Mark Rober
consistently worth watching
Based on 30 recent long-form videos · updated as YouTLDR reads more
What we read
I Gave the MIT Commencement Speech
naive optimism, frame failures, foster relationships. Embrace naive optimism, frame failures like a video game, and foster relationships. He also added a fourth piece of advice: engage in playful anarchy.
Can You Fool A Self Driving Car?
Tesla's cameras failed to detect a fake brick wall, crashing through it. LiDAR-equipped cars stopped.
Ronaldo vs My Unbeatable Goalie Robot
Robot goalie saves Ronaldo's shots. Mark Rober's robot goalie can block Cristiano Ronaldo's shots. It uses 22 cameras and AI to predict ball trajectory, moving at 41 MPH to intercept kicks.
I Outsmarted Pro Car Thieves
Car thieves can be outsmarted with a simple Faraday cage, like a cookie tin or aluminum foil pouch, to block key fob signals. The video also reveals how to build a car theft device for under $100 using a baby monitor and explains the common methods and motivations behind car theft.
I Engineered The Perfect First Date
He engineered a perfect first date for his nephew using elaborate contraptions. The date was a chaotic mix of engineered successes and failures, ultimately leading to the nephew confessing and the date going surprisingly well.
Engineers vs Junkyard RC Car Death Match
Metal Puppy won. Metal Puppy won. It beat Love Bug in a King of the Hill style finale. The other cars were destroyed or sent to 'Mount Crunchmore'.
How to Escape Alcatraz With Basic Engineering
They likely survived. They likely survived. Modern science confirms a narrow tidal window made escape possible, but the FBI found no definitive proof they made it to shore.
I Blew Up A 24 Story Building
Building imploded via Angry Birds game. They blew up a 24-story building using a giant Angry Birds game. The winner of a "Demolympics" competition got to trigger the implosion by hitting a specific target with a bowling ball.
Uncovering America's Underwater City
sunken bridge and plane, no city. They found a submerged bridge and a sunken plane, but not the lost city. The city's foundations remain, but a fire destroyed the buildings.
Can You Safely Drink Your Own Pee?
Yes, it's safe. Yes, you can safely drink purified urine. The technology used to turn ocean water into drinking water can also purify urine, as demonstrated by Mr. Beast drinking his own treated urine.
I Built a Roller Coaster In My Lab
Phineas and Ferb inspired birthday party. They built a real-life roller coaster, rocket swing, and indoor snowstorm for a kid's birthday party. The builds were inspired by the cartoon Phineas and Ferb, with the roller coaster featuring fake snakes, a mud bucket, and a car wash.
I Spent $5,000,000 So You Can Go To Space For FREE
free space selfies. A satellite can now take selfies from space for free. After a $5 million investment and three years of work, Mark Rober's SATGUS satellite successfully launched, deployed its camera, and is now available for anyone to use for space selfies.
Testing What Happens If You Jump On A Moving Train
air resistance. Jumping on a moving train is dangerous because you'll land in a different spot than if you jumped inside. This is because the air outside the train pushes against you, while the air inside moves with you.
Testing The World's Smartest Crow
Crow solves escape room. Crows are incredibly smart and can solve complex puzzles. A crow named Cheryl successfully navigated a nine-stage escape room gauntlet designed to test her intelligence, ultimately earning a meal of chicken nuggets.
I Tried Building My Own Space Satellite
They built a satellite called SATGUS to take selfies in space. It uses a Google Pixel phone, a radiation-hardened camera, reaction wheels for orientation, and solar panels for power. You can submit your own selfie to be taken over your city.
Lasers vs Lightning- Which Is More Powerful?
Lasers are more powerful than lightning. Lasers vaporized watermelons and melted through a vault door, while lightning only cracked a watermelon and barely damaged the vault.
My Rock, Paper, Scissors Robot Never Loses (+9 Other Inventions)
The robot 'Rocky' is unbeatable at Rock, Paper, Scissors because it uses an IR hand motion detector and mini-computer to see your move 100 times per second and actuate its 3D-printed hand to throw the winning shape.
Mark Rober vs Dude Perfect- Ultimate Robot Battle
Mark Rober won. Mark Rober's "Cybertank" robot won. It defeated Dude Perfect's robots using a combination of destructive attachments, clever traps, and a surprise "Trojan rat" bot hidden inside.
My Puzzle Robot is 200x Faster Than a Human
Robot beats human. A robot named Jigsaw can solve a 1000-piece puzzle in under a minute, but it took three years to build and refine. It beat the world's fastest human puzzler, Tammy McLeod, by over 3 hours.
Lava vs Lasers - Which Is More Destructive?
lava wins. Lava wins. It melted or destroyed more objects than lasers or the "X-factor" methods. The final boat sinking contest was a draw, but lava's destructive power was more consistent.
Vortex Cannon vs Drone
Mark Rober's team built a giant vortex cannon that destroyed a drone. They also tested other DIY drone defenses like a Tesla coil goo gun and a dart turret.
You've Never Seen A Wheelchair Like This
custom stair-climbing wheelchair. It's a custom, stair-climbing, self-balancing wheelchair with disco balls, train horns, Nerf guns, and a cup holder, built for a resilient kid named Cash. Mark Rober surprised him with it, along with tickets to a Warriors game.
Testing If You Can Blow Your Own Sail
No, you cannot effectively blow your own sail. The fan pushes air, but the boat's sail pushes air back, canceling out forward motion. A propeller is needed to push against water.
Car Thief Gets Instant Karma (the FINAL Glitterbomb 6.0)
glitter bomb and fart spray prank. Car thieves get glitter-bombed and covered in fart spray. Mark Rober's final glitterbomb prank reveals organized fencing operations are behind many car break-ins.
Octopus vs Underwater Maze
Octopus completes maze and is released. An octopus named Sashimi successfully navigated a complex underwater maze to reach a vault of shrimp. She was then returned to the ocean, proving her intelligence and survival skills.
Acid vs Lava- Testing Liquids That Melt Everything
Acid won. Acid won. It dissolved a turkey leg, melted an iPad, and bored through ice, while lava only charred the turkey and barely affected the iPad or ice. Acid also failed to dissolve plastic toys, but a steamroller and excavator proved more destructive than either lava or acid in later challenges.
Candy Thieves vs Rigged Candy Bowl
Rigged candy bowls with elaborate traps. They rigged candy bowls with elaborate traps to catch and prank candy thieves. The contraptions included spinning bowls, collapsing tables, silly string, and even a fake human hand.
World’s Smallest Nerf Gun Shoots an Ant
They built a Nerf gun out of DNA. It's 100 nanometers long, 5 times smaller than visible light, and requires an atomic force microscope to see.
How to Escape a Police Sniffing Dog
dogs are too good. You can't reliably escape a police sniffing dog. They are incredibly adept at tracking, even with decoys, scent articles, and environmental distractions.
This Ball is Impossible to Hit
They engineered a ball that splits mid-air using a timer mechanism, making it impossible to hit. This was to level the playing field against professional wiffle ball players.