The First Ever Wireless Hack: Marconi vs Maskelyne

Рет қаралды 790,540

8 жыл бұрын

No, it wasn't called "hacking" back then: it was called "scientific hooliganism". Let's talk about Marconi, Nevil Maskelyne, and a demonstration that didn't go as planned. And go check out the Royal Institution's channel! • Slow Motion Contact Ex...
I'm indebted to Sungook Hong's wonderful book "Wireless", which helped me track down some of the more obscure sources here -- and to the British Library, whose incredible archives and microfilm tapes helped me find the original newspapers and journals you see in the video.
I'm at tomscott.com
On Twitter at / tomscott
on Facebook at / tomscott
and on Instagram as tomscottgo

Пікірлер: 476

@Smetvrees 8 жыл бұрын

Scientific hooliganism sounds cool.

@nacoran 8 жыл бұрын

+Smetvrees Sounds like a electronica band... please welcome to the stage, the Scientific Hooligans!!! (computer generated applause)

@HappyBeezerStudios 7 жыл бұрын

not just computer generated applause, but applause generated through white noise.

@tonyrandal9124 4 жыл бұрын

I quietly remove my ridiculous tie

@TomScottGo 8 жыл бұрын

I think this is the hardest I've ever researched for a video: the texts you see on screen were taken direct from the British Library's wonderful microfilm and text archives!

@BrekMartin 4 жыл бұрын

Sounded legit :)

@cediviannareeda4305 4 жыл бұрын

I'm now curious on how the word hacking in computing originated

@gabedidit9942 4 жыл бұрын

if only its this easy to hack now...

@gabedidit9942 4 жыл бұрын

also u should pin this comment so more people see it. your comment is kinda buried under everything else

@nigelbass 4 жыл бұрын

The Marconi Satellite dish is in my backyard in Wall, NJ - if you ever do a video on it you could meet my cats!

@MarcelRobitaille 8 жыл бұрын

The Royal institutions logo makes it look like it's an Adobe product.

@acgandhi 8 жыл бұрын

+Marcel Robitaille I think it's meant to look like an element on the periodic table (probably like the adobe suite as well).

@Marc83Aus 8 жыл бұрын

This one weird trick makes wireless operators hate him, you wont believe what happens next.

@MauriatOttolink 5 жыл бұрын

MarcAFK So what DID happen next?

@noralasiah5623 5 жыл бұрын

You won't believe you won't beliefs.

@PouLS 3 жыл бұрын

Every word should start with a capital letter and there should be "!" instead of "."

@Marc83Aus 3 жыл бұрын

@@PouLS I don't think wireless telegraphy had capital lettering.

@ErikUden 4 жыл бұрын

2016:“And so in the prestigious lecture hall of the Royal Institution, where Faraday and many, many others gave public talks -- and still do --” 2019: *gives lecture in the royal institution*

@iriscandy6377 4 жыл бұрын

A true king

@NStripleseven 4 жыл бұрын

Yup

@blak4831 3 жыл бұрын

damn, Faraday still out here giving talks?

@DerAnanasbaum 3 жыл бұрын

@@blak4831 You've heard of the Faraday Cage, keeping out voltage. Now, get ready for the **Faraday Coffin** !

@tooleyheadbang4239 2 жыл бұрын

@@blak4831 I went to the Faraday Lectures three years running. Bugger never turned up...

@caake4793 8 жыл бұрын

SABOTAGING MARCONI'S WIRELESS [GONE AWRY]

@GideonGleeful95 5 жыл бұрын

[GONE SENSUOUS]

@jake1173 5 жыл бұрын

[GONE PECULIAR]

@SininenOtus 5 жыл бұрын

[POLICEMEN ALERTED]

@nothitler4327 5 жыл бұрын

[CONSTABULARY ARRIVES]

@plushifoxed 4 жыл бұрын

[I NEARLY PERISHED]

@copaceticetal 8 жыл бұрын

This historical rivalry would be a great premise for a movie. Patents getting in the way of progress and hacking to expose faults within a system are extremely relevant to today's issues.

@jed-henrywitkowski6470 4 жыл бұрын

Nothing new under the sun.

@chimpazoo1143 3 жыл бұрын

Thomas Edison would be the villain

@Andrew-zm8gh 3 жыл бұрын

It would be essentially a wireless technically version of The Prestige

@jenniferramon6929 8 жыл бұрын

*pauses to read the newspaper clippings* "Extravagant consumption of gold leaf . . . " Well, that was a long way to go for a comedy callback. Nicely done!

@rzeka 8 жыл бұрын

To me, the most interesting thing about this all is the fact that what started out as a way to disguise a broadcast eventually turned into a way to make it more accessible. It really shows that the way a piece of technology functions depends not on the technology itself, but the way people use it.

@wafflexboy 4 жыл бұрын

These videos could easily be recorded on a green screen, and it doesn't seem like standing in some field would make a difference, but I love all these videos because I love seeing the random locations of history. I could stand in that spot and not even know its history. So cool

@stevenwhite3.1415 3 жыл бұрын

I think Tom likely cherishes the travel part of his job.

@Imrahilion 8 жыл бұрын

0:37 didn't know Faraday was still alive

@ataphelicopter5734 4 жыл бұрын

Wrong Faraday

@jakobfrei1121 4 жыл бұрын

Same thought: "Well, that's an impressive lecture hall. Gotta go there some day to see Faraday"

@CraftyTeo 4 жыл бұрын

you know what they say, a Faraday keeps the doctor away

@ThreadBomb 3 жыл бұрын

When they let him out of his cage.

@pdroa6666 3 жыл бұрын

underrated comment above

@ridethewindd44 8 жыл бұрын

The sad thing is that there are people who hack in to things for the sole purpose of making the problem aware, yet the hackers still get in trouble.

@k1ngjulien_ 8 жыл бұрын

Adobe Royal Institution :D

@TheRoyalInstitution 8 жыл бұрын

+K1ngjulien_ Here for all your scientific design needs.

@doftos 6 жыл бұрын

The Royal Institution You people are the best!

@otemachi4317 5 жыл бұрын

Must've upgraded to CC.

@almostcertainlynotapotato6528 3 жыл бұрын

@@TheRoyalInstitution Oh GOD YOU PEOPLE REPLIED!

@mojosbigsticks 6 жыл бұрын

'Rats!' used to be an interjection denoting disbelief, rather than referring to long tailed rodents. Its's rather dropped out of favour now, and may not be clear to younger viewers.

@imveryangryitsnotbutter 4 жыл бұрын

Humbug!

@jeffgoldblunt 3 жыл бұрын

Who doesn't know rats is disbelief

@OrangeC7 3 жыл бұрын

I know it as more of a generic interjection, kind of like a euphemism for a swear word

@zero_gravity5861 3 жыл бұрын

Nuts!

@EebstertheGreat 3 жыл бұрын

It's more about disgust than disbelief.

@foobar201 7 жыл бұрын

this kind of broadcasting equipment would be wildly illegal today

@GRBtutorials 5 жыл бұрын

Yes, but that’s because we have a lot of devices relying on wireless communication, and back in the day there were close to none.

@taysem321 4 жыл бұрын

I really want to build one now even though i have absolutely no idea of how to

@H3wastooshort 4 жыл бұрын

@@taysem321 and then broadcast an AM transmission saying "rats" over and over again?

@BarginsGalore 3 жыл бұрын

That bit caught my attention. A simple device that broadcasts a signal to every radio for miles, you’d think that kind of thing would be common knowledge

@chrish.942 3 жыл бұрын

@@BarginsGalore It is, it's called a jammer. you can build one without much trouble, just when you turn it on at a power setting where other people are affected by it, you'll receive the mother of all noise complaints. Deliberately interfering with wireless communication carries a sentence of up to 2 years plus unlimited fine in the UK

@Antsaboy94 8 жыл бұрын

_"to new Finland in Canada"_ To where now? *subtitles on* _"to Newfoundland in Canada"_ Ooh, right. Continue.

@kayracan3663 2 жыл бұрын

That's the correct pronunciation, though.

@theKobus 2 жыл бұрын

b’ye

@diarya5573 4 жыл бұрын

From walking an empty hall to giving a talk. Good work, Tom.

@stevenjlovelace 8 жыл бұрын

Can we bring back the term "scientific hooliganism"? I love it.

@HaniiPuppy 8 жыл бұрын

0:37 - "Where Faraday and many, many others gave public talks on science, and still do." Christ, he Faraday must be getting on a bit. I wonder if he's gotten his letter from the Queen yet.

@eduardog3000 8 жыл бұрын

+HaniiPuppy He got his letter from Queen Victoria.

@alfnoakes392 5 жыл бұрын

I thought the name Maskelyne rang a bell ... his son Jasper Maskelyne, a stage magician, had a role re' camouflage techniques in the Second World War.

@mynameislg8549 4 жыл бұрын

Alf Noakes Horrible Histories, anyone? 😂

@TacoPotatoYT 11 ай бұрын

I was thinking of the Nevil Maskelyne who was British Astronomer Royal in the 1700s

@brandonbair 8 жыл бұрын

Can you do a video about Microsoft's Tay AI?

@Matt-zq2gn 8 жыл бұрын

YES YES YES

@thesvenvids7708 8 жыл бұрын

Bump.

@montyoso 8 жыл бұрын

+brandonbair BUMP

@TechyBen 8 жыл бұрын

+brandonbair Wait. It was an AI? I thought it was an Artificial Ignorance?

@mepizzasmangled 8 жыл бұрын

+TechyBen that's the most ignorant comment I've ever read. (this is a backwards compliment dueto AI and AI being the same)

@robspiess 8 жыл бұрын

Even if you've given the company plenty of time and private notice to fix their flaw, it doesn't stop them from suing you when you publicly demonstrate the exploit.

@Arcsinner 8 жыл бұрын

+Rob Spiess Just hide behind 7 vpns and a proxy

@y_fam_goeglyd 8 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this (and all your other fascinating vids). I've had a soft spot for Maskelyne ever since I learned about his troupe of "magicians" in WWII. Hiding ports and towns on the Suez Canal was an act of genius, and somehow, perhaps with the distance in time, hilarious. I haven't seen all of your videos yet - am working my way through them ;-) - but if you haven't done one on this, please do. I'm sure you will explain it far better than I ever could. Keep up the good work!

@Enriconism 8 жыл бұрын

Really well done video with the filming locations and newspaper extracts - must have taken a lot of planning.

@tiffanywilsonkeesey4281 8 жыл бұрын

This must have been so much fun to research and film!! Great video!

8 жыл бұрын

For some reason I now imagine "scientific hooliganism" in a football stadium. Well, that's a sign for me that tells me that I'm way too tired.

@digitalanalogmachine1720 8 жыл бұрын

+kilésengati I've seen weirder signs at football stadiums.

8 жыл бұрын

DigitalAnalogMachine That I'm thinking about such things is a sign for me that I'm tired and should go to bed. Not "scientific hooliganism" signs in football (AE: soccer) stadiums.

@Areek_YT 3 жыл бұрын

Every few days Tom's videos be appearing in my feed and honestly I'm not mad

@MarimbaMaurice 8 жыл бұрын

Very good video, again. I just love the way you talk about such complicated topics

@sloopval2302 8 жыл бұрын

Marconi plays the mamba. Listen to the radio. Don't you remember? We built this city. We built this city on ROCK AND ROLL.

@buddyclem7328 6 жыл бұрын

Sloop Cal Nice. I missed that reference in the 80s. Great song. If Tesla fought over the patent, that song might not be the same.

@electeng6481 3 жыл бұрын

There id something in Tom's voice that Earths your Anexity. May the sea of Answers and knowledge? I will never know

@louiserocks1 8 жыл бұрын

Make more videos about languages please they are my favourite and there hasn't been any for months

@jpchevron 8 жыл бұрын

agreed.

@YuukiAira-TheAirium 7 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, he said he ain't gonna make any soon. The person he worked with has gone on to write a book and those videos are very time-consuming to edit.

@EarlSquirrelsonn 5 жыл бұрын

Yuuki Aira any updates?

@CenterpointConnect 8 жыл бұрын

Wow, neat info. Loving your channel, keep it coming.

@3enjoy3 8 жыл бұрын

RI Lecture Theatre - nice one Tom!! :D

@ivanlebedynets3052 8 жыл бұрын

Thank you Tom for your videos!

@DanDart 8 жыл бұрын

I love this. As a radio Ham and wireless hacker, I can really relate to this.

@21Trainman 3 жыл бұрын

"Scientific Hooliganism" I have just discovered my new messaging service handle.

@christopherrice2004 8 жыл бұрын

As a radio amateur, I deeply appreciate this video.

@SnowDemonAkuma 8 жыл бұрын

Is it just me, or does Maskelyne look kinda like Chris Joel?

@michaelkrzyzanowski8799 8 жыл бұрын

+SnowDemonAkuma maskelyne is his great great grandfather

@samur002 8 жыл бұрын

I had the same thought. For a second I thought this was an April fools video

@NickiRusin 8 жыл бұрын

+gorge lucas Nah, Chris is just immortal and forever young.

@viperhalberd 8 жыл бұрын

+SnowDemonAkuma I was just about to comment saying the same thing! He reads books, you know it's Nevil Maskelyne!

@louisea3867 8 жыл бұрын

Your job is amazing, you travel all around the uk and Europe to film videos!

@stefanozurich 8 жыл бұрын

Fancy editing, great job.

@PhilipMcGeehan 8 жыл бұрын

Very interesting. Thanks Tom.

@LiarraSniffles_X3 8 жыл бұрын

Ha, this isn't the hardest you have ever researched for a video; don't you remember that time you tried to cook noodles in a kettle?

@OrangeC7 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for telling me about that video

@AA_21861 3 жыл бұрын

"We flew a kite in a public place..." probably required some good research as well.

@sam08g16 8 жыл бұрын

All hail the great land of New Finland, Canada!

@CanuckJim 8 жыл бұрын

That's how "Newfoundland" is pronounced in Newfoundland. It's sort of the English places that end in "mouth" are sometimes pronounced "muth". If you say it he way it's spelled, they'll know you're "from away"

@joshuahadams 8 жыл бұрын

+BennyGesserit it's closer to "Newf-inland". Source: I live in the province.

@joshuahadams 8 жыл бұрын

+TheJman0205 Long "a" in "land". "Newfinlind" or "newfunlund" are are obviously from people outside the province.

@CanuckJim 8 жыл бұрын

***** Yes yes the broad North American English "A"

@Hockeyluke1042 4 жыл бұрын

CanuckJim hello my friends. I know this is a 4 year old thread, but I felt the need to share that you’re all wrong. I’m very sorry. As someone from Newfoundland, I can say it is not pronounced like New Finland, although that’s a common misperception. We definitely pronounce the ‘land’ as land and not lind. It’s said like the word “understand”. Understand=Newfoundland. The ‘found’ is the only word that is changed in pronunciation

@dliessmgg 8 жыл бұрын

Your comments at the end made me think of the chaos computer club, a German group of benevolent hackers who advise companies and even sometimes the German government on cyber security.

@zerlgi 3 жыл бұрын

Brilliant. TIL this cool bit of trivia.

@elyyaron4240 5 жыл бұрын

I wish there were more channels like this

@edwelty 8 жыл бұрын

Damn Tom, you are smart! I enjoy you and what you tell us.

@itaybron 8 жыл бұрын

marconi plays the mamba

@Vakito227 8 жыл бұрын

listen to the radio

@itaybron 8 жыл бұрын

Pope-Eye don't you remember?

@OrigamiMarie 8 жыл бұрын

+Dobby762 We built this city on Rock and Roll!

@shifty3453 4 жыл бұрын

Came looking for this

@syedrayan8736 8 жыл бұрын

I really loved your videos.

@williambrennan104 8 жыл бұрын

You and your videos are awesome.

@hellterminator 8 жыл бұрын

Could you please post the scanned articles? I'd really like to read the whole message Maskelyne sent.

@johnw2026 4 жыл бұрын

I'm guessing this is why on most devices that send and/or receive signals, you get this warning printed on it, sometimes its a sticker, sometimes its directly on the unit, sometimes its just in the instruction manual. It says, basically, that the device cannot cause interference, and it must accept any interference received, or something to that effect.

@6272jac 8 жыл бұрын

Great video, I would love to see a video about the Channel Islands (UK) as someone who lives their I have found out so many interesting things that have happened especially during WW2. As well as this I also find that a lot of people (especially people in North America) don't even know the island exist.

@acmefixer1 4 жыл бұрын

You don't even know that we Californians have our own Channel Islands. 🤗👍

@damonmbk 8 жыл бұрын

I live on/by Marconi Ave in Ireland. It was a spot for a wireless station that is now gone, It went from Ireland to nova scotia.

@TomDillon13 7 жыл бұрын

wow! I have been there on holiday - I think... great video

@SeptexGaming 8 жыл бұрын

You should cover the Redsands Forts? or have you already?

@adampickard9880 8 жыл бұрын

nice too see you in cornwall

@Fritschge128 8 жыл бұрын

have nevere heard of that befor, very interessting, thank you!

@jaredmaskelyne9585 5 жыл бұрын

Not even a joke, but that guy legit is my great great great great great grandparent

@tracey-lout9708 3 жыл бұрын

Very interesting, thank you

@spacecommanderal3176 3 жыл бұрын

Erik Larson's book 'Thunderstruck' is a great resource if you want to go deeper!

@AjayMadala 6 жыл бұрын

I went to the area in Newfoundland where the signal was received (signal hill). I couldn't get cell service ironically.

@zacharyreynolds9979 8 жыл бұрын

This is the exacts story that Erik Larson told in his book thunderstruck. I was literally reading this part of the book when this video came up. Scary stuff

@LiquidReality90 7 жыл бұрын

I'm a Newfoundlander!!! LOVE your channel :)

@Fulforce 8 жыл бұрын

Woo. I live here in Cornwall

@jamesarthur67 8 жыл бұрын

Same what part

@SHOCKWAVEXS1 8 жыл бұрын

+James Arthur same but I live in St austell area

@jamesarthur67 8 жыл бұрын

+James Arthur Newquay

@johnroach9026 7 жыл бұрын

Same, Viva la Independence!!!

@reuben8140 4 жыл бұрын

KVB ✊

@fanaticalpotato 8 жыл бұрын

Please upload videos in 60 fps if you can. It looks so good! ^_^

@haramanggapuja 2 жыл бұрын

Nice. Reminds me of my days in the US Navy as a radioman . . . Always out there just beyond the horizon but not so far away that we couldn't see the tops of their masts were the Soviet elint ears, listening to everything we said. Yes, some of it was encrypted but, well, we know now, it was intercepted and read. And yes, we heard and listened to them too. Rats indeed.

@hirosavage 8 жыл бұрын

Very interesting!

@TraumKiller 8 жыл бұрын

"Responsible disclosure" is a bit tricky here in the US, you could get sued or worse. I think there was a guy who found a vulnerability on a government website and tried to help, but then they threw him in jail for "compromising security".

@HA7DN 4 жыл бұрын

About what you said about disclosure at the end... In our country, it just happened twice or so in the last year that someone found a security hole in goverment-close companies systems, reported them to the companies, and they got arrested as the company claimed they caused serious damage. If they did not tell the company what they've found they would not know about anything. Roumor says the holes are still there, but I will not try them...

@Twitchi 8 жыл бұрын

Dude, filming at the RI! Awesome stuff

@TheRoyalInstitution 8 жыл бұрын

+Twitchi You're welcome back any time, Tom!

@ItsNickFox 8 жыл бұрын

+The Royal Institution That moment when you realize The RI uses the internet like your parents do...

@Palifiox 8 жыл бұрын

Note that the title of the patent document starts with a particular word "Improvements". Now why would that be? Because the process was already known .

@bencarroll8203 8 жыл бұрын

I'd love to see you do a video on url shorteners

@StatueSounds 3 жыл бұрын

I live in newfoundland and I love visiting signal hill. :)

@ZeldagigafanMatthew 8 жыл бұрын

Overriding a signal is fairly easy, you just have to have a transmitter operating on the same frequency and outputting more power. It's exactly like speaking over someone else only louder.

@zinniaward8549 6 жыл бұрын

This gave me the chills..

@LowellMorgan 8 жыл бұрын

The eyeliner really makes his eyes pop.

@MinecraftSss 6 жыл бұрын

Tom, at almost every cut in the video, there's a pop sound. As far as I know, they show up, when the audio wave before and after the cut don't match up closely enough.

@siwatson 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant !!

@Radobilly 8 жыл бұрын

Boy i would love to see you with colin furze in one video. Your knowledge about computers and stuff and his ability to build insane and rubbish things must end up in some sort of giant fire spitting doomsday device

@anders4854 8 жыл бұрын

they used to on sky, British tv program a couple years ago.

@qwertyTRiG 6 жыл бұрын

Radobilly Look up the show Gadget Geeks.

@macsnafu 4 жыл бұрын

Great story!

@JukeBoxHeroFTW 8 жыл бұрын

this channel is the fucking coolest.

@davidjuson5608 Жыл бұрын

This is news to me. Fascinating.

@ruairidhhiggins3736 Жыл бұрын

I saw you in the may tree when you were making the video. Still so annoyed I didn't say hi

@The1wsx10 4 жыл бұрын

wait, Faraday still gives talks in the lecture hall of the royal institution?

@baronfrazworth8433 7 жыл бұрын

That's one way to get back at patent trolls. Awesome!

@jayashrishobna 7 жыл бұрын

Great video, but I also find it interesting that you pronounce "patent" differently at 1:41 and 2:15.

@goskascience 8 жыл бұрын

Why didn't I get this video in my subscription box!?!

@Platoqp Жыл бұрын

Presuming this is amplitude modulation (AM), how can you send out a signal at multiple frequencies as carrier wave at the same time with the same message? I think I'm misunderstanding some key component in how this works

@titaniumdiveknife 8 жыл бұрын

Don't know what it is about you Tom, but you're very interesting.

@maxximumb 8 жыл бұрын

Tom are you doing this year's Christmas lectures?

@warvinn 7 жыл бұрын

The R-dah in the thumbnail is a hyphen instead of a underscore

@LauraDixon2025 6 жыл бұрын

Marconi came to my hometown

@christopherlee-hudson3283 4 жыл бұрын

Edit 00:40 add tom scott

@j3011 3 жыл бұрын

How I read the title: Macaroni and Maskline - radio shenanigans

@dogphlap6749 5 жыл бұрын

Gees that was a bit short. So what happened next. Was there a court case or threat of legal action, an attempt to get a law passed to brand such hooliganism as a threat to the crown or did it just peter out. I've always regarded Marconi in the same light I regard Edison, am I wrong ?

@dbsz 8 жыл бұрын

I read his name as macroni, which when pronounced sounds like mac n' cheese from McDonalds

@juanaz1860 8 жыл бұрын

+Glimmargaunt which mcdonalds do they have mac and cheese at?

@beyondbeyond1965 8 жыл бұрын

+JuanAZ18 It's a play on McDonalds common branding. McChicken is pronounced 'MacChicken', and so you can imagine if McDonalds did sell Mac and Cheese it would be called a 'McRoni'

@EricE549 2 жыл бұрын

4:01 reminds me of how someone found a way to hack into neopets' system and unconvert pets, and there was a whole fiasco that drove the team at neopets to say "ok fine we'll allow you to unconvert pets"