The Power of Transportation | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

[music playing] [motor revving]

JASON SILVA: What does it take to power a global civilization to connect billions of people across continents? It takes the power of transportation. From the beginning, speed and strength were paramount in the hunt, on the battlefield, for holding together far-flung empires. We sought new forms of power, harnessing the forces of nature to drive us forward—the horse, the wheel, steam power, jet engine. Every new innovation powered our next great leap.

Transportation has become our exoskeleton allowing us to transcend our biology. [music playing] Faster than sound, farther than the moon, our inventions give us a level of power we never imagined. With our machines we carved through solid rock, tunneled beneath the sea floor, connecting the world, mixing distant cultures. Freedom of movement has given us freedom of mind.

The flow of people and materials exposes us to new ideas and new understanding. This is the story of how transportation turned society inside out, how engines and animals powered the rise of civilization, and how the innovations that drive humanity forward made us modern. This is "Origins."

Nuclear fission | Physics | Khan Academy

The 10 Trillion Parameter AI Model With 300 IQ

View All

What's It Like to Be on Antarctica? | Continent 7: Antarctica

[Music] We’re in a frozen continent making what is my first dinner in Antarctica. My name is JJ Kelly, and I am a producer at National Geographic. I had the chance to go down to Antarctica, one of a very select few that made the series “Continent 7.” So,…

Sports Gender Controversy - Bonus Scene | Gender Revolution

NARRATOR: Intersex. Even if you’ve heard the word, you may not know what it is. And that’s not surprising because intersex doesn’t mean just one thing. It refers to a variety of different conditions in which a child is born with anatomy that doesn’t compl…

TIL: Wild Lions Live in India | Today I Learned

[Music] Most people think about lions in Africa, but very few people know that they actually exist in India too. It looks, uh, not very different from the African lion. It is, however, a bit smaller. It does have flappy skin on the stomach that looks diff…

Safari Live - Day 133 | National Geographic

This program features live coverage of an African safari and may include animal kills and carcasses. Viewer discretion is advised. Good afternoon, good afternoon, and a very warm welcome to all of you, ladies and gentlemen, who are watching us on this be…

Homeroom with Sal & Neel Kashkari - Tuesday, February 2

Hi everyone, Sal Khan here from Khan Academy. Welcome to the homeroom live stream! We’ve had a little bit of a hiatus, so it’s good to see all of y’all again. We have a really exciting guest today, Neil Kashkari, who is the president of the Federal Reserv…

19 year old buys a private jet!

Hey Steve, Daddy’s finally agreed to let me buy my first check, but he’s only giving me a 50 million budget. 15 million, that’s not so bad. Come on, let’s go sit down and we can go look through some options. So how many people do you think you want to ca…

The Power of Transportation | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

More Articles