This Is Your Brain On Stale Air
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN links it as a popular, accessible introduction to indoor CO2 and its effect on thinking, in air quality threads.
What it is
Tom Scott features Kurtis Baute inside a sealed homemade biodome as carbon dioxide builds up, showing how stale air with elevated CO2 affects cognitive function. Sources include studies on CO2 and cognitive scores.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2019 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Recommends yoodenvranx · 2019-01 · 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: [this video]
Recommends wh-uws · 2020-05 · 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 [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.
Cites yoodenvranx · 2019-01 · 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? [this video]
Cites digitalsushi · 2019-01 · on “Researchers develop a new houseplant that can clean home air (2018)”
Floating around this week is this video [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
Cites bemmu · 2019-01 · 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". [this video]
Cites stackmad · 2019-01 · 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. ( [this video] )
Cites techiferous · 2019-11 · on “The cognitive costs of air pollution”
After watching this Tom Scott video [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.
Cites darkmighty · 2019-11 · on “Rooms can be as bright as the outdoors”
Obligatory Tom Scott video on indoor CO2 levels: [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.