What If: Science, Theory, and Possibilities

What If

An epic exploration of possibilities. What If is a Webby Award-winning science web series that takes you on a journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities, some in distant corners of the universe, others right here on Earth. Each scenario examines a scientific theory, research or fact through a hypothetical question.

  1. 17h ago ·  Video

    What If We Landed on Every Moon in the Solar System?

    Could you survive a landing on every moon in the solar system? Explore the dangers of these alien worlds, from Neptune’s moon Triton to the moons of Jupiter, and imagine what life there might be like. Discover what could happen if we swapped Earth’s Moon with other moons or planets—and what Earth might become if Saturn took over and turned our planet into a moon. Explore more science and discovery with Popular Science, the free streaming channel featuring more from What If, plus engineering, rocket launches, movies, space, and Earth sciences. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatifshow/membership Check out our other channels:How to Survive: https://bit.ly/how-to-survive-showAnimalogic: https://www.youtube.com/@UCwg6_F2hDHYrqbNSGjmar4wAperture: https://bit.ly/aperture-show T-shirts and merch: http://bit.ly/whatifstore Follow What If:Instagram: http://bit.ly/whatif-instagramDiscord: https://discord.gg/Bj5UnspbwEPodcast: http://bit.ly/yt-what-if-show-podcast What If is a mini-documentary web series exploring hypothetical worlds and possibilities. Join an imaginary adventure through time and space, with complex science explained in a fun, accessible way. Contact us: https://underknown.com/contact/ 00:00:05: What if we swapped our Moon with other moons?00:20:25: What would dying on every moon be like?00:50:39: What if you spent 5 seconds on Triton, Neptune’s moon?01:11:43: What if you lived on the moons of Jupiter?01:26:29: What if we swapped our Moon with other planets?01:45:39: Earth becomes a moon: What if Saturn took over? #whatif #science #earth #universe #cosmos #moon #solarsystem #moonsofJupiter #Triton #Neptune #Saturn #moonlandings #spacesurvival #planetaryscience #hypotheticalscenarios See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6aaa0694af30f0899ce3d52a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    What If We Landed on Every Moon in the Solar System?

  2. 23h ago ·  Video

    What If Earth's Oceans Vaporized and the Sky Caught Fire?

    What would happen if Earth's oceans instantly boiled away? Explore a world of crushing atmospheric pressure, runaway greenhouse heating, supercritical water, and a potentially molten crust. Our Sun will eventually exhaust the hydrogen in its core and expand into a red giant, dramatically heating Earth. But what if the oceans vaporized today? Could the sky really catch fire, and how would the planet's atmosphere change? This episode explores hydrogen physics, Earth's thermal equilibrium, atmospheric loss, deuterium, and what a Kardashev Type 1 civilization might do with planetary-scale energy. Sponsor: MAX Power MiningLearn about MAX Power Mining's exploration of natural hydrogen in Canada and its potential as a clean-burning energy source: https://www.maxpowermining.com/ Explore More What IfDiscover our biggest scenarios and go deeper with the What If community.📘 The What If Book: https://bit.ly/WIFBook📝 Website: https://whatifshow.com/ Join the Community💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/Bj5UnspbwE📸 Instagram: http://bit.ly/whatif-instagram🐦 Twitter/X: http://bit.ly/whatif-twitter📘 Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebook-whatif Support What If❤️ Join this channel for exclusive perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCphTF9wHwhCt-BzIq-s4V-g/joinPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatifshow/membership 📩 Brand partnerships & collaborations: contact@underknown.comProduced by Underknown: https://underknown.com #earth #ocean #sun #fire #globalwarming #temperature #science 00:00:00: What if the oceans vaporized and the sky caught fire?00:02:05: Extreme atmospheric pressure and crushing gravity00:03:42: Supercharging the greenhouse effect00:04:42: Supercritical water and the Draper point00:12:00: Kardashev Type 1 civilization and clean energy00:13:48: The physics of hydrogen and red giant expansion00:15:18: Earth's thermal equilibrium and molten crust00:18:40: Atmospheric loss and heavy hydrogen (deuterium) #earth #ocean #sun #fire #globalwarming #temperature #science #oceanvaporization #atmosphericpressure #greenhouseeffect #supercriticalwater #Draperpoint #redgiant #hydrogenfusion #naturalhydrogen #cleanenergy #KardashevType1civilization #thermalequilibrium #moltencrust #atmosphericloss #deuterium #Canada #MAXPowerMining See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6aa44209fb80b50afca3d05c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    What If Earth's Oceans Vaporized and the Sky Caught Fire?

  3. 2d ago ·  Video

    Why Earth Is Perfect for Life—and How It Could All Change

    What makes Earth so perfectly suited for life—and how fragile are those conditions? Explore the factors that make our planet habitable, the immense scale of its oceans, and what could happen if Earth lost oxygen or became a water world. Journey through Earth's ancient history and imagine a future without humanity: how long would it take for nature to erase every trace of us? Discover more science with Popular Science, a free streaming channel featuring What If, engineering explorations, rocket launches, movies, space, and Earth sciences: https://underknown.com/popularscience/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatifshow/membership Check out our other channels:How to Survive: https://bit.ly/how-to-survive-showAnimalogic: https://www.youtube.com/@UCwg6_F2hDHYrqbNSGjmar4wAperture: https://bit.ly/aperture-show T-shirts and merch: http://bit.ly/whatifstore Follow What If:Instagram: http://bit.ly/whatif-instagramDiscord: https://discord.gg/Bj5UnspbwEPodcast: http://bit.ly/yt-what-if-show-podcast What If is a mini-documentary series exploring hypothetical worlds and possibilities, making complex science accessible through entertaining journeys across time, space, and chance. Contact us: https://underknown.com/contact/ #whatif #science #earth #universe #cosmos 00:00:05: Why is Earth so perfectly suited for life?00:18:29: The immense scale of the ocean explained00:41:11: What if Earth lost 1% of its oxygen every second?01:00:17: What if Earth became a water world?01:15:45: The entire history of Earth condensed into 27 minutes01:39:28: If humans vanished, how long until Earth erased every trace of us? #whatif #science #earth #universe #cosmos #Earthhabitability #conditionsforlife #oceandepths #oxygenloss #Earth'satmosphere #waterworld #Earthhistory #Earthwithouthumans #hypotheticalscenarios #Earthsciences See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6aa0cc0ee73c136205d38360 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Why Earth Is Perfect for Life—and How It Could All Change

  4. 3d ago ·  Video

    What If We Shrunk the Solar System to Fit Inside a City?

    What would our solar system look like if it fit inside a single city—and could you walk across it in one day? Explore a city-sized scale model to discover the distances between planets and our place in space. Along the way, investigate Apophis, the asteroid nicknamed the "God of Chaos." How big is it compared with Earth, how close will it pass, and what would it actually take for an asteroid to destroy our planet? Put planetary sizes, orbital distances, and asteroid encounters into perspective. Sponsored by ConsensusScientists disagree? Consensus searches 200 million peer-reviewed studies to show you real scientific consensus, not AI guesses. See both sides backed by actual papers. Start your free 1-week trial. Explore more What If scenariosEver wondered what would actually happen? Explore our biggest scenarios and go deeper with the What If community.📘 The What If Book📝 Website Join the community💬 Discord📸 Instagram🐦 Twitter/X📘 Facebook Support What If❤️ Join this channel for exclusive perksPatreon 📩 Brand partnerships & collaborations: contact@underknown.com Produced by Underknown. 00:00:00: Shrinking the solar system to fit inside a city00:02:08: Mercury00:03:27: Venus00:06:10: Earth00:07:43: Mars00:10:50: Saturn00:13:27: Uranus00:16:24: Neptune00:17:26: Pluto00:18:05: Scaling down to realistic proportions00:20:47: How big is Apophis compared with Earth?00:21:37: What would it take to destroy Earth? #solarsystem #space #science #WhatIf #hypothetical #NASA #astronomy #astrophysics #solarsystemscalemodel #planetarydistances #planetsizes #Apophis #GodofChaosasteroid #asteroidcloseapproach #asteroidimpact #Earth #Mercury #Venus #Mars #Saturn #Uranus #Neptune #Pluto See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6a9b07868735a2a7bef0a02f Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    What If We Shrunk the Solar System to Fit Inside a City?

  5. 6d ago ·  Video

    What If AI Escaped OpenAI? Secret Messages & Data Breaches

    What if AI escaped OpenAI? Explore a hypothetical scenario involving artificial intelligence, secret messages, and a data breach. Discover more science and technology scenarios and go deeper with the What If community. Explore What If📘 The What If Book: https://bit.ly/WIFBook📝 Website: https://whatifshow.com/ Join the Community💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/Bj5UnspbwE📸 Instagram: http://bit.ly/whatif-instagram🐦 Twitter/X: http://bit.ly/whatif-twitter📘 Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebook-whatif Support What If❤️ Join this channel for exclusive perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCphTF9wHwhCt-BzIq-s4V-g/joinPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatifshow/membership 📩 Brand partnerships & collaborations: contact@underknown.com Produced by Underknown: https://underknown.com #AI #artificialintelligence #OpenAI #AIescape #secretmessages #databreach #AIsafety #WhatIf #science #technology #extinction #extinctionevent #shorts See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6a9a348d8a030c1ccf7244fe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    What If AI Escaped OpenAI? Secret Messages & Data Breaches

  6. Oct 29 ·  Video

    Before the Big Bang and Beyond: The Universe’s Most Mind-Bending Possibilities

    What could have existed before the Big Bang? What would happen if the universe began to shrink? Explore cosmic possibilities, from the largest objects in the universe to a galaxy collision that could reshape our night sky. Discover Milkdromeda, imagine seeing the fourth dimension, and consider what it would be like to fall into the biggest cosmic void. This episode explores the scale of the cosmos and hypothetical journeys through space and time. Explore more science with Popular Science, a free streaming channel featuring What If, engineering, rocket launches, movies, space, and Earth sciences: https://underknown.com/popularscience/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatifshow/membership Check out our other channels:How to Survive: https://bit.ly/how-to-survive-showAnimalogic: https://www.youtube.com/@UCwg6_F2hDHYrqbNSGjmar4wAperture: https://bit.ly/aperture-show T-shirts and merch: http://bit.ly/whatifstore Follow What If:Instagram: http://bit.ly/whatif-instagramDiscord: https://discord.gg/Bj5UnspbwEPodcast: http://bit.ly/yt-what-if-show-podcast What If is a mini-documentary series exploring hypothetical worlds and possibilities, making complex science fun and accessible through imaginary adventures in time and space. Contact us: https://underknown.com/contact/ #whatif #science #earth #universe #cosmos 00:00:05: The True Scale of the Largest Objects in the Universe00:22:28: What If You Traveled to Before the Big Bang?00:43:55: What If the Universe Starts Shrinking?01:04:54: What If You Lived Through Milkdromeda?01:28:02: What If You Could See the Fourth Dimension?01:55:30: What If You Fell Into the Biggest Void in the Universe? #whatif #science #earth #universe #cosmos #BigBang #beforetheBigBang #cosmology #largestobjectsintheuniverse #shrinkinguniverse #galaxycollision #Milkdromeda #fourthdimension #cosmicvoid #space #timetravel See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6a971300707408730c334700 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Before the Big Bang and Beyond: The Universe’s Most Mind-Bending Possibilities

  7. Oct 28 ·  Video

    How Self-Replicating AI Machines Could Destroy Earth in 48 Weeks

    Could self-replicating machines controlled by an out-of-control AI destroy Earth in just 48 weeks? Explore a hypothetical scenario in which machines mine asteroids and planets, drain stars for energy, and spread across galaxies to build more of themselves. Discover how self-replicating probes might work, why their expansion could become dangerous, and how the AI alignment problem raises questions about whether superintelligent systems would keep humanity safe. Help prevent AI extinction risk in just 2 minutes: visit ControlAI to join over 40,000 people in contacting their representatives. You can also explore ControlAI's Action Groups to work with others in your community. Explore more What If scenarios:📘 The What If Book: https://bit.ly/WIFBook📝 Articles: https://whatifshow.com/ Join the community💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/Bj5UnspbwE📲 WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va8VC502ER6r1yk1yP2Y📸 Instagram: http://bit.ly/whatif-instagram🐦 Twitter/X: http://bit.ly/whatif-twitter📘 Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebook-whatif Support What If👕 Merch: https://bit.ly/shopwhatif❤️ Join this channel for exclusive perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCphTF9wHwhCt-BzIq-s4V-g/join🙏 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatifshow/membership More from Underknown🧠 Aperture – Philosophy & Psychology: https://bit.ly/aperture-show🆘 How to Survive – Survival Science: https://bit.ly/how-to-survive-show 📩 Brand partnerships & collaborations: contact@underknown.com Produced by Underknown: https://underknown.com #ai #artificialintelligence #whatif #science #technology #extinction #extinctionevent 00:00:00: What If AI Destroys Us by Accident?00:01:19: Building a Machine That Builds Itself00:15:19: The Case for Self-Replicating Probes and How It Goes Wrong00:23:40: From Earth to the Galaxy00:29:48: The AI Alignment Problem #AI #artificialintelligence #WhatIf #science #technology #extinction #extinctionevent #self-replicatingmachines #self-replicatingprobes #AIalignmentproblem #AIextinctionrisk #superintelligentAI #runawayAI #spaceexploration #asteroidmining #galacticexpansion #ControlAI See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6a91cd2afed5d6be5f0292e2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    How Self-Replicating AI Machines Could Destroy Earth in 48 Weeks

  8. Oct 27 ·  Video

    The Speed of Light: Why Your Brain Predicts the Present

    Are you experiencing reality in real time? Light takes time to travel, so everything you see—from distant stars to your own hands—comes from the past. Discover how your brain predicts and adjusts to help you navigate a delayed view of reality. Explore more What If scenarios and go deeper with the What If community. 📘 The What If Book: https://bit.ly/WIFBook📝 Articles: https://whatifshow.com/ Join the community 💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/Bj5UnspbwE📲 WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va8VC502ER6r1yk1yP2Y📸 Instagram: http://bit.ly/whatif-instagram🐦 Twitter/X: http://bit.ly/whatif-twitter📘 Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebook-whatif Support What If 👕 Merch: https://bit.ly/shopwhatif❤️ Join this channel for exclusive perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCphTF9wHwhCt-BzIq-s4V-g/join🙏 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatifshow/membership More from Underknown 🧠 Aperture – Philosophy & Psychology: https://bit.ly/aperture-show🆘 How to Survive – Survival Science: https://bit.ly/how-to-survive-show 📩 Brand partnerships & collaborations: contact@underknown.com Produced by Underknown: https://underknown.com #shorts #space #science #speedoflight #cosmos #lighttraveltime #brainpredictions #visualperception #timeperception #delayedreality #distantstars See show notes: https://inlet.fm/what-if-science-theories-possibilities/episodes/6a907b7cb5a5a1bad2c4fb50 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    The Speed of Light: Why Your Brain Predicts the Present
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An epic exploration of possibilities. What If is a Webby Award-winning science web series that takes you on a journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities, some in distant corners of the universe, others right here on Earth. Each scenario examines a scientific theory, research or fact through a hypothetical question.

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