I enjoyed this segment on Channel 4 news a couple of days ago and noticed just now that some lovely person has uploaded it to YouTube. Illustrator Ronald Searl has turned ninety and has some stories to tell us over a glass of champagne.
March 3rd, 2010
the experiencing self vs. the remembering self
Widely regarded as the world’s most influential living psychologist, Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel in Economics for his pioneering work in behavioral economics.
Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy — and our own self-awareness.
From TED Talks 2010
February 21st, 2010
the head
TheHead / hand-drawn animated short from parquerama on Vimeo.
I enjoyed this free spirited animation. Check out the link above for a larger version. (via neatorama)
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February 14th, 2010
plant orchestra
Luke Jerram’s Plant Orchestra allows plants to occupy a larger space in our consciousness.
Although imperceptible to the human ear, plants create sound. Using specialist microphones water can be heard as it flows slowly up the stem of a plant. If trees are suffering from drought, scientists can measure acoustic emissions that occur caused by cavitation and embolism within the plant.
The sounds created during the day are different to those at night and they alter with the seasons of the year. Amplifying the acoustic emissions of plants using dozens of special microphones we will reveal to the public this new and hidden acoustic world.
The choice to receive visitors at night time is my favourite part of the project; with the light and ambient noise low, the power of the plants’ new voices is magnified.
Read more about it at Jerram’s website.
February 6th, 2010
frogosaurus lives
Hurray, I’m now a Cambridge certified EFL teacher! And for the moment I have a much more relaxed schedule, so my blog will see more love than it has in past weeks. Starting with this fantastic creature, Japan’s Giant Salamander.
But impressive it certainly is: about 1.7m (5ft 6in) long, covered in a leathery skin that speaks of many decades passed, with a massive gnarled head covered in tubercles whose presumed sensitivity to motion probably helped it catch fish by the thousand over its lifetime.
If local legend is to be believed, though, this specimen is a mere tadpole compared with the biggest ever seen around Maniwa.
A 17th Century tale, related to us by cultural heritage officer Takashi Sakata, tells of a salamander (or hanzaki, in local parlance) 10m long that marauded its way across the countryside chomping cows and horses in its tracks.
It’s referred to as a “living fossil” because its skeleton still resembles closely that of 30 million year old examples (see right).
The full article describes the creature’s highly unusual manner of (external) fertilization. It sounds almost as alien as slug sex. It really is from another world: see the video and accompanying article @ BBC News.
Photo by wikipedia user Haplochromis.
January 31st, 2010
don’t stare at the sun
Unless you have an ultraviolet video telescope.
Here’s a video of the moon’s transit of the sun (recorded by NASA’s stereo-B spacecraft in 2007).
January 30th, 2010
human body workings
WrongDiagnosis has a library of visualisations/animations of the workings of the human body. Interesting, insightful little clips, like this one on hair or this one on heartburn.
January 7th, 2010
it’s a wuzzy line and its getting wuzzier
“The Unbroken Thread” is the latest and greatest musical-science-mashup by youtuber MelodySheep. Uplifting!
See also: Previous Attenborough-related posts
December 26th, 2009
The world is a dynamic mess of jiggling things, if you look at it right.
Richard Feynman relishes the secret nature of rubber bands — part of a series of clips on youtube taken from the BBC TV programme ‘Fun to Imagine’ (1983).
In the next video Feynman points out that when we touch a solid object, we are experiencing physical repulsion from the object caused by electrical forces. It’s such a familiar phenomenon — so predictable and consistent — that we take it for granted. If the particles didn’t repel us, we would move straight through them as with low density liquids and gases. Feynman explains it all much more excitingly and inspiringly than I, so check it out!
It certainly is fun to think about these things; to gain a new perspective or understanding of something you thought you knew well — or found uninteresting — is to be reminded of the potential all around us. Good old science!
Update: I’ve watched all the videos now and my favourite revelation comes in the latter half of clip #2 on fire, carbon and trees.
December 25th, 2009
a blow for illiteracy
I’m not sure whether this is actually stop-motion or 3d graphics animated in a stop motion style… Either way it’s beautiful and must have taken lots of time and skill. Fantastic sound design also. (via drawn!)
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December 18th, 2009
hollywood is greener than you would imagine
Stargate Studios Reel from RAWworks on Vimeo.
This demo reel of Stargate Studios goes to show how much compositing work we take for granted on tv! Green-screen technology has come a long way in the past decade.
December 17th, 2009
and now back to our home…
The American Museum of Natural History has prepared a video in the vein of Charles & Ray Eames’ Powers of Ten which lets you see our planet’s size relative to the universe. The Museum’s is scientifically accurate — based on data compiled by their astrophysicists.
It’s nice to watch in full screen (at high quality, if your computer can handle it [mine can't!]).
(via kottke)
December 6th, 2009
food + science =
Photo: LIFE magazine.
I like food, and I like science. Predictably I like food science, too. This glut of 100 food science videos is therefore a boon and a challenge.
The first one I watched was on the science of spiciness.
December 2nd, 2009
creatives must fail
Director Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball …) gives a three part interview on the film website ‘Making Of‘. In the third part he explains his philosophy that failure is vital for the growth of an artist.
As if to prove his own point, he creatively augments the English language with neologisms such as “unpredictabilities” and “intuitional”. I’m only half joking.
December 1st, 2009
natural born neurosurgeons
Here’s a video on the Jewel Wasp or Emerald Cockroach Wasp. Not for the faint of heart:
The wasp makes two strategic stings in order to bring down its prey, the much larger cockroach: the first removes the prey’s physical defences; the second removes the prey’s sense of danger. The wasp can then lead the braindead prey back to its nest and lay its eggs on the roach. The wasp barricades the prey inside the nest and keeps it alive so that the larvae have a fresh food supply.
November 27th, 2009
creativity is a skittish tortoise
I enjoyed this video, in which John Cleese recounts how he discovered his creativity and explains his understanding of how it works.
He describes creativity as being like a tortoise, for whom — if you wish to entice him out of his hiding place — you must create a safe enclosure. To do this, Cleese tells us, you must create boundaries of time and space; set aside a certain amount of time, and find yourself somewhere where you will not be distracted or disturbed.
Cleese also has some ideas about the role, in creativity, of the unconscious mind (that I find sometimes dubious but nevertheless interesting), and some very weak jokes injected into his presentation seemingly with the intention of endearing himself to his Flemish audience (instead he comes off as patronizing, but I think he’s just too self-conscious).
(via FreshCreation)