I Didn't Clean My Glasses for a Week and then I Put them Under a Microscope

2021-01-22 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:40 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: Curiosity & trivia

Hank leaves his filthy glasses uncleaned for a week, then examines the lenses under his microscope, finding flakes of skin, hairs, fibers, possible salt crystals and, unexpectedly, many globs of oil; the moral is to clean your glasses.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hank decides to leave his filthy glasses unwashed for a week to look at them under his microscope

★★ Noticing his glasses were filthy, Hank wondered what exactly was on them and, since he has a microscope, kept not washing them for seven full days. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — Under the microscope: grease dots, skin flakes, hairs, a fiber, lens scratches and salt crystals

★★ Under the microscope Hank sees individual dots of grease, a skin cell, a hair coated in sebaceous matter and scratches on his lens. — 00:00:58
★★ Hank guesses the debris is mostly skin cells or flakes of skin, plus hairs. (hedged) — 00:00:58
★★ With a slide cover on one lens, Hank finds lots of flakes of skin, a tiny thread from his clothes or a bed sheet, and a huge hair. — 00:01:24
★★ Hank guesses some rectangular objects, too regular to be organic, are salt crystals, perhaps from a dried drop of sweat. (hedged) — 00:02:09

00:02:35 — The unexpected globs of oil, 'we are factories', cleaning the glasses before shooting SciShow, and the moral

★★ What Hank did not expect was all the globs of oil; he wonders whether it just leaps off his face. — 00:02:35
★★ Hank says humans are factories that make so much stuff with their bodies, which is upsetting. (playful) — 00:02:35
★ Hank has to go shoot SciShow and must clean his glasses to do it. — 00:02:35 · SciShow
★★ Hank gives the moral of the story: remember to clean your glasses. (playful) — 00:03:04

In the description and comments

★★ The description says glasses get harder to see through because globs of sebaceous oil reach the lenses from the skin and block light, creating streaks. (hedged) — video description
★★ The description advises a glasses cleaner that dissolves oil, not just water and toilet paper, though water matters because tiny salt crystals scratch lenses when rubbed. — video description
★★ In a comment Hank says bacteria are definitely on the glasses, though they would need time in suspension to start moving; he had hoped to glimpse a mite. — creator comment
★ In a comment Hank says viruses are far too small to see with his microscope. — creator comment
★ In a comment John calls the video distressing. (playful) — video description

Humor (significant)

Just before showing his week-dirty lenses, Hank cuts in with a disclaimer recorded later. — 00:00:29

“Warning from Hank from the future. What you are about to see is not great.”
After finding a huge hair stuck to his lens, Hank addresses the people he lives with. — 00:01:24

“I'm so sorry to everyone in my family for never cleaning my glasses.”
Looking at a field of possible salt crystals on his lens, Hank admires it, then recoils. — 00:02:35

“That's kind of cool. I hate it.”
Overwhelmed by the oil globs on his glasses, Hank reflects on the human body. — 00:02:35

“Oh my God, we are factories.”

Mentioned

Central: Glasses

Also: Mercury · Microscope · SciShow · Sebaceous gland · sodium chloride

Only in the description or credits: Bacteria · Toilet paper · Virus

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