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This Is Your Brain On Stale Air

Tom Scott

6.7M subscribers • 1 video on Rounds

YouTube
  • Recommended by 2 people, in Hacker News, across 2 different months.
  • Presented by Tom Scott, as the video describes them

For anyone, no background needed. Education, not medical advice.

4.2M views7 years ago2 recommendations

Brain and nervesBiohacking and self-trackingNeurosciencePublic health and policy

Tom Scott explores how high levels of carbon dioxide in poorly ventilated indoor spaces can negatively impact cognitive performance.

Subscribe to Kurtis Baute! youtube.com/channel/UCTRM8LE1g6UXrVZKwgw5oEA or start with his one-take video on the history of the universe: youtube.com/watch?v=ObngtuPFI8A Inside his homemade, hermetically-sealed, airtight biodome, Kurtis Baute is already out of breath and surrounded by more carbon dioxide than he should be. And that's going to affect a lot of things -- including how smart he is. SOURCES: CO2 and Cognitive Function Scores: ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/pdf/10.1289/ehp.1510037 Indoor Air Quality and Academic Performance: gwern.net/docs/co2/2015-stafford.pdf

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended as an engaging introduction to how indoor carbon dioxide levels affect cognitive function and air quality.

yoodenvranxin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Show HN: I wanted to measure CO2 in my office, so I build a C++ WebServer/App”

For those who are wondering about 'changed my life': Tom Scott uploaded a video about CO2 and its influences a few days ago. it's a good palce to start research: link to this video

wh-uwsin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Rising CO2 levels may trigger cognitive impairment, says new study”

This one of those things that sounds silly but is actually very easy to test and see it can be a real issue. Tom Scott did a great video on it a while back link to this video Do yourself a favor and get an air quality monitor like an awair link and monitor the levels. Making sure they are good in whatever indoor areas you spend a good amount of time in is a night and day difference cognitively.

yoodenvranxin Hacker News • Mentions

On “On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sleep quality”

Is it just coincidence that Tom Scott uploaded a video about CO2 and its influences at almost the exact time the gwerns link was submitted? link to this video

digitalsushiin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Researchers develop a new houseplant that can clean home air (2018)”

Floating around this week is this video link to this video wherein a person sits in a sealed off cube full of plants and carbon dioxide monitors, with an EMT on the other side for safety - the person claims that 300 ppm of outside air was fresh, and now 400 ppm is fresh - but that indoors, it can easily climb to over 1000ppm and that there might be a significant cognitive decline associated with it. I was looking for a nice wall receptacle for a hallways that measures carbon dioxide inside my house because I will go for weeks at a time without getting a proper air-out. In northern new england, honestly, it could be months for all I know. Only a few random door openings and the leakiness of the house ar…

bemmuin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Show HN: I wanted to measure CO2 in my office, so I build a C++ WebServer/App”

Higher ppm decreases cognitive function even at pretty low levels, so being alerted to open your window might improve your work / study. There's at least this study: link And this video has the quote "At 1000ppm there is a 15% decrease in cognitive function". link to this video

stackmadin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Show HN: I wanted to measure CO2 in my office, so I build a C++ WebServer/App”

Its not that I'm afraid to die here :) Its more about improving the quality of the air. And the body is pretty bad at recognizing higher than norm CO2 level unless it gets to life threatening levels. ( link to this video )

techiferousin Hacker News • Mentions

On “The cognitive costs of air pollution”

After watching this Tom Scott video link to this video I bought this CO2 monitor: link It worked quite well and showed that I don't have anything to worry about. Now I'm trying to pass it on to someone else. I'll be willing to sell it for half price if anyone is interested.

darkmightyin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Rooms can be as bright as the outdoors”

Obligatory Tom Scott video on indoor CO2 levels: link to this video (or the studies themselves link and others) I.e. I think air quality is likely a big factor. When it's windy and I get good airflow through my room it doesn't feel as different from outside. It's probably not only CO2, but also dust, VOCs, funghi, microorganisms, etc.

derefrin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Cabin Fever”

I’ve lived in a lot of places in my life, and spent at least some time in seclusion in each one. And I have experienced the “cabin fever” feeling before... but not everywhere I’ve lived. In some environments, it happened easily and immediately; in others, it never did. I’ve tried to think about my environment at each juncture to figure out if the situations where I did experience “cabin fever” had anything in common. Every time I experienced the symptoms described in the article (restlessness, lightheadedness, insomnia, irritability, etc.) I was living in a modern, rather-well-sealed apartment building; or was on a long road-trip in a modern, rather-well-sealed car; or was on a long plane fl…

thamerin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Whose breath are you breathing?”

…d to establish the effect on response time, finding that "For every 500ppm increase, we saw response times 1.4-1.8% slower, and 2.1-2.4% lower throughput." For a more pop-sci take on this, see this Tom Scott video where a subject is placed inside of an airtight chamber where the CO2 gradually increases, with a major impact on their brain function: link to this video 1 link 2 link…

jobigoudin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Analyzing Carbon Dioxide levels while attending IETF-115 in London, UK”

Kurtis Baute tried to seal himself in a greenhouse with plants and that wasn't enough to compensate the exhaling. It was featured in a Tom Scott video: link to this video

M3L0NM4Nin Hacker News • Mentions

On “AirGradient Open Source Air Quality Monitor for CO2 and PM2.5 Measurements”

I will note though, CO2 measure indoors can be very valuable. Higher levels of CO2 result in less brain function, as shown by this Tom Scott video: link to this video

jackcurranin Hacker News • Mentions

…e thanks to Reddit for the inspiration threads on sensor accuracy, cross‑calibration, and DIY enclosures; your collective brainpower shaped Halo Air more than you know. If you're interested in the area, here are some cool links that I've heard people say completely changed their thinking about air quality: This Is Your Brain On Stale Air (Youtube) link to this video Elon's X thread about his CO2 Monitor: link Diary of a CEO: The Air In Your Room Is Making You Stupid & Harmi…