What Is The Most Powerful Thing In The Universe?

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Written by @PaulMSutter

Narrated by David Kelly
Edited by @ArtandContext (Maniel Rubio) and David Kelly
Sound Editing by Craig Stevenson

Galaxies, space videos from NASA, ESO, and ESA.
Music from Epidemic Sound, Artlist and Silver Maple.
Stock footage from Videoblocks, Artgrid and Shutterstock.

00:00 Introduction
04:00 The Impossible Lights
15:59 Our Quasar
26:41 The Infernal Engine
45:54 The Quasar Mystery

#quasars

[nikolescribner]

This channel is what people in the 90s thought of when they imagined the grand potential of the internet ❤

[ValkyrieofNOLA]

Radiation exposure is one of my greatest fears. It’s mostly invisible and undetectable unless you have a Geiger counter… I read about the people who lived down wind of the Trinity Test in New Mexico in the early forties. The bomb was detonated at five in the morning and it jolted people out of their beds. Two sisters looked outside and saw what looked like snow falling. They put on their bathing suits and went out to play in the radioactive fallout that they didn’t know was deadly. They rolled around in it and smeared it on their faces and bodies. Their community was only 35 miles away from the test site, and they weren’t warned or notified about the possibility of deadly exposure to radiation. Most people who were unknowingly exposed to the fallout were stricken with multiple cancers and autoimmune disorders in a disproportionate amount. The government finally admitted to their negligence and mistakes and awarded compensation to the victims of the devastating effects of radiation exposure that they caused during the Manhattan Project.

[mickeyb]

That was the most comprehensive explanation of quasars I've heard to date. It must have taken your team a long time to gather this information and make it presentable. Thank you for explaining the phenomenon that got me interested in cosmology in the first place 10+ years ago.

[nemesis]

What I love about this channel is that I could sit through a whole video and not get lost half way through. The pacing and editing work so well helping retain information. I sometimes watch, better-yet, listen to these during naps and in my dreams I visualize everything almost similarly to the CGI segments in the videos. Kudos to Leila and David!

[JaYoeNation]

I wonder how many young lives you shifted to astronomy as their passion and profession. Must be a huge number.

[shadowtekmain]

I love how this channel doesnt just teach you about cool space stuff, they tell you the story of how we found out each step ❤

[ChadieRahimian]

love love love! just one request: is it possible to write in the corner of your videos, the equivalent of light years you mention, in parsecs and when appropriate in redshift z? As someone who has studied physics and astrophysics since a young age, parsec and z are more intuitive for me to imagine!

[MarinCipollina]

Best explanation of this phenomenon I've encountered online. The idea of quasars acting as galactic regulators of star formation activity is a fascinating one. There is much to consider. Top notch quality as always, History of the Universe team.. Profoundly edifying, engaging and very well written. Well done !

[luukipuuk]

Literally had an audible gasp when I opened youtube and saw that you uploaded. I was literally planning on putting on your previous video for sleep! This is amazing.

[Moudabo]

I'll heartily echo this sentiments of others. Wonderfully written, clearly narrated, and spectacularly graphically illustrated. Congratulations to your talented crew. I've always wondered how those impossibly energetic relativistic jets could possibly be created. This is the best explanation I've come across - and yet, I still find their existence completely mind boggling.

[torgenxblazterzoid]

Another masterpiece of subject choice, storytelling, and teaching. Thank you so much.

[aDoozie]

Absolutely love all of your channels. Unreal that this is free. Thank you truly.

[nurk_barry]

Paul M Sutter wrote this episode!?

Holy shit, no wonder it was so excellent, I mean they’re all amazing but I’m glad you credited the writer on this one. Paul is one of the best Physics/Black Hole YouTube personalities but I hadn’t heard from him in a while.

[rudejude]

This was without a doubt the best video explanation of quasars I have ever seen

[sidpomy]

HOTU is the embodiment of the best kind of education: information seasoned with an awe-inspiring narrative.

[joz]

I can't believe that I forgot about this dropping. This will help ne get ready for the week ahead. Thanks to everyone involved. I can not believe that making such good documentaries for free.

[exin]

Thank you History of the Universe team for all those videos! Fantastic quality as always :)

[JonathanRLight]

This is an impressive description of these theories without getting lost in the details.

[sergioreyes]

Your channel is, to me, the best in the area of astrophysics, and of science in general. Thanks for giving so much beautiful information.

[kurtyzkalvyn]

I'll be the first one to admit that the study of the universe is a continuous and granular one.
Science is the search for the truth, that means that stuff is going to be improved upon as we discover more....
The more you know!!!😊