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."

Job Security in an Insecure Time | America Inside Out

15 Lessons From Businesses That Fell From Grace

View All

Not Forgotten Update 2014 - Smarter Every Day 126

[music] Hey it’s me Destin, welcome back to Smarter Every Day. So last year about this time I made a video on the Project For Awesome website asking you to vote for an organization called Not Forgotten that’s working to get sexually exploited children off…

Cave Diver vs. Tricky Maya Elves | Campfire Stories

I work in lots of sonatas in caves. The North day is basically a flooded cave, and I by myself, and I hear this lation. Whose it was there, and nobody answer? And then I heard a splash again, and I even have waves. I swear I have waves, the words: what’s …

Watch: Camera Put on Giant Manta Ray for First Time Ever | National Geographic

Although manta rays are a really iconic species that have a really high value in tourism, they’re also targeted all around the world in fisheries. But they’re also incredibly susceptible to bycatch. So, Critter cam is going to play a huge role in being a…

What feels like play to you, but looks like work to others?

I think for everybody there is something that they do that other people think is work but is effortless for them. Their friends will basically say to them, “Oh, I can’t believe you can just do that without hating it.” Everyone’s got something like that, a…

Polar functions derivatives | Advanced derivatives | AP Calculus BC | Khan Academy

What we have here is the graph of r is equal to sine of two theta in polar coordinates. If polar coordinates look unfamiliar to you, or if you need to brush up on them, I encourage you to do a search for polar coordinates in Khan Academy or look at our pr…

Encountering an Anaconda | Primal Survivor: Escape the Amazon | National Geographic

So how far are you coming from? I come from south. Okay, all the way south? Yeah. Coming and going to? Heading north. Heading north? Okay. Okay. Yeah, we are rounding up these horses. Oh yeah? Yeah, my horses had strayed from this wapan Roundup. T…

The Power of Transportation | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

More Articles