The speaker, Michael, discusses the concept of "seeing" and the limitations of human vision. He explains that the word "look" comes from the Breton word "lagud", meaning eye, and is based on the light humans can see. However, we don't see everything; for example, remote controls communicate with light of wavelengths that we can't see but mobile phone cameras can.
He introduces the concept of electromagnetic spectrum, explaining that light we perceive as red has a longer wavelength than blue or violet. If the wavelength is cranked shorter, it becomes light that we can't see - ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays. If the wavelength is extended, it becomes infrared, microwaves, and finally, radio waves. The spectrum of possible electromagnetic wavelengths is infinite, but the breadth we observe is breathtaking.
Michael then discusses how different frequencies of light can make the Earth look different. If we only saw infrared frequencies, it might look unrecognizable. With ultraviolet vision, spheres would be unrecognizable. With X-ray vision, auroras around the poles would shine brightly, and with gamma ray vision, Earth would have a bright edge from high-energy electromagnetic radiation hitting the atmosphere at a shallow angle.
The speaker also discusses the limitations of maps, pointing out that they are a product of our bias towards "north" meaning "up". The famous Blue Marble image of Earth is a product of this bias; the original image taken by Apollo 17 crew was rotated to fit our traditional idea of up. He also discusses the distortions caused by different map projections, such as the Mercator projection, and how different projections can reveal different aspects of the Earth, such as the Gall–Peters projection, which preserves area but distorts shape, and the Mollweide projection, which preserves both area and shape.
The speaker then shares the story of Julian Bayliss, a doctor who discovered a new rain forest using Google Earth. The expedition found 12 new species, demonstrating the vast number of things left to find on Earth. Michael concludes by encouraging viewers to continue searching and looking, emphasizing that while our eyes only see a tiny fraction of what there is to see, there are still an enormous number of things left to find.
1. The speaker is Michael from Vsauce.
2. The point of light in the sky as seen from the surface of Mars is Earth.
3. Earth as seen from Saturn is also presented.
4. An image taken 45,000 kilometers away, the famous Blue Marble, is shown.
5. The concept of how Earth looks depends on how "look" is defined, which comes from the old Breton word "lagud", meaning eye.
6. Images based on light humans can see do not show everything.
7. A reference to a Radiolab episode that uses sound to illustrate the different visual spaces of other creatures is made.
8. The speaker discusses the visual perception of emitted or reflected electromagnetic radiation, specifically visible light.
9. Light we perceive as red has a longer wavelength than blue or violet.
10. The speaker asks if light with a shorter wavelength stops being light, and if so, it becomes light we can't see, such as ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays.
11. The speaker mentions that going the other way, we get infrared, microwaves, and finally, radio waves.
12. The spectrum of possible electromagnetic wavelengths is said to be infinite, but even within the range of wavelengths we observe, the breadth is breathtaking.
13. The speaker mentions that if the entire practical spectrum of wavelengths was laid out linearly from New York to Los Angeles, the visual portion we see would only be the size of 100 nanometers.
14. The speaker points out that when it comes to what there is to see, our eyes miss out on a lot. For instance, many remote controls communicate with light of wavelengths we can't see but mobile phone cameras can.
15. The speaker mentions that our night sky is full of frequencies we can't see with our eyes alone, but Chromoscope.net allows us to extend our vision.
16. The speaker discusses the concept of how Earth would look if we only saw infrared frequencies, ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet vision, X-ray vision, and gamma ray vision.
17. The speaker questions if there is an absolute true appearance of the Earth.
18. The speaker discusses the concept of "north" meaning "up" and how it's often equated with "better".
19. The speaker points out that upside-down maps are equally true, no matter how strange day may seem to us.
20. The speaker mentions that the famous Blue Marble is a product of North equals up bias.
21. The speaker points out that a flat map of the Earth requires projecting a globe onto something flat, and a sphere's surface cannot be represented on a plane without distortion.
22. The speaker discusses the limitations of the Mercator projection, which is commonly used by Google Maps.
23. The speaker mentions that Greenland appears to be as large as Africa on the Mercator projection scale near the poles.
24. The speaker discusses the distortion of areas near the equator and areas closer to the poles being exaggerated on the Mercator projection.
25. The speaker mentions that the Mercator projection is great for navigation.
26. The speaker introduces the Gall–Peters projection, which is more fair when it comes to area.
27. The speaker introduces the Mollweide projection, which shows equal areas and is a bit more pleasant shape-wise.
28. The speaker mentions that Gnomonic projections show the shortest route between two places on the surface of the Earth.
29. The speaker mentions the Winkel tripel and the Dymaxion map as alternatives.
30. The speaker discusses the story of Julian Bayliss, who discovered some dark green vegetation that looked like a rain forest while using Google Earth.
31. The speaker mentions that the expedition found about 12 new species, including snakes, chameleons, butterflies, and new species of plants.
32. The speaker discusses the estimated number of species in the world, which is around 8.5 million, but only 1.5 million to 2 million have been discovered.