ve seen news about dire wolves, woolly mammoths, passenger pigeons… dodo birds… dinosaurs??“De-extinction” has become a huge and urgent scientific debate. But when I took a deep dive into what’s really going on here, I realized we're getting this conversation very, very wrong. We're on the cusp of a huge genetic breakthrough… and yet the most "huge if true" thing happening here isn’t bringing back extinct animals. It's what this means for all the animals alive today!And very few people seem to know about it… Chapters: 00:19 Can we bring back extinct animals?01:22 Can we bring back a mammoth?02:24 Is Jurassic Park possible? 05:44 Are Dire Wolves brought back from the dead? 6:26 What is de-extinction?09:04 How do we save cute little animals? 11:08 Is the Tasmanian tiger coming back? 12:50 When is it ok to bring back an extinct animal?14:09 What’s coming next for de-extinction?15:10 Why is this huge if true? 15:42 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. Additional reading and watching:- SciShow...

Why Aren't Planes Electric Yet?

12 min

Electric planes are already here. But they don't look like I thought... If you want more optimistic stories about technology, subscribe to support our show!Are electric planes possible? And if so, when are they coming?? Turns out, they’re already here.For this episode of Huge If True, I went to visit an electric plane company called Beta. Before the shoot, I thought the weight of batteries basically meant electric planes weren’t that useful, and wouldn’t be for a long time. What I learned is that in the last 10 years, we’ve gotten a lot better at making batteries (look at your phone!). Those gains mean electric planes are starting to do more. And that’s a big deal - for carbon emissions and climate change, but also for redesigning how planes look and fly. The future of aviation will look very different than the planes you take today.I couldn’t fly in one of the electric planes (trust me, I tried!), but I did get up in the air another way…To support Huge If True, please consider subscribing: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1Chapters: 00:00 Electric planes are here00:56 Why are electric planes important?02:16 Why are there no electric planes?03:36 How do electric planes work?05:52 What do electric planes look like?06:42 What is VTOL?07:48 How do electric planes slow climate change?09:14 What is the future of airplanes?Sources and further reading: - Carbon emissions from aviation, Our World In Data: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation - Carbon emissions by short-haul v long-haul flights, Our World In Data: https://ourworldindata.org/breakdown-co2-aviation - Carbon emissions by short-haul more detail, ICCT: https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf - More on Beta in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/16/business/beta-electric-airplane.html - Airships through the ages, The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/airships-through-the-ages-...

Why NASA Is Sending This Truck To The Moon

28 min

This truck is going to the moon. So we put it to the test…Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans. Use code CLEO at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleoThis is the world’s first “space truck.” It’s going to the moon to help us go farther, faster, and discover places we’ve never been… Because humans are about to go back to the moon for the first time in 50 years! And no one but its builders have ever driven it… until today.In this video I'm going to put this brand new space truck to the test in a series of 5 challenges. And I've invited someone who knows a thing or two about challenges: YouTube daredevil and host of Challenge Accepted… Michelle Khare!Let’s go.Subscribe to @MichelleKhare 's channel for Challenge Accepted: https://www.youtube.com/@MichelleKhare Chapters: 0:00 This is the world’s first space truck 0:38 Introducing Michelle Khare!01:04 What is a space truck?01:52 How do astronauts drive?02:21 First impressions!02:47 Moon truck v normal truck04:47 How fast can you drive on the moon?05:18 Will we crash?08:36 Can we break the lunar speed record? 10:33 Why go faster on the moon?11:12 How does an astronaut get rescued? 13:52 Can this truck drive itself?17:00 Why do we need a self-driving space truck?17:48 How does an astronaut gather samples? 22:03 NIGHT DRIVING22:41 Why is this Space Truck huge if true?23:00 :)Bio: Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. Addition...

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All episodes

The Real Reason We Should Revive Extinct Animals

19 min

The real story about “de-extinction”... Try RHINOSHIELD with code CLEO for 10% off https://url.rhinoshield.io/CLEO The Tasmanian tiger was declared extinct in 1982. But now… scientists are trying to bring it BACK.And it’s not alone! You might’ve seen news about dire wolves, woolly mammoths, passenger pigeons… dodo birds… dinosaurs??“De-extinction” has become a huge and urgent scientific debate. But when I took a deep dive into what’s really going on here, I realized we're getting this conversation very, very wrong. We're on the cusp of a huge genetic breakthrough… and yet the most "huge if true" thing happening here isn’t bringing back extinct animals. It's what this means for all the animals alive today!And very few people seem to know about it… Chapters: 00:19 Can we bring back extinct animals?01:22 Can we bring back a mammoth?02:24 Is Jurassic Park possible? 05:44 Are Dire Wolves brought back from the dead? 6:26 What is de-extinction?09:04 How do we save cute little animals? 11:08 Is the Tasmanian tiger coming back? 12:50 When is it ok to bring back an extinct animal?14:09 What’s coming next for de-extinction?15:10 Why is this huge if true? 15:42 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. Additional reading and watching:- SciShow...

Why Aren't Planes Electric Yet?

12 min

Electric planes are already here. But they don't look like I thought... If you want more optimistic stories about technology, subscribe to support our show!Are electric planes possible? And if so, when are they coming?? Turns out, they’re already here.For this episode of Huge If True, I went to visit an electric plane company called Beta. Before the shoot, I thought the weight of batteries basically meant electric planes weren’t that useful, and wouldn’t be for a long time. What I learned is that in the last 10 years, we’ve gotten a lot better at making batteries (look at your phone!). Those gains mean electric planes are starting to do more. And that’s a big deal - for carbon emissions and climate change, but also for redesigning how planes look and fly. The future of aviation will look very different than the planes you take today.I couldn’t fly in one of the electric planes (trust me, I tried!), but I did get up in the air another way…To support Huge If True, please consider subscribing: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1Chapters: 00:00 Electric planes are here00:56 Why are electric planes important?02:16 Why are there no electric planes?03:36 How do electric planes work?05:52 What do electric planes look like?06:42 What is VTOL?07:48 How do electric planes slow climate change?09:14 What is the future of airplanes?Sources and further reading: - Carbon emissions from aviation, Our World In Data: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-aviation - Carbon emissions by short-haul v long-haul flights, Our World In Data: https://ourworldindata.org/breakdown-co2-aviation - Carbon emissions by short-haul more detail, ICCT: https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf - More on Beta in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/16/business/beta-electric-airplane.html - Airships through the ages, The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/airships-through-the-ages-...

Why NASA Is Sending This Truck To The Moon

28 min

This truck is going to the moon. So we put it to the test…Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans. Use code CLEO at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleoThis is the world’s first “space truck.” It’s going to the moon to help us go farther, faster, and discover places we’ve never been… Because humans are about to go back to the moon for the first time in 50 years! And no one but its builders have ever driven it… until today.In this video I'm going to put this brand new space truck to the test in a series of 5 challenges. And I've invited someone who knows a thing or two about challenges: YouTube daredevil and host of Challenge Accepted… Michelle Khare!Let’s go.Subscribe to @MichelleKhare 's channel for Challenge Accepted: https://www.youtube.com/@MichelleKhare Chapters: 0:00 This is the world’s first space truck 0:38 Introducing Michelle Khare!01:04 What is a space truck?01:52 How do astronauts drive?02:21 First impressions!02:47 Moon truck v normal truck04:47 How fast can you drive on the moon?05:18 Will we crash?08:36 Can we break the lunar speed record? 10:33 Why go faster on the moon?11:12 How does an astronaut get rescued? 13:52 Can this truck drive itself?17:00 Why do we need a self-driving space truck?17:48 How does an astronaut gather samples? 22:03 NIGHT DRIVING22:41 Why is this Space Truck huge if true?23:00 :)Bio: Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. Addition...

We Tried To Do Nuclear Fusion

16 min

We attempted nuclear fusion. In Simone’s workshop.Subscribe for more optimistic science and tech stories!Disclaimer: This build was supervised by experts at Helion. Do not try this at home.I still can’t believe this video really happened. Back in May, I interviewed Helion CEO David Kirtley. I was trying to understand nuclear fusion: Is nuclear fusion possible now? How does fusion actually work? And most importantly, is nuclear fusion the future? Then, at the end of the interview, I asked David about headlines I’d seen about people building nuclear fusion devices in their backyards - what were they doing? “Oh,” David replied, “you can build one.”What followed is the biggest adventure yet on Huge If True. Together with the team at Helion and my friend fellow YouTuber Simone Giertz, we BUILT A NUCLEAR FUSION DEVICE to show how nuclear fusion works, what the big remaining challenges are, and how it might help us all in the future.Then, the last step was to try to turn it on…WATCH "FUSION, EXPLAINED: PART 1" HERE: https://youtu.be/piPbnKdve9MHUGE (no asterisk) thank you to David, Jessie, Ron, Joben, and the entire team at Helion for helping make our nuclear fusion dreams possible. It's truly a life moment I'll never forget and I'm so grateful. Watch Simone’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@simonegiertz To support Huge If True, please consider subscribing: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1Chapters: 00:00 We’re trying to do nuclear fusion01:48 What is nuclear fusion?02:48 How do you build a fusion device?03:37 How is nuclear fusion possible?04:36 What is the big challenge with fusion?05:36 What does nuclear fusion look like?06:12 We’re great at this07:08 UH OH08:02 Here comes the fusion fuel!08:32 The “Do Not Die” section09:07 DID WE DO IT??12:38 Is fusion possible at scale?13:32 THANK YOU HELIONSources and further reading: - Nuclear fusion, simply explained: https://youtu.be/piPbnKdve9M - “How Helion’s approach to fusion works” https://youtu.be/H...

Sam Altman Shows Me GPT 5... And What's Next

1 hr 11 min

We’re about to time travel into the future Sam Altman is building… Subscribe for more optimistic science and tech stories.I interviewed Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. They’re trying to build a “superintelligence” that could far exceed humans in almost every field – and they just released their most powerful tool yet, GPT-5.A few years ago, that would’ve sounded like science fiction! Not anymore. In fact, they’re not alone. We’re in the middle of the most high stakes global race any of us have ever seen. Hundreds of billions of dollars and an unbelievable amount of human work…It’s a profound moment. Most people never see a huge technological shift like this in their lives and it’s happening all around us right now. So in this conversation, I’m going to try to time travel into the future with Sam Altman, to see what he’s trying to build… so you and I can really understand what’s coming.Welcome to HUGE* Conversations.Chapters: 0:00 What future are we headed for?2:06 What can GPT-5 do that GPT-4 can’t?6:57 What does AI do to how we think?10:52 When will AI make a significant scientific discovery?13:09 What is superintelligence?16:17 How does one AI determine “truth”?18:35 It’s 2030. How do we know what’s real?21:20 It’s 2035. What new jobs exist?24:02 How do you build superintelligence?26:00 What are the infrastructure challenges for AI?28:18 What data does AI use?29:50 What changed between GPT1 v 2 v 3…?32:55 What went right and wrong building GPT-5?35:40 “A kid born today will never be smarter than AI”37:57 It’s 2040. What does AI do for our health?40:00 Can AI help cure cancer?41:10 Who gets hurt?43:00 “The social contract may have to change”45:22 What is our shared responsibility here?49:21 “We haven’t put a sex bot avatar into ChatGPT yet”51:40 What mistakes has Sam learned from?53:10 “What have we done”?57:40 How will I actually use GPT-5?59:40 Why do people building AI say it’ll destroy us?1:03:16 Why do this? You can find me on Instag...

The Electric Formula 1, Explained

17 min

The fight for the future of car racing has begun...If you want more optimistic stories about technology, subscribe to support our show!You already know about Formula 1. The car racing sport is famous around the world and is skyrocketing in popularity in the US in part because of the Netflix series Drive To Survive. But Formula 1 has a problem.More and more the cars that we drive are going fully electric, and the cars that they drive… aren’t. That matters, because the real reason F1 gets all this money and attention is that big companies are investing in and advertising their cutting edge tech. If that tech gets outdated, it loses the point - and the extra investment. What is the future of car racing? If it’s electric, does F1 change? Or is someone else going to get there first?Enter Formula E, the all-electric Formula 1.In this video, we explore the future of car racing, explain Formula E’s amazing tech and wild rules, and break down the drama within one of the world’s most popular and expensive sports.Chapters: 00:00 Will Formula 1 go electric?1:27 What is Formula E?2:13 How did Formula E start?3:01 Why isn't F1 electric?5:30 What are the rules of Formula E?7:52 What does a Formula E car look like?9:18 Are F1 cars hybrid?10:13 Formula E Gen 3: What's new?11:30 Why don't Formula E cars have rear brakes?13:36 What is the future of car racing?Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see posit...

Zero Gravity Is Weirder Than You Think (Bonus Episode)

13 min

I tested 5 wild experiments in a zero gravity plane... Listen with me on Audible at https://www.audible.com/cleo I'm scanning my brain inside a plane that’s about to DIVE toward the ground… to test how weightlessness helps or hurts your brain.And it’s just one of the 5 crazy science experiments I got to test inside a Zero G plane. I recently went on this Zero G plane to explain a big debate about gravity, and while I was there, I also got exclusive access to experiments that can ONLY happen in zero gravity. I just knew you’d love to see it.So, in this extended cut, I’m going to give you a rare glimpse inside this falling laboratory and show you how the experiments they’re doing could be huge if true…Chapters: 0:00 What happens to your brain in space?0:32 Why scientists want to fall from the sky1:10 How do zero gravity planes work?1:56 Experiment 13:58 Experiment 25:28 Experiment 37:23 Experiment 48:50 Experiment 510:27 Why these experiments are huge if trueYou can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. Additional reading and watching:- Why Gravity Is A Lie, Explained in Zero G, our previous episode of Huge If True! https://youtu.be/5zJbE7J3X8I?si=KbOiyJXMAaXzS4hX - Experiment 1: Blood Sucking Pants: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/weara...

What I Wish Everyone Knew About Cancer

16 min

"Curing cancer," explained.Subscribe for optimistic science and tech stories!We’re not looking for a “cure for cancer” anymore. Cancer is hundreds of diseases, so we’re really in a multi front fight against all of them. Cancer is a problem for us today in a way it wasn’t for previous generations. But, luckily, we also have more and more ways to fight back. I started this episode with endless questions: What is cancer? What causes it? How do we treat cancer? What are the symptoms? Why are some cancers easier to treat than others? Why is cancer so hard to cure? Why do so many people die of cancer?What I found is an incredible, complex, inspiring effort to treat and stop an insidious killer. In this video, we dive deep into how we treat cancer today. But I also found that we may not be helping the greatest number of people we can.In this episode of Huge If True, I want to make the case that while we have made enormous strides in the fight against cancer we have also largely ignored one of the single best ways to save the most lives.If you’d like to support Huge If True, the best thing you can do is subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1Chapters: 00:00 Why do so many people get cancer?02:06 What is cancer?03:02 How do we treat cancer?03:44 What is chemotherapy?04:42 What is immunotherapy?06:27 How do we save more lives?07:47 Does early detection save lives?09:23 How do we detect cancer?10:45 What are the downsides of cancer tests?11:38 Why early cancer detection matter?12:42 Can we cure cancer?Sources and additional reading:- Lifetime Risk of Developing or Dying From Cancer, American Cancer Association https://www.cancer.org/healthy/cancer-causes/general-info/lifetime-probability-of-developing-or-dying-from-cancer.html - Crunching Numbers: What Cancer Screening Statistics Really Tell Us, National Cancer Institute https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/screening/research/what-screening-statistics-mean - Cancer, Our World In Data https://ourworldinda...

Why Gravity Is A Lie, explained in Zero G

27 min

There’s a big problem with gravity… Build and learn with KiwiCo! Go to https://www.kiwico.com/cleo and use code CLEO to get 50% off your first month of KiwiCo.Gravity is a lie. I went into zero gravity to explain why… But it won't be easy because gravity is actually one of the most controversial subjects in all of physics. This is not some philosophical debate. A huge amount of the tech you use every day depends on our current (limited) understanding of gravity.If we can understand gravity a little bit better, we can build more things that are huge if true!So in this video, I joined the European Space Agency on a real zero gravity flight and interviewed theoretical physicists to understand: What really IS gravity? And what are the real life sci-fi ways we might use it in the future?Chapters: 0:00 The big problem with gravity0:58 What is a zero gravity flight?1:40 What is gravity?2:49 What’s Einstein’s equivalence principle? 3:40 What does zero gravity feel like?5:52 Why is falling the same as floating?6:58 How did gravity disappear?9:28 Why is gravity not a force?11:35 What is spacetime?13:16 Why does this matter?14:58 Why is gravity fake?15:48 What are the four fundamental forces?16:50 Quantum mechanics v gravity17:55 The theory of everything!18:51 AdS/CFT20:10 What if we could change gravity?21:50 Something you might loveYou can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and sen...

Quantum Computers, explained with MKBHD

21 min

Quantum computers aren’t what you've been told...Subscribe to support optimistic tech content (and see the next episode with MKBHD!): https://www.youtube.com/cleoabramSubscribe to Marques here: https://www.youtube.com/mkbhd You’ve heard about quantum computers. Maybe you’ve seen the “race for quantum supremacy” between governments and companies, or read that quantum computers will break all encryption, or heard terms like “qubits” or “superposition” or “quantum mechanics” in a confusing tv segment. But you might be wondering… what does a quantum computer actually DO? And how could it actually affect my life?@mkbhd and I had the same questions. Marques and I both realized quantum computing was this big important technology… that we didn’t really understand. So we decided to go on an adventure to learn the truth about quantum computers. And we're taking you with us, to show you what we learn as we learn it. But more importantly, to show you how these crazy computers might actually impact YOUR life... sooner than you think.Chapters: 00:00 What is a quantum computer?02:00 Why is quantum computing important?04:00 The Quantum Video Game analogy07:40 What does a quantum computer look like?09:38 How does a quantum computer work?12:00 What is a quantum computer good for?13:21 Will quantum computers break all encryption?15:22 What's the future of quantum computing?16:27 Updating the Quantum Video Game analogyYou can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent...

Editing Your DNA, with Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Jennifer Doudna

1 hr 0 min

Human DNA editing is finally here.Check out the new WHOOP here! https://join.whoop.com/cleoThere is a microscopic technology that now gives us the power to edit our own genes while we’re alive. To cure certain diseases, possibly prevent others, or boost what our bodies can do… or maybe, one day give our kids abilities no one has ever had before… effectively putting evolution into our hands. This is not some sci-fi future! We’re already using this technology in real medical treatments in plants to grow new crops and in animals to create new species!Just yesterday, news broke that a baby’s life was saved using personalized gene editing that fixed one tiny error in its DNA. This is truly “huge if true.”Deciding how we use this new superpower may be the biggest challenge we have ever faced - and the biggest opportunity to reduce human suffering.This tool is called CRISPR. Dr. Jennifer Doudna won the Nobel Prize for discovering it.So, in this third episode of Huge Conversations, Dr. Doudna and I use specific examples to help you see how gene editing directly affects your life right now - and help you decide for yourself: How should we use it? When is it wrong - and when is it wrong NOT to?If you want to know what the most important people building the future are imagining it will look like, Huge Conversations is the show for you.This interview was recorded on March 20th, 2025. Watch our trailer to understand more about the mission of Huge Conversations: https://youtu.be/JbKzSDfDdns?si=0PLbyG-RkFGqi9jQ Chapters: 0:00 Human DNA editing is here1:20 What’s the goal here?2:56 What is CRISPR?4:34 How does gene editing work?6:18 How should humans edit our genes?7:22 You v. your kids9:37 The first CRISPR gene therapy12:37 What can CRISPR cure?13:48 Challenges with delivery16:34 Curing Huntington’s18:34 The first CRISPR-edited babies22:27 When should we use CRISPR?26:03 Can I edit my DNA to prevent disease?29:18 Can I enhance myself?31:11 When shouldn’t we use CRISPR?34:14 When d...

The Big Lie About Nuclear Waste

16 min

What if we could actually USE nuclear waste?Subscribe if you love optimistic science and tech stories... Watch Johnny’s explainer on nuclear power here - and subscribe to his channel! https://youtu.be/QzTgZ6kOEM8Nuclear waste is scary. Maybe you’ve seen it as glowing green goop in The Simpsons, or as a radioactive threat on the news. Either way, you likely know it has been a major block to the use and improvement of nuclear power. Over the last few decades, experts, politicians and the public have had heated debates over what to do with this radioactive material created by nuclear power plants.But what if there were a way to not just store nuclear waste, but actually USE it? This video is about the effort to make electricity out of nuclear waste. Really. It turns out, we developed the tools to do this decades ago. This story is about a technology we left behind and the people who want to bring it back.For this video, I had the privilege of visiting one of the largest and oldest research centers in the US, the Argonne National Laboratory. I’m incredibly grateful to the researchers and staff I met there, and for their time in showing me their work. I also had the opportunity to speak with representatives from Oklo, a company working on new forms of nuclear power, including recycling nuclear waste as fuel. One of the best parts of making Huge If True is meeting and learning from people pushing what we can do in the hopes of improving the world for everyone else.Chapters: 00:00 Nuclear waste isn’t what I thought02:21 How I got obsessed03:27 How much energy is in nuclear waste?06:20 How do you get electricity?06:50 What is uranium?07:28 How does a nuclear reaction work?08:05 Why is nuclear waste dangerous?08:40 What do we do with nuclear waste?09:35 How do you make electricity from nuclear waste?11:21 Why doesn’t the US reuse nuclear fuel?12:20 Is recycling waste feasible?13:41 What is Huge If True?Corrections:07:09 The number refers to the total number of nucleons (eith...

What Bothers Physicists About Black Holes (Interview with Brian Cox)

1 hr 20 min

Black holes reveal something astonishing about our universe.Take your personal data back with Incogni. Use code CLEOABRAM at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/cleoabram This extended cut is a deep dive into cutting edge research about black holes. It’s an interview with famous physicist Dr. Brian Cox. We start with “what if you fell into a black hole?” and end on the cutting edge research that had me questioning my whole reality.I interviewed Dr. Cox originally for a shorter Huge If True episode all about what would happen if you fell into a black hole.Watch our Huge If True episode about “What If You Fell Into A Black Hole?” here: https://youtu.be/BKIkTKqWMfg?si=bTde4QxUeN6bN1IoBut there was SO much weird and mind bending stuff about the cutting edge of black holes that didn't fit into that shorter episode, and we knew you'd want to hear it. So we decided we had to release the full conversation. It's just too cool and I think you'll love it.Now, strap in, because the cutting edge of black holes is absolutely WILD.As always, if you want more optimistic science and tech stories, subscribe to support Huge If True.Chapters00:00 What really is a black hole?04:02 Warping space and time8:08 Whats inside a black hole?10:04 Photo of Sagittarius A*13:03 How big are black holes?15:19 How small are black holes?19:37 Passing through the event horizon23:45 Two perspectives25:00 Spaghettification29:22 You see this on Earth31:08 Can we get out? Maybe!34:04 The central question38:08 What bothered everybody42:07 Information encoded in pixels?46:22 Black hole complementarity51:30 Holographic principle 55:00 It’s hard for us56:17 The universe as a network of qubits57:08 Why black holes teach us so much1:00:15 The firewall paradox1:05:59 Are we living on the outside of a black hole?1:07:55 Impacts on quantum computers1:10:05 Why study black holes?You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com...

The Truth About Psychedelics

17 min

Should psychedelics be legal?Subscribe for optimistic tech and science stories!You might be hearing about states and countries legalizing psychedelics. In 2020, Oregon became the first US state to decriminalize psilocybin and legalize it for therapeutic use. In 2022, Colorado followed suit. Researchers have recently been touting the benefits of psychedelics for health conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, cancer-related distress, and the list goes on. However - like cannabis - psilocybin is still illegal under US federal law.Given that ongoing fight, you might have questions. I know I do. Are psychedelics the next weed? Is that a good thing? Are psychedelics dangerous? Do they actually have scientific benefits? How do psychedelics work? In this episode of Huge If True, we find out. Thank you to Dr. Ben Rein, neuroscience researcher and consultant on this episode. If you enjoy Huge If True, you’ll love Dr. Rein’s videos on TikTok! https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.brein?lang=en Chapters: 00:00 The big debate about psychedelics02:16 What are psychedelics?03:35 What do psychedelics do?05:47 The history of psychedelics06:46 The War on Drugs09:09 New research on psychedelics10:05 How do psychedelics work?11:09 Psychedelics for PTSD and depression12:21 Are psychedelics legal?14:10 Why psychedelics are huge if true15:15 What is Huge If True?You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and direct...

What If I Fell Into A Black Hole?

24 min

What’s really happening inside a black hole?Go to http://hostinger.com/cleo for 10% off using code CLEOImagine that you’re flying through space, when suddenly you start to get dragged toward a dark abyss. Reality as you know it starts to change. Time begins to warp. And you start to feel this strange sort of sensation of being stretched and squashed…You’re falling into a black hole, one of the most astonishing places in our universe. Some are so big they can fit over 60 of our solar systems across them, with masses up to 100 billion times our Sun. And once you fall into one past a certain point, nothing can escape. ... Or can it?I wanted to know the latest cutting edge research about black holes, so I called up my favorite physicist, Dr. Brian Cox to answer the question: If you fell into a black hole, what would actually happen to you? What would it feel like? And what does our newest science tell us is really happening inside a black hole?Chapters: 0:00 What if you fall into a black hole?1:20 What is a black hole, really?2:20 How do we find black holes?3:17 What do black holes look like?4:46 How big are black holes?6:28 What would it feel like to fall into a black hole?7:40 What would you see from far away?9:18 What happens at the event horizon?10:58 What is spaghettification?11:58 What is the singularity?13:00 Can you ever get out of a black hole?14:00 Wait, that’s weird…15:00 The black hole information paradox16:09 The cutting edge of black holes17:42 Why are black holes so important?Professor Brian Cox is performing a run of live shows across the US! Check out briancoxlive.co.uk for more information. I can't wait.You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience under...

How Do Sci-Fi Movies Look So Real? (feat. MKBHD)

19 min

This new tech is changing how movies get made. So @mkbhd and I tested it out...Subscribe for more optimistic science and tech stories!Watch MKBHD's video: https://youtu.be/RM7SobH8ZO0Subscribe to MKBHD: https://www.youtube.com/mkbhd Subscribe to Huge If True to support optimistic tech content: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1I’ve been obsessed with sci-fi movies since I was a kid. I love being transported to another world. But lately, I’ve been wondering: How do those worlds look so… REAL? The tech behind movies has exploded in complexity and realism, changing how stories come to life on screen.Luckily, at the same time, those tools are becoming more and more available to more people telling stories. It’s not just blockbusters like Avatar 2 or Avengers or Dune. It’s also smaller budget films like Everything Everywhere All at Once or even… YouTube creators?In this video, Marques Brownlee and I test out 3 movie-making tools that are changing how movies, shows, and maybe even YouTube videos (??) get made. We’re at ZeroSpace Studios in New York to show you how each of these crazy technologies work - and how you might be able to use them. Along the way, we hit big questions like: What is the future of video? Can actors stop aging? Can WE? Do you care if an actor has a digital double? Should the audience choose where the camera goes? Most of all, what we discover is a new world of video creation, hopefully open to more and more people’s creativity.Chapters: 00:00 How do movies look so real?1:18 The future of green screen?3:31 The problem with green screen4:33 How was The Mandalorian filmed?6:11 How to shoot two scenes AT ONCE8:39 How motion capture works10:06 Why was Avatar 2 filmed underwater?11:05 What happens if you can be... anyone?13:51 What is volumetric video?15:33 What's the future of video?Thank you to the entire team who helped make this video possible! They are:From ZeroSpace:- Creative Director: Kevin Peter He- Head of Research: Evan Clark-...

How Disney Built A Realistic Lightsaber

20 min

I tested Disney’s coolest new tech… Go to https://surfshark.com/cleo for 4 extra months of Surfshark Today I’ve been invited behind the scenes at Walt Disney Imagineering, the place where Disney brings their craziest ideas to life - from STUNT ROBOTS to a real life version of The Force, to adorable little droids! On this show Huge If True, we explore how tech can improve people’s lives - by living longer, going farther, doing more. But the reason I’ve loved Disney since I was a kid is they use tech to improve lives another way… by making people happy. And that means they end up pushing forward tech in some crazy, unexpected ways. So let me take you inside the magic, to show you the cutting edge tech they’re building… how it works… and what happens when we put it to the test!Chapters: 0:00 What is Disney building next?1:11 What does Walt Disney Imagineering do?1:52 What are Disney’s new droids really like?2:47 How do Disney’s new droids work?5:08 What’s the world’s most realistic lightsaber?6:17 How do Disney’s lightsabers work?8:05 How do you make The Force real?9:53 How does Disney’s holotile work?11:59 What will Disney use holotile for?12:48 How does Disney use robot stunt doubles?13:57 Special guests!!15:54 Why is Disney tech huge if true?16:15 :)You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and...

What We Get Wrong About AI (feat. former Google CEO)

14 min

AI is here. Now what?Subscribe to support optimistic tech journalism!Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence and machine learning. There are lots of names thrown around - OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALLE-2, Google’s Bard, Meta’s LLaMa 2, Midjourney, AlphaFold… Right now, we’re in this weird moment where lots of smart people agree we’re on the cusp of a truly world-changing technology. But some seem to be saying it's going to lead to human extinction while others are saying it’s “more profound than fire.”But it all feels so VAGUE.I want to know: How specifically would AI kill me? Or totally transform my life for the better? In this video, that’s what I’m going to try to learn. We dive into what the most extreme bad and good AI futures actually look like, so that you and I can get ready. And more importantly, so we can make sure that we get our real future RIGHT.Chapters: 00:00 Why is AI so confusing?1:13 What is AI?2:37 Why is everyone talking about AI now?5:12 Why is AI dangerous?6:22 How would AI kill me?8:08 Should we pause AI?9:12 Why do we WANT AI?10:30 What has AI already done?11:27 Why is AI so hard to talk about?You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and produ...

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's Vision for the Future

1 hr 9 min

What NVIDIA is trying to build next…Subscribe for more optimistic science and tech stories from our show Huge If True.You're probably hearing a lot about AI, DeepSeek, NVIDIA and more right now. If you want the big picture (and to start from the beginning), watch this Huge Conversation with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.In the last few years, NVIDIA has skyrocketed to become one of the world's most valuable companies. That's because, beginning in the 90s, they led a fundamental shift in how computers work, now unleashing the current explosion of what’s possible with technology.A huge amount of the most futuristic tech you’re hearing about - in AI, robotics, gaming, self-driving cars, breakthrough medical research - relies on new chips and software designed by him and his company.During the dozens of background interviews I did to prepare for this, what struck me most was how much Jensen Huang has already influenced all our lives over the last 30 years, and how many are saying it’s just the beginning of something even bigger…We all need to know what he’s building and why, and most importantly, what he’s trying to build next, so you can decide for yourself what you think of it. Welcome to the second episode of our new series, Huge Conversations…If you want to know what the most important people building the future are imagining it will look like, Huge Conversations is the show for you.This interview was recorded at CES in Las Vegas on January 7th, 2025.Watch our first episode of Huge Conversations with Mark Zuckerberg here: https://youtu.be/oX7OduG1YmI?si=mMTesn2gvBeRJmos Watch our trailer to understand more about the mission of Huge Conversations: https://youtu.be/JbKzSDfDdns?si=0PLbyG-RkFGqi9jQChapters: 0:00 What is Jensen Huang trying to build?1:40 The goal of this Huge Conversation3:40 How did we get here?4:25 What is a GPU?5:45 Why video games first?7:59 What is CUDA?11:04 Why was AlexNet such a big deal?15:40 Why are we hearing about AI so much now?19:33 What are NVID...

Why More Sports Need Robot Referees

11 min

Are AI referees ruining sports? Or making them better?Subscribe to if you appreciate optimistic tech journalism.If you’re watching the 2023 US Open, you’re seeing automated referee calls. After years of controversy about human accuracy, tennis has used a system called Hawkeye to not only check human calls… but now to replace human referees. And this robot ref revolution isn’t just happening in tennis. It’s taking over the sports world. Soccer, basketball, baseball, they are all using machines to improve the calls being made on the field. The World Cup in particular has invested in these tools, from VAR (video assistant referee) to semi-automated offside and goal-line technology.The stakes are high. The difference between a right or wrong call can be a championship, or millions of dollars in prizes, endorsements, ticket sales. For the most part, fans like tech that makes calls more objective. HOWEVER… there is a big chunk of sports fans who would strongly disagree, who think that robot refs are ruining the game. Thing is, this tech isn’t going back in the bottle! Stadiums are now being decked out with dozens of cameras that can track balls, people, and even use AI to make calls so accurate that one day human refs might be a thing of the past…Chapters: 00:00 How tennis started a robot ref takeover00:50 Soccer, basketball, and baseball automating refs01:53 High tech World Cup balls02:17 Semi-automated offsides technology02:58 Video assistant referee (VAR)04:25 Why some fans HATE robot referees05:17 Do these tools remove human nuance?06:27 Why some fans LOVE robot referees07:02 How Hawkeye works in tennis07:40 NBA and MLB announcements08:14 Why these tools are huge if trueI talked about this episode with @mkbhd on the @Waveform podcast here: https://youtu.be/fmIvzU115y0?si=4FbSeNZFU4sAOBERYou can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/...

Dinosaurs Were Weirder Than We Thought

24 min

Dinosaurs were not like I thought... Check out https://groundnews.com/Cleo for a data-driven, balanced approach to staying informed. Use my link to save 50 percent on the Vantage plan and see how current events are framed from every perspective.I’m finally learning the truth about dinosaurs.I’ve loved dinosaurs since I was a kid, but it turns out a lot of what I thought I knew is wrong… or at the least outdated. So, in this video, I’m gonna show you the cutting edge of dinosaur discovery. I’ll give you rare access into a warehouse full of dinosaur bones, try to find my own fossil, and show you something new these scientists just discovered…Chapters: 00:00 What were dinosaurs really like?01:08 Why is today a big deal for dinosaur discovery?03:31 How big were dinosaurs, really?05:49 When did dinosaurs actually live?08:20 How many dinosaurs have we found?09:26 What was the T-Rex like?10:39 Did I find a bone??11:55 What IS a dinosaur?14:31 What did dinosaur skin feel like?15:06 What color were dinosaurs?15:51 Can you guess this modern animal?16:54 How were dinosaur fossils formed?17:34 Why did dinosaurs go extinct?*19:14 Why do we study dinosaurs?Thank you to the team at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum and the Pipestone Creek Bonebed for making my dreams of hunting for dinosaur fossils come true!Correction: 17:40 Some of the dinosaurs animated here went extinct before this mass extinction event. Thank you to the thoughtful commenter who pointed this out! We sincerely appreciate it. You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the wo...

The Ocean Is Deeper Than You Think. We Need Better Maps.

16 min

Why deep sea maps are SO BAD (and how to fix it)...Subscribe for more optimistic science and tech stories.Our maps of the ocean are surprisingly bad! On Google Maps it looks like we know so much… but we know less about the ocean floor than we do the surface of Mars. And that’s a big problem, because we are using the ocean all the time: We’re laying internet cables across it, we fight wars in it, we search it during a crisis - like the imploded OceanGate Titan submersible or the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. 71% of the surface of the Earth is water! And yet we have a surprisingly limited view of what’s below it.But that’s also understandable. Because cartographically speaking, water sucks. For Mars or Earth’s surface, we can take pictures. But light doesn’t get to the ocean floor, so we need other ways to see it. The good news is, we’re developing that tech right now, and an international group called Seabed 2030 is working to piece together a better map.There is a terrifying, incredible, alien world on our own planet, and we’re FINALLY using technology to see it more clearly. In this episode of Huge If True, I dive deep - with help from my friend and fellow video journalist @johnnyharris - to show you how we’re mapping the ocean, the surprising things we’ve discovered in the depths, and why this new technology could be… huge if true :)Chapters: 00:00 How bad are our ocean maps?01:40 How deep is the ocean?03:05 What is the deepest part of the ocean?04:04 The craziest method to map the ocean06:20 How does sonar work?07:31 What did the first ocean maps look like?09:30 How do we map the ocean now?10:30 What is Seabed 2030?11:40 How do we use underwater robots?12:27 Concerns with mapping the deep ocean13:11 Why deep ocean mapping is huge if trueYou can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter h...

What If You Just Keep Digging?

12 min

What's really down in the deep Earth?Subscribe to support optimistic science and tech journalism!Have you ever thought, “what if I just dug a really really deep hole?”Well, the USSR actually did. The hole they dug is deeper than the deepest part of the ocean. It’s deeper than Mt. Everest is tall! They began digging it in the 1970s as part of a space race, but down. The United States only got to 600 ft before pulling funding. But the USSR kept going for 20 years. They made it about a third of the way through the Earth’s crust and then STOPPED.But what if… you just… kept... digging? If you dug a hole to the center of the Earth, what would you find? What would happen to you? And what does our newest tech tell us is REALLY down below your feet?In this video, we’re going on a journey to the center of the Earth…Chapters: 0:00 What if you dug a hole to Earth’s core?1:05 What happens when I start digging?1:36 What are the deepest made-made things?2:25 What is the deepest hole humans ever dug?3:03 What happens in the mantle?3:45 Why is the Earth hot?4:38 What did we used to think was inside the Earth?5:06 How do we know what’s inside the Earth??5:59 What’s inside the core?6:26 Um, the magnetic field switches direction??7:13 Why is the Earth in layers?8:53 What’s at the center of the Earth?9:46 Earth’s core spins at its own rate??10:52 What don’t we know?11:33 Subscribe to support Huge If True!Corrections: 1:43 The Mponeng Gold Mine is in South Africa, not China.We always strive to get every detail right but we do sometimes make mistakes. We care more about getting it right than being right, and we'll always issue corrections. Thank you for your help making Huge If True great!You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics w...

AI Music, Explained with Spotify CEO

17 min

When should artists get paid in a world with AI music?Subscribe for more optimistic science and tech stories!Artificial intelligence is changing how music gets made - and how musicians get paid. AI is letting people clone artists’ voices, create completely new songs as fake collaborations, generate lyrics in seconds, even produce full tracks just by typing in a few words. It’s all causing some to say AI will be “the death of music.”Technology causes turning points in history. And I think we’re in one right now for music. The stakes are high: If we get this wrong, we could jeopardize how human musicians make money and art. But if we get it right, we have an opportunity to leap ahead in how we as humans get to express ourselves. To really understand what’s happening with AI music, you need to understand how the music industry ALREADY works - and how it could be changing. In this video, I took a deep dive into that topic with the help of two people right in the thick of it: The artist Grimes and CEO of Spotify Daniel Ek. Chapters: 00:00 What is happening with AI in music?02:05 Why would we want AI music?04:03 How are musicians using AI?06:17 When should musicians get paid?07:15 What is copying versus inspiration?08:26 How does copyright work in music?10:06 Should artists get paid for AI training on their music?11:55 What happens when AI generates its own songs?12:54 How could AI music be "huge if true"?You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independen...

Humanity’s Real Plan to Stop This Asteroid (Feat. Mark Rober)

26 min

If an asteroid is coming for Earth… what would we really do?Have a coffee with me! Try Cometeer with code CLEO for $20 off your Discovery Box on http://cometeer.com/cleo Imagine, it’s 2034, and a rock the size of a mountain, far off in our solar system is on a direct impact course for Earth. How would we know? And what would we actually DO about it?In this video, we play out a fictional asteroid headed for Earth – with help from my friend and former NASA engineer Mark Rober and rare access into a remote facility where they discover NEW asteroids – to show you all the real science and tech we would use to defend our planet if an asteroid is about to hit Earth![SPOILER] Our rock was published in the Minor Planet Electronic Circular (MPEC) here! MPEC 2025-K125 : 2025 KS6 Chapters: 00:00 Did an asteroid hit Earth? 01:00 What happens if an asteroid is headed towards Earth? 01:52 Is that Mark Rober? 03:26 How big was the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?04:30 What happens when an asteroid hits Earth? 07:30 How are asteroids discovered? 10:39 Will an asteroid hit Earth? 13:15 Can we stop an asteroid?15:27 What if we nuke an asteroid? 18:03 Did we discover an asteroid? 19:41 Did we stop the asteroid from hitting Earth? 20:42 Why is this HUGE* If True? 21:34 Can we escape Alcatraz? 21:42 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily...

Why I left Vox

7 min

Thank you, Vox, for the best job I ever had. Here’s what’s next.Subscribe to see the next episode: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1 Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q I tell different stories in different places:You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Credits: (After the trailer, these will be at the end of each episode.)Produced and edited by: Cleo AbramAnimated by: Whitney TheisBio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated video producer and journalist. Cleo produces detailed explainer stories about technology and economics. She wrote the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained, was the host and a senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, as well as a host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. She now makes her own independent show, Huge If True. Each episode takes on one big technology innovation or idea, explains what it is, and helps people imagine the ways it could improve the world we live in by answering one simple question: If this works, what could go right?Vox: https://www.vox.com/authors/cleo-abramIMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10108242/ Gear I use: Camera: Sony A7SIIILens: Sony 16–35 mm F2.8 GMAudio: Sennheiser SK AVX and Zoom H4N Pro#news #journalism #tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Craziest Experiment Humans Have Ever Built

22 min

This machine found something scientists thought was impossible…If you want to talk to Mico, go to this link: https://bit.ly/CleoAbram-CopilotIn the middle of the desert, miles from any city, are two HUGE concrete tubes. They’re part of a giant machine running the most precise experiment humans have ever built… Each tube is 4 kilometers long, and inside there’s a big metal pipe. And at the end of each pipe, scientists place some of the smoooooothest mirrors ever made. And then they fire a powerful laser that gets split down each tube, bouncing it back and forth… building up more and more power… until… they bring those beams back together… to discover something that just 100 years ago scientists thought was impossible to find!Finding it took hundreds of scientists and over a billion dollars. But what did we find?? And what’s the cutting edge we’re finding NOW that makes those scientists want to build… AN EVEN BIGGER ONE?Let me show you… Chapters 00:00 What's the most precise experiment humans have built?01:41 How do we know what’s out in the universe?02:33 What if two stars collide? 03:41 What are gravitational waves?6:34 What's inside the concrete tubes in the desert? 5:50 How did they build the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory?07:42 How does the laser experiment work?09:20 What's the LIGO dance?11:14 What are the most reflective mirrors in the world? 14:02 What happened when they turned on the laser machine? 15:17 Did we detect gravitational waves?16:16 Can we manipulate gravity?17:44 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a v...

Fracking for Clean Energy (wait, what?)

13 min

... Not the story I was expecting.Subscribe to see the next episode: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1 Fracking made it possible to get and burn much, much more oil and natural gas. To do it, companies drill into rock deep beneath the Earth's surface and pump in fluid at high enough pressure to crack that rock open, allowing the trapped oil and gas to escape into their pipes. But the fossil fuels they released have directly contributed to climate change, and we're all now paying the price.But here's the hopeful twist: It turns out that this technology - the same one perfected to squeeze every drop of dirty fossil fuels out of the earth - might be the key to unlocking an even bigger source of energy. One that's actually... clean.This video explains how fracking is now being used in geothermal to get more clean energy out of the ground, in the hope of moving away from fossil fuels. Along the way, we'll meet Professor Mukul Sharma, aka the "Frack King," and longtime energy reporter David Roberts. Oh, and my parents (thanks, Mom and Dad!).Chapters: 00:00 What is fracking for oil and gas?01:15 Does fracking pollute water?03:20 Does fracking cause earthquakes?04:43 What is geothermal energy?06:54 What is enhanced geothermal?07:54 How much energy comes from geothermal?09:05 Is enhanced geothermal safe?10:03 Why do we need fracking for geothermal? Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q I tell different stories in different places:You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated video producer and journalist. Cleo produces detailed explainer stories about technology and economics. She wrote the Coding and Diamonds ep...

Why This Olympic Sport Bothers Physicists

19 min

This is the craziest Olympic sport by far. Trust me.This episode is #sponsored by @NBCSports @YouTube #WinterOlympics Every four years, people lose their minds over one Olympic sport. They make fun of it! But the more I learned about it, the more obsessed I got… and I realized that all these people making fun? They’re getting this totally wrong. This is the coolest Olympic sport by far. The sport I’m talking about is… CURLING.From stones so unique they all have to come from one tiny island, to a tech doping scandal nobody wants to talk about. It’s a game with strategy so complicated it’s called “chess on ice”. And a physics mystery that’s gone unsolved for over a century that could one day help us design robots for space. And that’s just the start…Trust me, you don’t know enough about Curling…YET. So I’m going to take you onto the ice at the Olympic Trials… to show you what everyone’s missing and why Curling is the Olympic sport you should be watching. Chapters 00:00 What's the most fascinating sport at the Winter Olympics? 01:40 How do you play curling? 02:57 Why are curling stones so crazy? 04:46 Why is curling chess on ice?05:48 Why do they sweep in curling? 08:18 What is Broomgate?10:11 How do curling stones defy physics? 11:58 What is the science of rubbing?15:16 Why do people make fun of curling? 15:56 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior produce...

Metformin, the Big New "Anti-Aging" Drug, Explained

10 min

So, uh... does it work?Subscribe to see the next episode!Metformin is an old, cheap drug used to help control blood sugar in people with diabetes. Now, it’s back in the news because some people - particularly wealthy people - are using it for possible anti-aging effects. That’s right. One of the most popular ways rich people are trying to live longer isn’t some million dollar cryo-something experiment, but a pill that costs pennies that's already on the market. So, the big question is: Does it work? To find out, I interviewed the lead researcher on the biggest study of metformin for anti-aging, Dr. Nir Barzilai. The answer he gives me? Well, it’s complicated.Note: I do not take metformin, nor am I advocating anyone else should. Please don't get medical advice from a youtube video! The purpose of this video is to explain the research that exists, explore what it tells us about aging in general, and discuss the effort Dr. Barzilai is leading to learn more.00:00 What is metformin?00:53 What is aging?01:46 Can we slow aging?02:27 Does metformin work for anti aging?03:40 How does metformin work?04:37 What is the TAME Trial?05:46 Should I take metformin?07:31 Why slow aging?Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q I tell different stories in different places:You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated video producer and journalist. Cleo produces detailed explainer stories about technology and economics. She wrote the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained, was the host and a senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, as well as a host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Ask...

The New Hunt for the Colossal Squid

22 min

The deeper you go, the weirder it gets...Visit http://mercury.com to join over 200 thousand entrepreneurs who love Mercury. Gigantic, monstrous, beautiful creatures thrive in the cold dark depths of our oceans. Until now though, most of our discoveries have just required decades of work for the chance to just get… lucky. Now, there’s a NEW WAY to discover the animals hidden in the deepest oceans.And all you need is a drop of water…In this video, come with us as we dive into our deepest oceans. Together we’ll see what’s hiding there, explore how we discover new animals today, and reveal the shocking new tech that is unlocking a new age in deep ocean discovery. Huge if true!Mercury Note: Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.Chapters 00:00 What did they find in the deep ocean? 03:16 What animals are hiding in the twilight zone? 05:29 How do we find giant monsters in the deep? 06:43 What else is still hiding in the abyss? 07:42: Why do they get so BIG?10:20 What can a drop of water tell us? 11:28 How does eDNA work? 12:24 Can we find the colossal squid?15:03 What about totally unknown species??16:19 What’s the new frontier of ocean discovery? 17:04 Why is this huge if true?18:00 :) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel...

Why You Can't Just Screenshot an NFT

14 min

How can a JPEG cost money?Subscribe to see the next episode: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1 The biggest question I hear about NFTs is: “Why can’t I just screenshot that?” Or, put another way, why does a digital image that can be copied have any value? The answer, it turns out, isn’t in an explainer about blockchain technology (you’re welcome). The answer to why NFTs have any value is hiding in the art market that came before them. Because NFTs are weird, but it turns out art is already even weirder. To really understand NFTs, we have to zoom out a bit, and talk about the incredibly strange way we value art to begin with. And that story starts not with crypto, but with a fight at an art auction in 1973…This video explains why a JPEG can cost money, and how expensive art led to NFTs. Along the way, I get help from two incredible experts: David Galperin, head of contemporary art for the Americas at Sotheby’s, and Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit and investor. David tells me about how the Scull Sale in 1973 exploded the art market forever, how Andy Warhol gave his silk screens to appropriation artist Elaine Sturtevant so she could copy his prints, and how Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings go for millions but the value is in “the certificate, not the drawing.” Alexis gives me a tour of his NFT collection (!), shows me the Cryptopunk (Serenapunk!) he gave to his wife Serena Williams, and explains how this technology has become a new medium for artists looking to the future. Together, we explore the big questions people are asking about NFTs and how the art world has grappled with those same questions for decades: What is value? Where does it come from? What is too much, for too little?00:00 Why do people buy NFTs?01:04 How are NFTs like contemporary art?03:41 Why is art so expensive?05:10 Is art just money laundering?06:07 Why do people buy NFTs?07:41 Are NFTs just a link to an image?08:47 Why do NFTs matter?10:24 How do I do sponsorships?Be featured in an...

I Wrote a NEW Sci-Fi with Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir

1 hr 5 min

This wasn't in the book... Andy is one of the most popular science fiction writers alive today. He also wrote The Martian. What’s special about his work is how real his fake stories are. He showed me the secret spreadsheets he uses to calculate the science in his writing (including my favorite, “wrong math”).The reason that matters is that fiction can help you see the real world more clearly. Sci-fi is “huge if true”! This show is about real science and tech, but we’ve done a little sci fi to explain complex things. So I wanted to learn from Andy. In this conversation, we go deep inside Andy’s fictional worlds to see how exactly he makes them so real… And we play out a BRAND NEW sci fi story together in real time…Welcome to HUGE* Conversations.Chapters 00:00 Who is Andy Weir?03:10: The world’s largest meteorite06:04 Andy Weir’s secret spreadsheets10:04 How Rocky became Rocky13:02 Where Rocky’s story really began15:07 What didn’t make it into the book for Project Hail Mary17:22 How to create a true alien19:25 Rocky’s body v. your body23:38 Our new sci-fi story27:23 How to tell if a planet has alien life31:23 The biggest question if we do find aliens36:48 How do you talk to a new alien species41:16 The biggest changes in The Martian44:55 The secret sauce of HUGE* and Project Hail Mary48:15 Does sci-fi influence science51:17 Andy’s new book51:42 The biggest sci-fi changes in real life54:54 The optimistic future Andy sees coming57:35 What Andy Weir wants to be remembered for58:42 Sneak peek at our next video! 58:53 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo...

Why Elon Musk is Really Building Starlink

18 min

Your internet isn't in space. It's in the ocean. But that might change, and here's why.Subscribe to see more optimistic technology stories!Elon Musk tweeted that Starlink satellite internet service is now available in Ukraine. What does that really mean? Why is it important? And if it’s a big new thing that the internet is in space then… where was it before? In this video, I dive deep into how your internet gets to you right now, why Elon Musk wants to put it in space, and why it all matters.We’re in the middle of the Internet Space Race. It’s not just Elon with Starlink and SpaceX, it's also Jeff Bezos with Project Kuiper… oh and don’t forget Richard Branson with OneWeb. Why do all these billionaires want to put your internet in space? So much so that they’re willing to put millions of dollars on the line, weather geomagnetic storms, and launch thousands of satellites into orbit, all in an attempt to change the way millions of people get their (your!) internet.But this is more than just a fight between billionaires. It’s a fight for the future of the internet. It’s an effort to get connected the billions of people who still, in 2022, don’t have access to high speed internet - or can’t afford the cost given the way it’s being provided today.This is a story about ambition, connection, and a WHOLE LOT of crazy cool engineering.I show 3 maps in this video that you might enjoy exploring for yourself: - Submarine cable map: https://www.submarinecablemap.com/ - Share of the population using the internet: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-individuals-using-the-internet - Starlink satellite map: https://satellitemap.space/Chapters: 00:00 The Internet Space Race has begun01:15 How does the internet work?05:03 Why put the internet in space?10:37 How does Starlink work?Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer: https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q I tell different stories in different places:You can find me on TikTok here for short...

The Hardest Problem AI Ever Solved, with Google DeepMind CEO

1 hr 11 min

He solved “the most important unsolved problem in science”… If you need more optimistic science and tech stories, subscribe to support HUGE*!Demis Hassabis is a Nobel Prize winner and CEO of Google DeepMind. He is one of the most important people alive on what is quickly becoming the biggest technological advance of our lifetime. Because the biggest way AI is going to impact your life, you can’t see. It’s not a chatbot or an image generator. It’s the tools he and his team are building that are invisible to you – in new drug design, nuclear fusion, natural disasters detection, quantum computers. So who Demis is and what he chooses to build matters a lot. And he’s fascinating… He’s a childhood chess prodigy who at 17 turned down a reportedly million dollar job offer from a gaming company to go to college instead, and then get a PhD in neuroscience. He founded his company DeepMind with a mission to “solve intelligence” – starting with beating video games. He sold that company to Google specifically because they promised to let DeepMind focus on scientific research.But as this has turned into the most intense technological battle in recent history, Demis is now in charge of much much more. He’s now behind basically everything Google does in AI.He’s making decisions that affect your life and millions of other lives every single day.So what is he planning to do with all that power?My goal is to show you the future Demis Hassabis wants to build, so you can decide for yourself what you think of it.Welcome to HUGE* Conversations.This interview was recorded on March 5, 2026 in London.Chapters00:00 The AI most likely to save your life02:04 Who is the man behind Google’s AI?03:58 The 50-year mystery AI just solved06:15 The moment that changed everything12:30 Why every future drug will use AI16:47 The cutting edge of drug discovery now19:13 How DNA-editing and AI work together21:52 "I would have left AI in the lab longer"25:39 The "Code Red" that changed google29:16 Move 37: Whe...

The Big Misconception About Clean Energy

11 min

… I’ve been thinking about energy use all wrong. Subscribe to support Huge If True, an optimistic tech show.As long as most of our energy still comes from fossil fuels, we’re in kind of a trap. Using less energy is our only real option to slow climate change. So most of us have heard only one message throughout our lives: “Conserve energy. Because terrible things will happen if we don’t.”That’s true. But I now think of it as “the stick” of climate communication - the way to get people to care about climate change based on fear and desperation.I think it’s time to talk about “the carrot” - the way to get people to work toward clean energy based on hope and audacious ambition.This video explains why, with help from my former colleague at Vox, Matt Yglesias. As renewable energy continues to get cheaper, as more and more clean energy technologies become more viable, we have an opportunity to look ahead toward a better future. What would you do with abundant clean energy?Chapters: 00:00 We’re thinking about energy wrong01:17 The stick: climate change02:25 Why you’re taught to conserve energy03:23 Why we should use more clean energy04:36 The carrot: energy abundance05:38 Why poor countries need more energy06:39 Why everyone needs more energyBe featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q I tell different stories in different places:You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated video producer and journalist. Cleo produces detailed explainer stories about technology and economics. She wrote the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained, was the host and a senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answ...

Jony Ive Shows The Real Process Behind the Ferrari Luce

51 min

The first all electric Ferrari, the Ferrari Luce, isn't what you think... (feat. Apple legend Jony Ive and Ferrari Chief Designer Flavio Manzoni)For more optimistic science and tech stories, subscribe to HUGE*! You’re about to see the first ever all electric Ferrari. A car Ferrari said they’d never make, that will probably be the most controversial car they’ve ever made. Above all, it will definitely be a massive risk – new tech and new design that will impact all of us, whether or not we ever drive a Ferrari.I’m at a secret track in Italy to get a first look before it launches. And talk to the two people most responsible for it:Apple legend Jony Ive who showed me the crazy details inside this car. And Ferrari Chief Designer Flavio Manzoniwho told me the real reason they made it, and why it matters – for Ferrari, electric cars, and you and me.Welcome to HUGE* Conversations.This HUGE* Conversation was recorded on April 29, 2026 in Balocco, Italy.Chapters:00:00 What is the Ferrari Luce?1:28 What does the first electric Ferrari look like?3:28 Why did Ferrari say "never" to electric cars?5:30 Will all cars be electric by 2035?7:52 Why is this car already controversial?10:20 What did Jony Ive learn from 20 years of the iPhone?12:09 Why does this car matter if I won’t buy a Ferrari?14:11 How much does the Ferrari Luce cost?14:40 How fast is the Ferrari Luce?15:28 What does the inside of the car look like?17:18 Does the Ferrari Luce have fake engine sound?18:30 Why did Jony Ive add more buttons and fewer screens?21:25 What are the secret books Jony Ive wrote Ferrari?23:18 Does Jony Ive regret the iPhone?25:56 What would Steve Jobs say?27:21 Why did Ferrari hire Jony Ive?28:38 What shocked Flavio Manzoni about the Ferrari Luce?30:38 Why make such a big car?31:50 How do you make an electric Ferrari feel alive?33:12 Is this the future of Ferrari?35:56 What’s next for Ferrari?38:11 How did they build the Ferrari Luce?40:00 What would Enzo Ferrari say?41:55 What do the world’s...

Would You Use An Artificial Womb? (I Would)

24 min

Artificial wombs are coming. That's a good thing.Subscribe to support Huge If True: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1 Artificial wombs are the stuff of science fiction, the scary kind. I think of The Matrix, when Neo wakes up in the real world, covered in goo. But in recent years, researchers have taken enormous leaps in helping embryos survive and grow outside a uterus. Artificial wombs are becoming more science, less fiction.Any conversation about this topic gets heated, fast. Some people HATE the idea of an artificial womb. They feel that this technology could be used in terrible ways, like to control how people have kids or breed babies. Or that pregnancy is an important, special connection that we can never replicate with technology. Or that it’s a useless distraction, because there’s way more important stuff we should be investing in right now to make life easier for parents (parental leave, affordable childcare) and in the US at least, we don’t.But others LOVE the idea. They feel that artificial wombs could help reduce the risks of pregnancy, and point out that more than 800 women die from childbirth around the world every day. Or that pregnancy holds women back, with data showing the wage gap is borne mostly by mothers. Or simply that bearing children is painful, an argument all on its own.At the start of this episode, I feel genuinely conflicted. But halfway through, something happens that gives me a much-needed perspective shift.In this video, we dive deep into artificial wombs, with help from leading researcher Dr. Jacob Hanna. We explore how close we really are on artificial wombs now, how they work, why they’re so controversial - and why I realized I’d totally use one.Chapters: 00:00 Artificial wombs are coming1:42 What is an artificial womb?2:58 How close are we to artificial wombs?4:06 Why are artificial wombs controversial?6:42 Why we need artificial womb research now9:42 My big perspective shift12:19 What to expect from surgery14:...

What's Hidden Under Antarctica?

23 min

Something's hiding below the ice in Antarctica…. For optimistic science and tech stories, subscribe!In 1970, a team of Soviet scientists started drilling. For 28 years, they kept going… until after nearly 4,000 meters… they suddenly stopped. Because they’d found something unimaginable: Liquid water. A secret lake, down below all this ice, that had been completely sealed off from the rest of the world for 15 million years. How? And… is there something alive in there? Creatures that have been evolving separately from the rest of the planet for 15 million years?Scientists started searching for more of these secret lakes, and as they did, they realized there is way more going on under Antarctica than we ever thought.I needed to know the truth about Earth’s most remote continent. So I've come all the way to Antarctica to show you what's really happening down below this ice. And exactly what they discovered when they finally broke inside…Chapters: 00:00 What’s hiding under Antarctica?01:50 How thick is the ice in Antarctica?2:30 What if you dig a hole into Antarctica? 4:13 What’s inside a crevasse? 4:56 How do we know what’s under the ice?6:24 What if you go deeper?07: 18 How old is the ice under Antarctica? 10:33 Why are there lakes under Antarctica's ice?13:31 How can we study the subglacial lakes?15:19 Did we find new life under Antarctica? 16:52 Can research in Antarctica help us find aliens in space? 17:41 What don’t we know? 18:12 What's next? 18:22 :) Special thanks to Dr. Steven Chown, Rebecca Warne and all of the amazing guides from the White Desert Foundation leading Science Week .You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and...

Can My Dog Live 80 Years?

11 min

The real science of puppy agingSubscribe to support optimistic science and tech videos!Meet Thor. He’s a 10-pound Australian Shepherd and, objectively, the cutest dog to ever live (except yours, of course). Thor is 8 years old, which means that he is likely about halfway through his life. I on the other hand am probably about a third of the way through mine. I hate that math. It seems cruel that we live so much longer than our best friends.What can we do to help dogs live longer? That’s where this video begins. Along the way, my research took me on a journey to better understand what aging is, human and dog longevity research, how dogs and humans age differently, and why “dog years” aren't real. I met Celine Halioua, founder of a company called Loyal, which is conducting large-scale dog longevity research. And I spent some quality time with Thor.But the best part of this video is that YOU submitted your dog videos and photos! This video is dedicated to your dogs: Poppy, Cleo (oh, hey!), Alexa, Pickles, Bree, Tuffy, Whitey, Dakota, Callan, Annie, Lonzo, Belle, Momo, Nelson, Yolie, Achilles, Yondu, Jasper, Ginny, Arya, Goldie, Macho, Mochi, Bombon, Pepe, Cheeseburger (omg), Ellie, Hagrid, Leia, Mosley, Chillie, Mery, Azure, Data, Luna, Dobby, Ketch, Sem, Hershey, Kobe, Penny, Ari, Lou, Browser, Molly, Pia, Jack, Pocky, Alphonse, Banjo, Sandy, Simba, Maha, Chip, Titus, Dougal, Apollo, Lucky, Mister, Mouse, King, Meda, Yoshi, Bacon, Mia, Sherry, and Macy. We love you. (Please let me know if you submitted but don’t see your dog’s name here! I’ll add them.)Chapters: 00:00 How can I help my dog live longer?01:11 What are dog years?02:29 How do you measure aging?03:15 The methylation “aging clock”04:10 Why small dogs live longer05:22 Making all dogs live longer06:49 How to help my dog live longer now07:43 Ode to our best friendsBe featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q I tell different stories in diff...

The $1 Trillion Problem Diamonds Can Solve

20 min

Most people think of diamonds as expensive jewelry, or maybe as super-hard drills. But everyone’s missing the coolest story here… We’ve built giant machines that can recreate the conditions inside our planet. And found new ways to make diamonds way cheaper, now unlocking the hidden potential of this super material. People are sending diamonds into space, adding them to massive computers, and using them to help solve one of the biggest technological problems we’re about to face.This is about pushing the limits of material science to benefit all of us. So in this video, we’re getting rare access inside a lab where they make diamonds to see how they actually do it… And we’re gonna shrink down inside your computer to show you why diamonds are not what you think.Chapters: 00:00 Diamonds are not what you think01:38 Where do natural diamonds come from?02:17 Why are diamonds so hard?03:48 What's a diamond's secret superpower?05:09 Why does my computer get so hot? 05:50 How small is a transistor? 06:43 What's the limitation of transistors? 10:32 Who grew a diamond first? 11:49 How do you grow a diamond now? 13:39 Are natural diamonds better than lab grown?14:24 How could diamonds be used next?15:21 Why are engineers so excited about diamonds?16:28 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and produce...

Formula 1, Explained for Rookies

16 min

F1 isn’t just a car race. It’s a science experiment.Subscribe to support optimistic tech stories!You’ve been hearing about F1 too, right? Formula 1 is skyrocketing in popularity in the US, driven in part by the Netflix series Drive To Survive. In this video, we’ll break down exactly what you need to know to keep up with this crazy, expensive sport everyone’s suddenly obsessed with. But we’ll also take a deeper look at the big (HUGE*!) question here, which is: Why do this? Why pour so much money, so many bright minds, so much technological effort into F1… into entertainment?The answer is in what we get in return. Formula 1 is much more than a car race. It’s a space program, for the road. Chapters: 00:00 Why is F1 so popular right now?01:32 Is F1 worth it?02:09 WTF is F1?04:15 How does an F1 race work?04:57 How does F1 scoring work?05:36 How does an F1 car work?07:39 What does an F1 team cost?08:44 Do F1 teams make money?09:40 Is F1 wasteful?10:15 Why is F1 a science experiment?11:23 Does F1 tech help road cars… really?13:12 What is the future of F1?13:56 Help :)Important note (because I never want you to be confused about whether something is sponsored): The Mercedes F1 Team did not pay me or give me a ticket to the Miami Grand Prix. They did however let me into their garage, for which I am very grateful! I’m a huge fan! Thanks to Johnny Harris for helping me shape this story early on, and to Toni Cowan-Brown for taking the time to look at a cut of this video. It means a lot to be supported by fellow producers!Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video...

Something’s Happening to the Ozone Hole

19 min

This is ANTARCTICA. And in 1985, it became the center of a global crisis… Directly over Antarctica, high up in the stratosphere was a massive hole. And if we hadn’t done anything about it, today, we’d be living in an alternate world. By now, a hole would be forming over the North Pole as well. By 2040, the “hole” would be over the entire planet. By 2065, skin cancer rates would be soaring. Kids wouldn’t play outside much anymore… But that’s NOT the world we’re living in! In fact, you’ve probably stopped hearing this story altogether.That wasn’t by accident. It was a choice. Two choices, both of which dramatically changed the course of human history for the better.So let me show you how that happened and what's about to happen next. Because it turns out, the little sliver at the bottom of the map is actually the center of everything/our whole planet. And you need to see this now, because scientists say we need to make the next big choice. Visit http://mercury.com to join over 300 thousand entrepreneurs who love Mercury. Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.Chapters 00:00 What happened to the ozone hole? 02:22 How do you get to Antarctica? 05:06 What is the ozone layer? 07:16 Who owns Antarctica? 08:47 Is Antarctica the center of the planet? 09:32 How much ice is in Antarctica? 10:24 Is that a penguin?! 10:35 What is the Antarctic Treaty? 11:25 What caused the ozone hole? 12:12 How did we fix the ozone hole?13:33 What are the Blue Rivers? 14:23 What's happening to the ice in Antarctica? 15:05 What’s the next big choice? 16:06 :)Special thanks to Dr. Steven Chown, Rebecca Warne and all of the amazing guides from the White Desert Foundation leading Science Week .You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Em...

This Gene-Edited Tree Captures More CO2. Should We Plant It?

13 min

These trees have been genetically modified to capture more carbon. Should we use them?Subscribe to support optimistic science and tech journalism!You may have heard that the United States Supreme Court recently weakened the power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate emissions. That decision harms our ability to fight climate change. In this video, I look for hope in a new research effort - but it's important that new science be paired with regulation. As Mr Beast put it in this video, "we're going to need all the help we can get."Recently, I visited a greenhouse full of super trees. Over the past few decades, genetic engineering has given us the power to manipulate living things - crops, animals, even humans. At the same time, we’ve been unable to adequately slow climate change. The trees I saw are an effort to use one to help the other, led by a group of researchers at a company called Living Carbon. If it works, it could strengthen one of our best allies in this fight.Hold on though, easier said than done. In this video, we go behind the scenes with one big, ambitious project. We explore the major challenges to getting this right, and the reasons planting trees has become controversial in the fight against climate change. Along the way, I visit Living Carbon’s lab and greenhouse, and interview CEO Maddie Hall and CTO Patrick Mellor.The really HUGE idea here isn’t so much about these plants as it is about us. It’s the idea that sometime soon, humanity is going to need to take on a responsibility no species has ever had before: To deliberately, continuously regulate the atmosphere of a planet on behalf of every living thing on it.And we need to decide: How much do we change other species to do it?Chapters: 00:00 What are supertrees?01:44 How do you edit tree genes?02:26 What’s different about these trees?03:45 Do these trees really suck in more CO2?04:18 Thank you Masterworks!05:24 Why not just plant more trees?06:44 Why is planting trees controv...

The Massive Machine Hidden in the Deep Ocean

19 min

Off the coast of Sicily, there’s a massive underwater machine. It looks like a forest of floating spheres…And on the surface, hidden in an abandoned winery, a computer watches them and waits. And in 2023, they saw something…Something WAY smaller than an electron tore through that forest, setting off a signal nearly 30x more powerful than anything like it we’ve seen before, which means something HUGE must have happened way out in space.This crazy experiment is not alone! Down in Antarctica, buried deep in the ice, are over 5000 more of these mysterious spheres. Together, these two machines – called KM3net and Ice Cube – are part of a massive global effort to give us a brand new way to find and look inside the biggest, most extreme, cosmic events in our universe.But to do it, they need to catch the most elusive particle in all of physics.And in this episode of HUGE* If True, we’re going to show you how…This episode was made possible by AT and T, the official connectivity partner of HUGE* If True. Chapters: 00:00 What's the machine hidden under the sea?02:40 What is a neutrino? 03:24 How do we know what's out in the universe? 06:06 How do you catch a neutrino? 08:08 Why can’t we see neutrinos? 11:42 How do you know you’ve detected a neutrino? 12:27 What’s hiding underneath Antarctica? 13:08 What have we discovered with neutrinos? 14:44 What don’t we know yet? 15:03 Why is this HUGE* If True? 15:44 :) You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained...

How This Telescope Searches For Aliens

6 min

This new image will help us answer the biggest question: Are we alone?Subscribe if you love optimistic technology stories.NASA just released the first pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope ever built. They’re incredible. They show the deepest we’ve ever seen into space, stars being born, galaxies colliding. But the least beautiful one is my favorite. It’s the spectrum of exoplanet WASP 96-b. In simpler terms, it’s a picture of the atmosphere of a planet over 1,000 light years away. Most simply put… it’s our new way to find aliens. Subscribe for more Huge If True: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1Chapters: 00:00 First images from the James Webb Space Telescope00:52 Where are all the aliens?01:34 How does the James Webb Space Telescope find life?02:43 How do we know what's on other planets?03:35 What did the James Webb Space Telescope find?04:09 What does it mean that we found water??04:49 What happens next??Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Ask...

The Sun Is Weirder Than You Think

22 min

If you dove into the sun, the first layer you’d hit is hot enough to make diamonds BOIL. Right now we’re in a golden age of new solar science. For the first time, we’re getting close-up pictures of the Sun like we’ve never seen. Sending probes into its atmosphere. And revealing secrets about our star we never thought possible… Trust me, after this video, you’ll never look up at the sun the same way. So let me take you on a journey… INTO THE SUN.This episode was made possible by AT and T, the official connectivity partner of HUGE* If True. Chapters 00:00 What happens if you dive into the Sun?01:11 Is the Sun a giant ball of fire?03:16 How far away is the Sun?06:17 What does the Sun sound like?07:13 Are solar storms dangerous?09:14 What is the surface of the Sun like?11:31 Why does light get trapped inside the Sun?12:51 How do we know what's inside the Sun?14:20 How does the Sun make energy?15:39 How big is the Sun?16:01 When will the Sun die?17:05 What don’t we know about the Sun?18:02 :)You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram Bio:Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, HUGE* If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. Additional Reading and Watching:- Parker Solar Probe (NASA) https://science.nasa.gov/mission/parker-solar-probe/, https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/traveling-to-the-sun-why-wont-parker-solar-probe-melt/- Solar...

The Two Opposite Futures of Self-Driving Cars

15 min

Self driving is here. But not like you thought.Subscribe to support optimistic tech journalism!I’ll admit it. I’d gotten cynical about self driving cars. It feels like every 3 years, we’re told they’ll be here in another 3 years. Recently though, I saw a video that shocked me: Kyle Vogt, CEO of Cruise, called for a taxi and a driverless car arrived. He was just one of hundreds of people across San Francisco who are getting into their ride and finding no one else inside.So... are self-driving cars finally here?I took a deep dive into that question over the last few months, trying to piece together all the other self-driving stuff I’ve heard about to get the full picture. I ended up in San Francisco, interviewing Kyle himself!The answer I found to whether self-driving is here is: YES. Just not like I thought. It’s not the sci-fi version I was expecting. Instead, it’s actually two kinds of autonomous vehicles, battling it out on the roads right now. And our lives are about to look very different depending on who wins.Chapters: 00:00 Self driving cars are finally here02:15 Levels of self driving, explained03:32 Where are we now on self driving cars?05:07 Thank you Masterworks!06:10 The big fight for the future of driverless cars07:04 Interviewing Kyle Vogt, CEO of Cruise08:20 Robotaxi meets world (and police)10:00 The two near futures of self driving11:52 The long term future of drivingImportant note (because I never want you to be confused about whether something is sponsored): The only sponsor in this video is Masterworks, which means they got to approve their ad section beforehand, but didn't get a say in the rest of the video. Cruise did not pay me for being part of this video. I did an interview with the Cruise CEO and Cruise let me see their Bolt car, for which I'm very grateful!Be featured in an episode - upload questions for me to answer! https://www.dropbox.com/request/Edocsb2kErpueQ7F9T1Q You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: https://w...

The Biggest Launch Since ChatGPT (Muse)

1 hr 14 min

What’s happening right now is a big deal.For more HUGE* Conversations with the most important leaders in science and tech, subscribe!The biggest AI launch since ChatGPT just happened... and Alexandr Wang and his team at Meta built it. Most people are using AI to answer questions, glorified Google Search.This is something totally different. It’s an "agent." It can make phonecalls, do tasks, for you.But for it to work, you have to trust it. First with your personal information. Then that it’s going to do what you actually want. And then that it’s not gonna, well, get out of control. All at a time when the people building the most powerful AI leaders are warning us that AI IS getting out of control!If you understand Muse, you’ll understand the biggest open questions about AI right now. In this HUGE* Conversation with Meta AI Chief Alexandr Wang, that's what we do.What can Muse actually do? When can we trust it? And what should we do to make sure this goes right?HUGE* Conversations is an independent journalistic interview show. Our mission is to show the futures the most important leaders in science and tech are building, so you can decide for yourself what you think of them. Interviewees do not see questions ahead of time, have any editorial control, get paid or pay HUGE*, or see the HUGE* Conversation before publication. Chapters: 0:00 What is Muse?1:30 Who is Alexandr Wang? 3:04 Why is Muse exploding?6:45 Why do I need an AI assistant?10:24 What does an AI agent sound like on the phone?13:03 Why is Muse a cute little guy?17:38 What does Meta do with my information?18:54 Where does my information actually live? 24:18 How do you teach an AI discretion?29:16 Can AI police other AI?34:43 What happened in the OpenAI hack?40:50 How do we regulate AI?44:29 How fast has AI actually moved? 55:26 Why build an AI agent?1:00:47 What is personal superintelligence?1:03:09 What does Alexandr Wang believe about people?1:06:46 How does Alexandr Wang want to be remembered?1:08:03 :)Yo...

The Real Fight Over AI Art

17 min

Why DALLE, Midjourney, and other AI image generation tools are so controversial...Subscribe for more optimistic science and tech stories!You’ve probably heard about the AI that can make any image you want. With these, anyone can make art in seconds. Artists, understandably, have concerns about that. This technology has quickly become VERY controversial.Since we got access to DALLE-2 a few weeks ago, my friend Justin and I have been sending our creations back and forth. It’s a lot of fun. Justin is a designer and animator who works with me on Huge If True. He’s an artist. I’m… not so much. What I noticed as Justin and I were making these is: His were way better than mine! It didn’t feel like the AI was leveling the playing field between us. It felt like it was giving me new skills, but it was giving HIM superpowers.So, we set up a little competition to test that… and you voted on the results.Along the way, we’ll explain how these artificial intelligence image generation tools (Open AI's DALLE-2, Midjourney, stable diffusion, and more) really work, why they’re so controversial, and why they matter for our future.00:00 Why am I hearing about AI art?02:00 How to use DALLE04:46 Round 1: Cleo with no AI05:50 Round 1: Justin with no AI06:36 How do AI art generators work?08:09 Round 2: Cleo with AI08:54 Round 2: Justin with AI09:24 How does DALLE use artists' work?10:25 Should artists worry about AI? 11:12 Why is AI art so controversial?12:08 What's next for DALLE?13:07 RESULTSSubscribe to see the next episode: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1 For more art and animation from Justin: https://www.the11percent.com/ Sources and further reading: - OpenAI’s tutorial for DALL-E 2: https://openai.com/dall-e-2/- Free Hugging Face DALLE mini: https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini - Aditya Ramesh’s detailed explanation of how DALLE-2 works: http://adityaramesh.com/posts/dalle2/dalle2.html- Midjourney’s community showcase: https://www.midjourney.com/sh...

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