00:04So cool science!
00:12How did ancient people tell time at night?
00:14Well that's a wicked cool question and I got a wicked cool late night experiment that
00:18you can do the next time someone's keeping you up all night, cause I won't get off their
00:22freaking phone!
00:28So of course you're gonna start, beginning of the day.
00:29Get yourself an astrolab. An astrolab? No we're gonna be making an astrolab.
00:34And of course you're gonna start by getting yourself a protractor.
00:38It's just a tool for measuring angels. I mean angles.
00:42Let's get those two mixed up.
00:44If you don't have a protractor, print one out and tape it to a piece of cardboard.
00:49Next you're gonna tape a large straw to the flat part of the protractor.
00:53Tie a washer to the end of a piece of string, then attach the string so that it hangs down
00:57at the 90 degree mark.
00:59Now head outside and find your favorite constipate constellation.
01:03Was that a Freudian slip or you just need some kaopectate to launch that butt shuttle?
01:08Okay so check this out. Take your astrolabe outside on a clear night and then find a star
01:14near the horizon, come back an hour later and then check it out.
01:18The star will have moved. That's so wicked cool!
01:21Unless you live in Los Angeles and then you're destined to never see the stars.
01:26So if you really want to impress your friends, find a constellation in the sky,
01:30find out what time it is, observe how high it is off the horizon,
01:35and then tell your friend that you can tell him what time it is without ever checking your phone.
01:40And he'll be so frickin' amazed, he'll be like,
01:42wow that's as frickin' awesome as space pizza!
01:50How does the astrolabe actually measure time anyway?
01:54And what did the ancients use constellations for anyway?
01:57Well, don't look at me! Take a closer look at this!
02:03Ancient people's society was based upon agriculture and they needed to know when to plant their crops,
02:08as well as when the growing season was over.
02:11So ancient people grouped certain stars based upon mythological stories,
02:15and when the sun set in those constellations, they knew how much time they had to grow crops
02:20until the year's growing season was completed.
02:23The ancient Chinese around the 6th century burned incense,
02:27Alfred the Great in the 9th century burned candles for the same reason.
02:31They knew what time it was based upon how long it took these things to burn.
02:34In the 11th century, the astrolabe was finally used to measure time by a Muslim astronomer.
02:40Your astrolabe is based upon this idea.
02:42The Earth rotates pretty much at the same speed every day.
02:46By selecting a star near the horizon and measuring the distance above the horizon,
02:51as well as whether that star was in the east or the west,
02:54ancient people could tell how long they had until the daylight returned.
02:57Many myths, like Jesus, are based upon astronomical events rather than actual real people.
03:02So now you know more about astrological time.
03:06You know, being able to tell your friends what time it is without looking at your phone
03:11is why science is so astronomical.
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