Smarter Every Day

Destin Sandlin is an American aerospace engineer and the creator of Smarter Every Day, a YouTube channel launched in 2007 that documents his personal journey of curiosity about how things work. He earned a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama and an MS in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and spent roughly 15 years as a Missile and Aviation Flight Test Engineer at Redstone Arsenal before leaving full-time government work to focus on his channel and a PhD program.

What sets Smarter Every Day apart from many science channels is Sandlin's genuine, unscripted curiosity. He does not present himself as an explainer of things he already knows; he films himself learning in real time, often with access to military hardware, space facilities, and research laboratories few civilians ever enter. His video on the "backwards brain bicycle"—where he trained himself to ride a modified bicycle with reversed steering to demonstrate neuroplasticity—became a landmark piece of science communication, illustrating a profound concept about how habits form in the brain through a simple, relatable experiment.

Sandlin was selected by the FAA as an Ambassador for Aviation and Space Education and was one of only three YouTube creators chosen to interview then-President Barack Obama after his 2016 State of the Union address. His channel has accumulated over 1.2 billion views across nearly 400 videos, covering topics from high-speed photography and rocket launches to submarine operations and prison systems—always with the core message that understanding the world is inherently worthwhile.