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Geology & earth science: videos Hacker News recommends
Earth science: geology, volcanoes, earthquakes, plate tectonics, oceans, atmosphere, weather, hurricanes, mining, minerals, natural disasters, geophysics, landscapes. Below: every video in this topic that at least three HN users linked with real commentary, in at least three different months (11 explainers, 5 documentarys, 4 demos), best-scored first, with the comments on each video page.
- 5 HN recommenders 5 months 2020–2025C Central Washington University · lectureHN commenters offer it as a dry but fascinating, hype-free introduction to Cascadia earthquake risk and the evidence for past events.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2018–2020Commenters in climate and impact-event threads send people to Carlson's Rogan appearances for his account of ancient cataclysms.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2023–2025HN commenters recommend it for the sense of perspective it gives on deep time and how brief human history is.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2015–2020HN people point to it as an entry point to the Hancock and Carlson lost-civilization theories, while noting the ideas are controversial.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2013–2017E Exposure Labs · documentaryRecommended whenever glaciers come up, as a stunning look at the scale of calving.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2014–2022P phuaalvin · demoRecommended whenever skyscraper dampers come up, since it shows how huge the moving mass is.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2021–2022HN commenters point to it as a hopeful example of land and water management restoring landscapes and livelihoods at village scale.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2020–2023HN recommends it in map projection and coastline threads as a fun look at how measurement choices change area figures.
- 3 HN recommenders 2 months 2019T TheIHMC · lectureStrongly recommended as a clear explanation of 50-60 million years of climate history that clears up confusion.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2019–2021HN points to it in discussions of whether a past industrial civilization would leave detectable evidence.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2021–2023I icannotgetafreename · videoOffered as a calming, dry, familiar broadcast, fitting for a crowd that enjoys ambient and lofi radio.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2017–2025HN points to it as a clear explanation of what flood return periods really mean.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2021–2024Recommended in nuclear waste threads as a short, clear look at a real long-term storage solution.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2026A ankerssm · documentaryLinked in salt mine and industrial accident threads as a fascinating, quick account with striking footage.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2022–2023HN commenters point to it as the well-made, detailed explanation of the Millennium Tower debacle whenever the tower comes up.
- 3 HN recommenders 2 months 2023–2024S Soup Emporium · explainerLinked whenever Yellowstone or caldera unrest comes up, as the debunking of civilization-ending eruption fears.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2023–2024HN brings it up in threads on ancient civilizations and detecting past technology in geology.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2021–2026HN uses it as a well-known example of infrastructure that must run forever to keep an area habitable.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2022–2023S Sustainable Minerals Institute UQ · lectureCited in energy transition threads for ballpark numbers on mineral demand, though some commenters criticize its assumptions.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2022–2023A Al Baydha · documentaryHN cites it as encouraging evidence that deserts can be regenerated and greened.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2019–2024R RM Videos · videoCommenters use it in earthquake threads as an anecdote that animals may sense tremors seconds before humans, and occasionally as a joke about cat alarms.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2016–2023HN links it as the original, interesting video behind the 'deadliest river' stories and as an extreme river example.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2023–2024HN uses it as an approachable treatment of whether an earlier industrial civilization would be detectable in geology.
- cited 3× 0 months 2024–2026A aro004 · news clipCited in threads about earthquakes and tsunami warnings as a visceral view of what a tsunami wave looks like at sea.
- cited 6× 0 months 2020–2025A Anselmo La Manna · demoHN commenters link it to convey the scale of asteroid impacts, such as the one that killed the dinosaurs, or of ejecta and tsunamis.
- cited 3× 0 months 2020–2024A AviatorX · demoLinked as a vivid real-world illustration of wind gusts and lift acting on aircraft.
- cited 6× 0 months 2016–2023N Nick Breeze ClimateGenn · interviewHN cites it in methane and permafrost threads as an early warning that still looks relevant.
- cited 3× 0 months 2014–2018O Omar Diaz · news clipHN cites it as a concrete real-world example of how much warning earthquake early-warning systems can provide.
- cited 3× 0 months 2020–2022Cited as a visual example of dynamo flows and of the care needed when handling reactive liquid sodium.
- cited 5× 0 months 2019–2025N National Fire Protection Association · explainerHN commenters cite it as a source for the research showing that simple home-ignition-zone measures raise a house's chance of surviving a wildfire.
Questions
What is the most recommended geology & earth science video on Hacker News?
Great Earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest by Central Washington University: HN commenters offer it as a dry but fascinating, hype-free introduction to Cascadia earthquake risk and the evidence for past events.
How is this geology & earth science list ranked?
By HackerTube's score: the number of distinct months in which an HN comment recommended the video, plus half a point for every month with a strong recommendation. One viral thread counts less than steady recommendations over years.
Where do the videos come from?
From every Hacker News comment between 2007 and 2026 that linked a YouTube video, labeled by an AI model as a recommendation, a citation, a joke or a criticism. The list is published by HackerTube under ODC-By 1.0; this edition adds indexable pages and the comment context.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.