Measuring the Distance To The Moon Using Only A Smartphone Camera

This video was sponsored by Cosmos: Possible Worlds, premiering on FOX on September 22nd at 8/7c. 2000 years ago it took one of the smartest people in the world years of observation to measure the distance to the moon, but nowadays it’s possible for anyone to measure this distance, and to do so using a powerful scientific tool many people don’t recognize. Smartphones aren’t just communications devices, they’re packed with sensors and backed up by processing power, and using these I was able to perform a measurement of the distance to the moon on a whim. In the modern world science is not something that’s gated by access to technology, but is available to all. This experiment is a beautiful illustration of how accessible science has become and makes me incredibly hopeful for humanity’s future! Hope you’ll join us for the #COSMOSFutureFair Presentation Day, September 21 at 9am PT for a day of demonstrations that will be streaming live on the FOXTV YouTube Page. See you there! For those of you who want to do the experiment the instructions and spreadsheet are here so you can have it do all the extra math for you: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...