When I’m running late there’s never enough, yet if I’m early there’s enough to kill. Time, it’s a difficult concept when you think about it too closely. Seconds and minutes make sense while days and weeks seem to stretch and contract.

The oldest living person, Chiyo Miyako of Japan, was born 117 years ago. During his lifetime there have been two world wars, the Cold War and we set foot on the moon. 250 years ago the Industrial Revolution gave birth to the modern world. The great pyramids were constructed 4,500 years ago and 230 million years ago there were dinosaurs. Yet this all fades into insignificance when we think about the age of the universe. Is it ever possible for our tiny brains to conceive 13.7 billion years?

Kurzgesagt, German for “in a nutshell”, are helping us to understand the concept of time in the latest film made for their YouTube channel. Their in-house design studio creates animations that help us to understand complex ideas.

Each month a new film is added covering topics from string theory to homeopathy, black holes and robot rights. The animations last between five and ten minutes each, perfect for our time-poor, on-the-go lives.

This is YouTube at its best, entertaining and insightful, original content that’s beautifully illustrated with great production. I recommend you subscribe.

Visit Kurzgesagt’s YouTube channel for more videos.