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Flyana Boss Asks Hank Anything

2024-03-01 · collab / interview · Hank, Bobbi Lanier, Folayan Opeyemi · 17:16 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Health, Personal life, Science & nature, History & curiosities, Everyday life, Internet & YouTube) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: guest or collab

Hip-hop duo Flyana Boss (Bobbi and Folayan) ask Hank a string of questions (car heating and hacking, how many things a person knows, mixing starches, the Sun's future, water on icy moons, ginger ale and colds, molding babies' heads, parenting, going viral) and Hank answers with short explanations and jokes.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Flyana Boss introduce themselves; Hank's road from band tour to science guy; jokes about his age

  • ★★ Hank recalls being in a van on tour with his band and wondering what if he could be a science guy, which he then did; it has become his job. — 00:00:38

00:01:37 — Car heating and gas use, electric cars, whether all cars could be hacked

  • ★★ Hank explains a gas car's engine also drives a small generator for electricity, so even running the windows uses a little gasoline. — 00:01:37
  • ★★ Hank says air conditioning pulls a lot of power, while heat in a gas-powered car comes from hot parts of the engine. — 00:01:37
  • ★ Hank says he now has an electric car that shows how much charge goes to climate control, which is a lot in winter. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Asked whether electric cars are the future, Hank says they are. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Hank says many different car companies would make hacking all cars at once hard, though Kia and Honda this year (2024) had an easy way to steal them spread as a TikTok trend. (hedged) — 00:03:03 · TikTok

00:03:32 — How many things a person knows; Pistons and Lakers names; Episcopalians; Hank and John are not twins; the unknown; know-it-alls

  • ★ Asked to count what he knows, Hank says knowledge can be broken out almost infinitely, down to the atoms in his socks. — 00:04:01
  • ★★ Hank estimates the average person knows about 10 million things. (hedged) — 00:04:30
  • ★ Hank admits he knows more than average, placing himself in the top 10%. (playful) — 00:04:30
  • ★ Hank explains the Lakers were the Minnesota Lakers, named for the many lakes there. — 00:05:00
  • ★ Hank describes Episcopalianism as a kind of Christianity, like Catholicism but a little more chill. (playful) — 00:05:40
  • ★ Hank tells the guest, who thought he and John were twins, that John is three years older than him. — 00:05:40 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank thinks more things are unknown than known, even to all humans together. — 00:06:54 · curiosity
  • ★ Hank says know-it-alls are a real fine line and a concern of his. — 00:06:54

00:07:23 — Mixing starches, cold versus hot curry, drinking while eating

  • ★★ Hank says the guests' mothers' rule against mixing starches has no basis for digestion, though limiting servings may be sensible. — 00:07:23
  • ★ Hank says his wife sometimes catches him eating Thai curry cold, because hot it has too much flavor. (playful) — 00:08:08 · Katherine Green
  • ★★ Hank explains hot food tastes stronger: molecules move more, more evaporates, and taste is mostly smell. — 00:08:57
  • ★★ Hank says drinking while you eat is fine and, if anything, good for digestion. — 00:08:57

00:09:26 — The Sun's future, water around the solar system and icy moons, living on other planets

  • ★★ Hank says food tips usually have no effect or a tiny one not worth worrying about. — 00:09:26
  • ★★ Hank confirms that in about four billion years the Sun will grow very large and swallow the Earth. — 00:09:26 · Earth
  • ★★★ Hank stresses that well before that the Sun will get hot enough to boil away Earth's water, ending life as we know it. — 00:09:54 · Earth
  • ★★ Hank says humans have been around for about 200,000 years and have thousands more such spans left. — 00:09:54
  • ★ Asked whether it is okay to have a kid someday, Hank encourages it because it is fun. — 00:10:22
  • ★★ Hank says water is common in the solar system: Mars has lots, the Moon has some, and some of Jupiter's moons hold more water than Earth. — 00:10:22 · Mars, Earth
  • ★★ Hank explains scientists know these moons have ice over liquid water because they are visibly icy and their volcanoes erupt ice water. — 00:10:51

00:11:46 — Ginger ale and colds, Pepsi's name, cocaine in early Coca-Cola and old tonics

  • ★★ Hank says ginger ale often contains no ginger, so it probably cannot heal a cold. (hedged) — 00:11:46
  • ★★ Hank says eating ginger can help with cold symptoms like congestion and cough, and symptom control is worth doing. — 00:12:15
  • ★ Hank says ginger probably has no huge effect on fighting off a cold, though it might give some immune boosting. (hedged) — 00:12:44
  • ★ Hank says Pepsi is named for a prefix to do with the stomach, as in the stomach calmer Pepcid. (hedged) — 00:12:44
  • ★★ Hank confirms that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine. — 00:13:14
  • ★ Hank describes old tonics whose listed ingredients were morphine, heroin, cocaine and alcohol, which he calls awful. — 00:13:14

00:13:55 — Molding babies' heads, the soft spot, the duo's pregnancy pact

  • ★★ Hank says some babies with oddly shaped heads wear little hats that squeeze the head into shape, for health or sometimes looks, like braces. — 00:13:55
  • ★ Hank thinks head molding needs constant pressure, so rubbing the head now and then does nothing. (hedged) — 00:14:24
  • ★ Hank recalls feeling his baby son's heartbeat through the soft spot on top of the head, which was hot. — 00:14:24

00:15:25 — Hank's parenting tip and the duo's ask for ideas to go viral again

  • ★★★ Hank's parenting tip: listen to children's curiosity and follow it, letting it make you curious so you get curious together. — 00:15:25 · curiosity

00:16:24 — Why their video worked; sign-off, thanks and the duo's EP

  • ★★ Asked how the duo can go viral again, Hank says their video worked because it was captivating and different, and being different is hard. — 00:16:24
  • ★★ Hank plugs Flyana Boss's new EP, This Ain't The Album, out March 29. — 00:17:12

In the description and comments

Humor (significant)

  • Told he looks 33, Hank links Jesus' age to his own cancer — 00:01:07

    “When I got sick and I might die, I was like, well, Jesus only got 33 years.”

  • A guest claims Lamborghini opens each car by its own satellite — 00:03:32

    “Each one has one satellite.”

  • Hank wonders whether the atoms in his socks are touching his foot — 00:04:01

    “That's exactly what I think about every night before I go to bed.”

  • A guest had assumed Hank and John were twins — 00:05:40

    “I mean, a lot of white people do look alike.”

  • They plan a dish of only potato, noodles and rice — 00:08:08

    “Yeah, just like some oobleck sauce.”

  • Hank's wife catches him eating Thai curry cold — 00:08:08

    “but it has too much flavor if it's hot.”

  • Hank asks whether the duo are a couple — 00:14:56

    “You're a couple of people.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Flyana Boss · Sun (star)

Also: People: Katherine Green

Works: This Ain't The Album

Organizations: Detroit Pistons · Episcopal Church · Honda · Kia · Los Angeles Lakers · TikTok

Groups: White Americans

Concepts: cocaine · common cold · curiosity · Electric car · immune system · olfaction · parenting · viral video

Places: Earth · Jupiter · Mars · Minnesota · Moon · Solar System

Products: Coca-Cola · Pepcid · Pepsi · Vernors

Myths: Jesus

Taking part: Bobbi Lanier · Folayan Opeyemi

Only in the description or credits: Instagram · Spotify · YouTube

Also centred on Sun (star): On Sunlight · how it all ends

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