The future of humanity seems insecure. But humans always thought they lived in the end times. This is a problem because it leads to short term thinking and prevents us from creating the best world for ourselves and our descendants. What makes this worse is that we actually may live at an extremely critical moment in human history. 

Problems of the far future

This video was sponsored by Open Philanthropy, because we share an interest in what the far future of humanity might look like and what problems and solutions humans can achieve by working together. 

A longterm view 

We tried to peak into the far future and see what possibilities it holds: Will we humans stay on our home planet? Will we colonize the galaxy – or even the entire solar system? And how do our decisions today impact all these potential outcomes?

Optimism as antidote 

The vision we have for humanity is about a long-lasting, positive future – the crucial point is for people not to lose hope along the way. Whatever positive outlook for the future humanity is going to aspire to – the most important thing is to believe in it first. 

What really happens when a nuclear weapon hits a city, play by play, minute by minute – and how would you get help? We partnered with the International Committee of the Red Cross for an information video that hopes to be unnecessary forever. 

Nuke a City

Kurzgesagt is lying in each and every video, with full intention and knowingly – and we plan to do it again. How we do this and why is all told in this video for which we got to partner up with the TRESCA research project funded by the EU.

Behind the Lies

We feel overwhelmed in the face of rapid climate change. It seems simple on the surface. Greenhouse gases trap energy from the Sun and transfer it to our atmosphere. So why don’t we just like… prevent all of that? Well, it’s complicated.

Can You Fix Climate Change?

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The Last Human on Earth 

The nuclear threat is real

Since the end of the cold war many people believe the threat of nuclear warfare is declining, but with new tensions between super powers this threat is as real as ever. To make this danger tangible, the ICRC reached out to us. 

 Showing the unimaginable 

Nuclear attacks are brutal and incredibly gorey. How do you show in detail what is so hard to wrap your head around – yet get people to watch until the end to get your message across? The delicate balance between delivering info and telling a visually appealing story without sugarcoating anything was the big challenge of this video. 

 Banning nuclear weapons

In the end, every horrible detail is necessary to emphasize the stance we are taking alongside ICRC here: there is no justification for a weapon that can bring calamity to millions based on an individual decision. Nuclear weapons have to be banned. 

Right at our feet, smaller than our eye can see, worlds within worlds are waiting to be discovered. Animated illustration makes it possible to take on this journey that a normal camera can’t manage.


Let’s Travel to The Most Extreme Place in The Universe

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Strange encounters

This video puts you in the footsteps of a traveler that gets smaller and smaller. We encounter stranger and stranger environments on the way until we reach the quantum realm in the end.

Worlds within worlds 

The size of the universe is incomprehensible. But by experiencing its realms of scale and their unique rules for yourself you get a little intuitive glimpse into its extent. 


The calender

This video accompanies the 12,023 edition of our yearly Human Era calendar. This way you can stay within the hidden worlds of the microcosmos for a whole year. 

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Its wrong vs. it’s boring

Groundbreaking science is complex, that’s why its done by experts. What they’re often not experts at is communicating it – but if you leave the discussion to people who are just interested in selling a lurid story, misinformation is prone to spread. So what to do?

Facts, fiction and the fine line between

In this video we reveal the principle many science communicators use to break down complex scientific topics in an approachable way: Lies to children, a way to tell a highly simplified story that serves as a gateway to understand the bigger picture.

The Tresca Project

This video was created as part of the TRESCA research project, a EU funded effort to study how science communication and transparency about it can help rebuild trust in science and scientific experts amidst misinformation. We provided input in various areas and our videos also served as a best practice research subject.

Everybody feels lonely sometimes. But only few of us are aware how important this feeling was for our ancestors - and that our modern world can turn it into something that really hurts us. Why do we feel this way and what can we do about it?

Loneliness

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It’s complicated

Climate change seems easy on the surface, but if you dig deeper it gets incredibly complex and everything is connected. That’s what makes it so hard to tackle climate change because there is no magic bullet solution, humanity has to fix lots of things. But to do that we need to understand climate change.

Understanding Chaos

This video (along with two other videos in the series) gives a consecutive overview of climate change. How did it come to this at all? What areas are impacted and what can we do? And what about the myth that everyone of us has to make their contribution? In an extra long video we explain everything you need to know about climate change.

Digging deep

We conduct thorough research for all our content – in the case of this video, hundreds of hours. Our goal is to give the bigger picture on a topic, not just a snapshot. And if you like to dive in for yourself you can consult the primary sources we used in the sourcesheet we provide with all our videos. 

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Loneliness examined

Loneliness is a feeling, so why make a scientific video on it. Turns out there is much more to loneliness than just something we experience from time to time. We explore the history of the feeling, why it was important for our ancestors and what all of this means for our modern society.

How Loneliness kills

In the process of researching this video we came across a lot of interesting scientific findings, did you e.g. know that loneliness is as deadly as obesity and smoking? Loneliness becomes a health risk for billions in a world that gets more and more alienated.

Managing facts and feelings

This video took us 2 years to make. We wanted to manage the tonality and get this 100% right. After all Loneliness is a deeply personal feeling for everyone and a scientific video should connect to people to have an impact. We received very positive and sometimes very sad feedback on this video ever since it was released in 2019.

Other favorites

The Last Human on Earth

Nuke a City

Let’s Travel to The Most Extreme Place in The Universe