Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We experimented to see how much pain our volunteers could handle. Go to headspace-web.app.link/e/vstm to try Headspace for free using the code VERITASIUM
Studies on Headspace - ve42.co/Headspace
A massive thank you to Rayner Moss for recreating the experiment equipment and making this shoot happen.
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Special thanks to our Patreon supporters! Join the community to help us keep our videos free, forever: ve42.co/PatreonDE
Adam Foreman, Anton Ragin, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Bill Linder, Blake Byers, Bruce, Burt Humburg, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, I. H., John H. Austin, Jr., John Kiehl, Josh Hibschman, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Max Paladino, Meekay, Meg Noah, Michael Krugman, Name, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Stephen Wilcox, Tj Steyn, Toni, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures, Wolfee.
If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ve42.co/SnatomsV
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References:
Kahneman, D. et al. (1993). When More Pain Is Preferred to Less: Adding a Better End. Psychological Science - ve42.co/Kahneman1993
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux - ve42.co/FastAndSlow
Fredrickson, B. L., Kahneman, D. (1993). Duration neglect in retrospective evaluations of affective episodes. Journal of personality and social psychology - ve42.co/Fredrickson1993
Kahneman, D., Tversky, A. (1972). Subjective probability: A judgment of representativeness. Cognitive Psychology - ve42.co/Kahneman1972
Diener, E. et al. (2001). End Effects of Rated Life Quality: The James Dean Effect. Psychological Science - ve42.co/Deiner2001
Redelmeier, D. A. et al. (2003). Memories of colonoscopy: a randomized trial. Pain - ve42.co/Redelmeier2003
Kemp, S. et al. (2008). A test of the peak-end rule with extended autobiographical events. Memory & Cognition - ve42.co/Kemp2008
Images & Video:
Daniel Kahneman via UNSW - ve42.co/ImgKahneman
Barbara Fredrickson via UNC - ve42.co/ImgFredrickson
Stephen Gould via achievement.org - ve42.co/ImgGould
Amos Tversky via LGT - ve42.co/ImgTversky
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Directed by Petr Lebedev
Written by Petr Lebedev and Derek Muller
Edited by Peter Nelson
Animated by Fabio Albertelli and Ivy Tello
Illustrated by Jakub Misiek
Filmed by Derek Muller and Bernard Lau
Produced by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller, Rob Beasley Spence, Owen Maher, David Szasz, Emily Taylor, Gregor Čavlović and Alistair Dann
Thumbnail contributions by Ren Hurley and Peter Sheppard
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty and Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound
We experimented to see how much pain our volunteers could handle. Go to headspace-web.app.link/e/vstm to try Headspace for free using the code VERITASIUM
Studies on Headspace - ve42.co/Headspace
A massive thank you to Rayner Moss for recreating the experiment equipment and making this shoot happen.
▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters! Join the community to help us keep our videos free, forever: ve42.co/PatreonDE
Adam Foreman, Anton Ragin, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Bill Linder, Blake Byers, Bruce, Burt Humburg, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, I. H., John H. Austin, Jr., John Kiehl, Josh Hibschman, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Max Paladino, Meekay, Meg Noah, Michael Krugman, Name, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Stephen Wilcox, Tj Steyn, Toni, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures, Wolfee.
If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ve42.co/SnatomsV
▀▀▀
References:
Kahneman, D. et al. (1993). When More Pain Is Preferred to Less: Adding a Better End. Psychological Science - ve42.co/Kahneman1993
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux - ve42.co/FastAndSlow
Fredrickson, B. L., Kahneman, D. (1993). Duration neglect in retrospective evaluations of affective episodes. Journal of personality and social psychology - ve42.co/Fredrickson1993
Kahneman, D., Tversky, A. (1972). Subjective probability: A judgment of representativeness. Cognitive Psychology - ve42.co/Kahneman1972
Diener, E. et al. (2001). End Effects of Rated Life Quality: The James Dean Effect. Psychological Science - ve42.co/Deiner2001
Redelmeier, D. A. et al. (2003). Memories of colonoscopy: a randomized trial. Pain - ve42.co/Redelmeier2003
Kemp, S. et al. (2008). A test of the peak-end rule with extended autobiographical events. Memory & Cognition - ve42.co/Kemp2008
Images & Video:
Daniel Kahneman via UNSW - ve42.co/ImgKahneman
Barbara Fredrickson via UNC - ve42.co/ImgFredrickson
Stephen Gould via achievement.org - ve42.co/ImgGould
Amos Tversky via LGT - ve42.co/ImgTversky
▀▀▀
Directed by Petr Lebedev
Written by Petr Lebedev and Derek Muller
Edited by Peter Nelson
Animated by Fabio Albertelli and Ivy Tello
Illustrated by Jakub Misiek
Filmed by Derek Muller and Bernard Lau
Produced by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller, Rob Beasley Spence, Owen Maher, David Szasz, Emily Taylor, Gregor Čavlović and Alistair Dann
Thumbnail contributions by Ren Hurley and Peter Sheppard
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty and Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound

![The Stickiest *Non-Sticky* Substance
Adhesives based on gecko skin can hold huge weights – without sticking to anything. Head to https://brilliant.org/Veritasium to start your free trial. The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant’s annual premium subscription.
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Thanks to Dr. Mark Cutkosky, Tony Chen, Amar Hajj-Ahmad, and the rest of the Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab at Stanford University for showing us the power of gecko adhesives.
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References:
Russell, A. P., Stark, A. Y., & Higham, T. E. (2019). The integrative biology of gecko adhesion: historical review, current understanding, and grand challenges. Integrative and comparative biology, 59(1), 101-116. – https://ve42.co/Russell2019
Hajj-Ahmad, A., Suresh, S. A., and Cutkosky, M. R. (June 6, 2021). Cutting to the Point: Directly Machined Metal Molds for Directional Gecko-Inspired Adhesives. ASME. J. Micro Nano-Manuf. – https://ve42.co/Hajj-Ahmad2021
Kerst, Capella F., Gecko inspired adhesives : permanent practical manufacturing, new materials, and applications, PhD Thesis, Stanford University, December 2020. – https://ve42.co/Kerst2020
Suresh, S.A. Engineering Gecko-Inspired Adhesives. Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, 2020. [Online]. – https://ve42.co/Suresh2020
Suresh, S.A., Kerst, C.F., Cutkosky, M.R., Hawkes, E.W. Spatially variant microstructured adhesive with one-way friction. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 2019. – https://ve42.co/Suresh2019
Glick, P., Suresh, S.A., Ruffatto III, D., Cutkosky, M.R., Tolley, M.T., and Parness, A. A soft robotic gripper with gecko-inspired adhesive. Robotics and Automation Letters. 2018. – https://ve42.co/Glick2018
Christensen, D.L., Hawkes, E.W., Suresh, S.A., Ladenheim, K. and Cutkosky, M.R., µTugs: Enabling Microrobots to Deliver Macro Forces with Controllable Adhesives, IEEE/ICRA 2015 (preprint). – https://ve42.co/Christensen2015
Hawkes, E. W., Applying Dry Adhesives to the Real World, Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, 2015. – https://ve42.co/Hawkes2015
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Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:
Meg Noah, Bernard McGee, James Sanger, Elliot Miller, Brian Busbee, Jerome Barakos M.D., Amadeo Bee, TTST, Balkrishna Heroor, Chris LaClair, John H. Austin Jr., Eric Sexton, John Kiehl, Anton Ragin, Diffbot, Gnare, Dave Kircher, Burt Humburg, Blake Byers, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Bill Linder, Paul Peijzel, Josh Hibschman, Mac Malkawi, Mike Schneider, John Bauer, Jim Buckmaster, Juan Benet, Sunil Nagaraj, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Stephen Wilcox, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Michael Krugman, Cy kkm KNelson, Sam Lutfi
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Written by Derek Muller & Petr Lebedev
Edited by Trenton Oliver
Animation by Ivy Tello
Filmed by Derek Muller & Albert Leung
Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 & Getty Images
Music from Epidemic Sound
Exec. Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang The Stickiest *Non-Sticky* Substance](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vS0TuIPoeBs/mqdefault.jpg)








