Zero Gravity Is Weirder Than You Think (Bonus Episode)

I tested 5 wild experiments in a zero gravity plane...
Listen with me on Audible at https://www.audible.com/cleo

I'm scanning my brain inside a plane that’s about to DIVE toward the ground… to test how weightlessness helps or hurts your brain.

And it’s just one of the 5 crazy science experiments I got to test inside a Zero G plane.

I recently went on this Zero G plane to explain a big debate about gravity, and while I was there, I also got exclusive access to experiments that can ONLY happen in zero gravity. I just knew you’d love to see it.

So, in this extended cut, I’m going to give you a rare glimpse inside this falling laboratory and show you how the experiments they’re doing could be huge if true…

Chapters:
0:00 What happens to your brain in space?
0:32 Why scientists want to fall from the sky
1:10 How do zero gravity planes work?
1:56 Experiment 1
3:58 Experiment 2
5:28 Experiment 3
7:23 Experiment 4
8:50 Experiment 5
10:27 Why these experiments are huge if true

You can find me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/cleoabram
On TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@cleoabram
Or on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/cleoabram

Bio:
Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked.

Additional reading and watching:
- Why Gravity Is A Lie, Explained in Zero G, our previous episode of Huge If True! https://youtu.be/5zJbE7J3X8I?si=KbOiyJXMAaXzS4hX
- Experiment 1: Blood Sucking Pants: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/wearable-lower-body-negative-pressure/overview/
- Experiment 2: Space Pilates: https://www.nasa.gov/reference/jsc-exercise-countermeasures/
- Experiment 3: Brain Study: https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/lab-for-equilibrium-investigations-and-aerospace/space-research/projects/parabolic-flight-campaign-2024-2025/
- Experiment 4: John McFall Astronaut Prep: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/John_McFall
- Experiment 5: Photonic Propulsion: https://www.planetary.org/sci-tech/lightsail
- What Everyone Gets Wrong About Gravity, Veritasium: https://youtu.be/XRr1kaXKBsU?si=vg_FzbxI7-xuaqzf
- Astrophysicist Explains Gravity in 5 Levels of Difficulty, Wired with Professor Janna Levin: https://youtu.be/QcUey-DVYjk?si=oaDEWY17EzaY5QDP
- A new way to visualize General Relativity, ScienceClic English: https://youtu.be/wrwgIjBUYVc?si=weHFqeZVPJ56mCRy
- What Bothers Physicists About Black Holes, my interview with Brian Cox: https://youtu.be/bY1EQ6HD-ao?si=RBkiPjEd6RXlJR2J

Vox: https://www.vox.com/authors/cleo-abram
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10108242/

Gear I use:
Camera: Sony A7SIII
Lens: Sony 16–35 mm F2.8 GM
Audio: Sennheiser SK AVX and Zoom H4N Pro

Music: Musicbed, Tom Fox

Follow along for more episodes of Huge If True: https://www.youtube.com/cleoabram?sub_confirmation=1

—
Welcome to the joke down low:

Are you still reading that book about zero gravity?
Yeah, I can’t put it down.

Find a way to use “down” in a comment to let me know you’re a real one who made it to the end of the description :)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices