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The Last 25 Questions I Asked Google

2021-07-23 · list · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature (also: History & curiosities) · mode: Curiosity & trivia · tags: self promotion, fundraising ask, community lore

Noting that Google remembers what he forgets, Hank runs through his most recent search questions (where World War II soldiers pooped, Apollo lunar modules, pine cones, Roman lamps, cicadas, the first sound recording) and ends with a plug for the Awesome Socks Club, which has raised over $600,000.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Google remembers; the 'where' and 'what' questions: World War II soldiers, atmospheric nitrogen, Apollo lunar modules, question words, pine cones

  • ★★ Hank says a weird thing about modern life is that he can forget what happened to him two weeks ago, but Google never will. — 00:00:00 · Google
  • ★★ Hank goes back through the most recent questions he asked Google, sorted by question word, starting with the wheres. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Google
  • ★ Hank wondered where World War II soldiers pooped in cities but found only pictures of soldiers pooping in trenches. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says the nitrogen in the atmosphere came from geological processes and, being heavy and stable, sticks around a long time, which is why there is so much. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank says Apollo lunar landers relaunched, rejoined the command module and were jettisoned; almost all were crashed into the Moon for seismic experiments, except the lunar module of Apollo Thirteen, used as a lifeboat and crashed into Earth's atmosphere. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank says Apollo Ten, which flew around the Moon before the landing, jettisoned its lunar module into solar orbit, where it still is. — 00:00:29
  • ★ Hank has been trying to figure out why why, when, where and what can be answered with then, there and that, which can't be a coincidence. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Hank says a pine cone is just a conifer cone, an organ of the plant, not analogous to some other structure as he had thought. — 00:00:58

00:01:35 — 'Is', 'what' and 'who' questions: plant physiology, aphid honeydew, Roman oil lamps, protons, cicadas, college, the first sound recording

  • ★★ Hank says Roman oil lamps looked like genie lamps but were made of clay, with a wick drawing up the oil, and the oil was olive oil. — 00:01:35
  • ★★ Hank says cicadas eat tree sap, not the sticky kind but the very liquid water that travels up to the leaves. — 00:01:35
  • ★★ Of his search 'what is college', Hank says he doesn't know, but thinks we should be asking the question. (unsure) — 00:01:35
  • ★★ Hank says the first noise was kind of recorded by Edison, but technically the first audio recording, by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville's device turning sound into an image, was not replayable until very recently. — 00:02:21

00:02:51 — The whys and hows, Katherine's Animal Crossing rule, and a poem of 'when' questions

  • ★★ Katherine thinks googling things about Animal Crossing taints the experience, so Hank googles quietly and then suggests things to try. — 00:02:51 · Katherine Green

00:03:21 — End of the poem, sign-off, and the Awesome Socks Club's total and open sign-ups

  • ★★ Hank says the Awesome Socks Club has raised over $600,000. — 00:03:21 · Awesome Socks Club
  • ★★★ Hank says the Awesome Socks Club sends lovely socks by a different independent artist each month, and subscriptions are open only for a limited time at awesomesocks.club. — 00:03:21 · Awesome Socks Club

In the description and comments

Humor (significant)

  • Searching where World War II soldiers pooped in cities turned up nothing useful — 00:00:00

    “I just found a lot of pictures of dudes pooping in trenches”

  • Apollo 10's lunar module is still in solar orbit — 00:00:58

    “We could go get it. It's just in space.”

  • Hank plays the earliest sound recording, recently turned back into audio — 00:02:51

    “I do not like that.”

  • Hank's closing 'poem' strings his 'when' searches, pairing a celebrity death with a song title — 00:03:21

    “When would the moon crash into the earth?”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Google

Also: People: Katherine Green · Luke Perry · Thomas Edison · Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville

Projects: Awesome Socks Club

Works: Animal Crossing

Concepts: aphid · higher education · nitrogen · proton · sound recording

Places: Moon

Events: Apollo 10 · Apollo 13 · World War II

Products: Apollo Lunar Module

Only in the description or credits: Maternal Center of Excellence · Partners In Health

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