I’ve enjoyed Mark Rober’s videos for a while now. They are fun, touch on accessible topics, and have decent production value. But this recent video isn’t sitting right with me

The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrGENEXocJU

In it, he talks about a few techniques for how to take down “bad guy drones”, the problems with each, and then shows off the drone tech by Anduril as a solution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anduril_Industries

Anduril aims to sell the U.S. Department of Defense technology, including artificial intelligence and robotics. Anduril’s major products include unmanned aerial systems (UAS), counter-UAS (CUAS), semi-portable autonomous surveillance systems, and networked command and control software.

In the video, the Anduril product is a heavy drone that uses kinetic energy to destroy other drones (by flying into them). Quoting the person in the video:

imagine a children’s bowling ball thrown at twice as fast as a major league baseball fastball, that’s what it’s like getting hit by Anvil

This technology is scary for obvious reasons, especially in the wrong hands. What I also don’t like is how Mark Rober’s content is aimed at children, and this video includes a large segment advertising the children’s products he is selling. Despite that, he is promoting military technology with serious ethical implications.

There’s even a section in the video where they show off the Roadrunner, compare it against the patriot missiles, and loosely tie it in to defending against drones. While the Anvil could be used to hurt people, at least it is designed for small flying drones. The Roadrunner is not:

The Roadrunner is a 6 ft (1.8 m)-long twin turbojet-powered delta-winged craft capable of high subsonic speeds and extreme maneuverability. Company officials describe it as somewhere between an autonomous drone and a reusable missile. The basic version can be fitted with modular payloads such as intelligence and reconnaissance sensors. The Roadrunner-M has an explosive warhead to intercept UAS, cruise missiles, and manned aircraft.

        • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.eeEnglish
          303·
          8 months ago

          I think it’s because Mark wants to interest a young audience rather than building some very complicated stuff little kids wouldn’t be able to do.

            • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.eeEnglish
              133·
              8 months ago

              Dude was a nasa engineer. Just because he doesn’t do the complicated stuff on yt doesn’t mean he’s not capable of doing so. I do wish he did complex stuff though.

              • NostraDavid@programming.devEnglish
                5·
                8 months ago

                I just checked his Wikipedia page for his credentials. Worked for 9 years at NASA, of which 7 working on the Curiosity rover (yeah, the one that’s on Mars now).

                I’d say that’s credentialed enough.

                I too wish he did more complex stuff.

                • Snazz@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  9·
                  8 months ago

                  Its pretty clear that Mark and Micheal Reeves don’t focus as much on design and iteration so much as the ideas behind their creations. The content formula for their videos is different from the other youtube creators you mentioned. If that style of video isn’t your cup of tea, thats ok.

                  As for the inventions themselves, I have to disagree. I think some of Mark’s creations are fairly well designed, such as the later versions of the glitter bombs.

                  • yarr@feddit.nlEnglish
                    21·
                    8 months ago

                    If you want to see some fucking crazy engineering (and I don’t mean crazy impressive…) one of his variations of his glitter bomb used 4 Samsung phones hidden in a 3d printed enclosure. If you’re ever in a spot where you are building a box and shoving 4 phones inside, you have fucked up.

    • Cocodapuf@lemmy.worldEnglish
      181·
      8 months ago

      If you want a real engineer, watch “stuff made here” perhaps the most competent engineer on YouTube.

      If you want to watch top quality unbiased science content, there’s “smarter every day”, “veritasium” and “3blue1brown”. They’re all great, I highly recommend them all.

      If you want a good combo of engineering and science, and probably the smartest person on YouTube, “the thought emporium” will blow your mind. The projects they come up with… I never knew any of that was possible.

      • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        5·
        8 months ago

        If you want to watch top quality unbiased science content, there’s “smarter every day”, “veritasium” and “3blue1brown”. They’re all great, I highly recommend them all.

        Add to that any and all of Brady Haran’s channels: Numberphile (maths), Periodic Videos (chemistry), Sixty Symbols (physics), Deep Sky Videos (astronomy)…