Mark Rober Launches Livestreaming Science Classes Amid Coronavirus Quarantining

Mark Rober, a former NASA and Apple engineer who has since become a YouTube luminary for his science-inclined stunts, is realizing a lifelong dream.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, as swaths of citizens the world over quarantine at home to stem its spread, Rober will offer up some added entertainment by streaming science courses every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4 pm ET on his YouTube channel. The inaugural 20-minute class, dropping today, will seek to answer the question, ‘Why Does Helium Make Your Voice Higher?’.

“My dream job has always been to be a high school physics teacher so here we go,” Rober, 40, announced on social media. “Come to learn and have fun. I’ll be explaining science topics in simple terms with demos.” He added that he was a bit nervous about going live, given that he’s never done anything like that before and detests public speaking, but is doing so in order to provide some edutainment during this homebound time.

Rober’s last standard upload also directly addressed the Coronavirus crisis, and served as a response to those in doubt of the efficacy of social distancing. The video, titled How To See Germs Spread (Coronavirus), has amassed 10.2 million views in four days. Rober also recently tweeted about “doomsurfing” and “anxietybait” news articles. “Brain health is just as important as physical health,” he tweeted. “If you’re working a critical job — thank you. If you’re at home, take this opportunity to learn a new skill.” (Clearly his new series is intended to serve the latter need).

In addition to his new live series, Rober also recently pacted with Jimmy Kimmel on a Discovery Channel television series titled Revenge Of The Nerd. The hidden-camera prank show will seek to catch people who violate social norms and right their wrongs using creatively-engineered pranks. Rober also recently teamed up with fellow creator Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson to raise money to plant 20 million trees in the wake of the Australian wildfires.

You can check out Rober’s inaugural live course below: