A Demonstration of Why Flight Passengers Are Told to Put Their Own Oxygen Mask on First

Smarter Every Day host Destin Sandlin deprived his own brain of oxygen to demonstrate why flight passengers are told to put their own oxygen mask on first in the event of cabin depressurization. Sandlin performed the experiment in a controlled environment under the supervision of a team at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab, but the results are still a surprisingly look at how oxygen deprivation can leave someone unable to save their own life, even if it’s as simple as flipping a switch.