Thunderf00t: the videos Hacker News recommends
Not the channel's most viewed videos: the ones HN commenters kept linking with real commentary. The top pick, "The Hyperloop: BUSTED!", hN repeatedly cites it as the best skeptical engineering analysis of why Hyperloop is impractical.
- 7 HN recommenders 6 months 2016–2023commentaryHN repeatedly cites it as the best skeptical engineering analysis of why Hyperloop is impractical.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2015–2024explainerHN links it as the accessible video explanation of the sodium-in-water research, and when Coulomb explosions or sodium batteries come up.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2022–2025commentaryMostly cited as a contrarian critique of Starlink's viability; some defend its economics argument while others dismiss it as repetitive.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2021–2023commentaryUsed by skeptics in UFO threads as a debunking of the Navy pilot videos.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2021–2022commentaryCited in atmospheric water harvesting threads as a debunking of products that promise drinking water from thin air.
- cited 8× 0 months 2021–2022commentaryHN commenters cite it as the skeptical case against SpaceX's cost claims, mostly in critical arguments rather than as a recommendation.
- cited 5× 0 months 2021–2023commentaryHN points to it as the skeptical debunking of SpinLaunch whenever the company or similar launch concepts come up.
- cited 7× 0 months 2019–2026commentaryHN uses it as the standard debunking to cite whenever a new water-from-air device is announced.
- cited 4× 0 months 2017–2021commentaryHN cites it as a warning and a debunking whenever water-from-air or similar crowdfunded gadgets appear.
- cited 6× 0 months 2019–2022commentaryUsed as a critical reference to argue gravity energy storage is impractical, not as a general recommendation.
- cited 10× 0 months 2021–2025commentaryUsed as a source for back-of-envelope numbers on tree planting and by critics of feel-good climate gestures.
- cited 3× 0 months 2021–2022commentaryIt is cited as the skeptical debunking whenever SpinLaunch comes up, not recommended as neutral analysis.
- cited 4× 0 months 2021–2025explainerHN cites it in arguments that exercise alone is an ineffective way to lose weight and that caloric deficit matters most.
- cited 6× 0 months 2018–2025commentaryCited in threads on atmospheric water harvesting as the standard debunking of such startups.
Questions
Which Thunderf00t video does Hacker News recommend most?
The Hyperloop: BUSTED!: recommended in 6 different months by 7 HN users between 2016 and 2023.
Is this every Thunderf00t video?
No. Only videos that at least three different HN users linked, in at least three different months, with at least a sentence of their own commentary. That filter is what makes the list useful.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.