SUMMARY: Can folding a piece of paper 45 times get you to the moon? This is a fun little video that asks the simple question: Can folding a piece of paper 45 times get you to the moon? By showing you the answer to that question, this video demonstrates the astonishing potential of exponential growth. ... Read more
SUMMARY: With all this information coming at us from all directions, how can we tell what’s true? Television. Newspapers. Blogs. YouTube. Books. Facebook. Twitter. Magazines. All of these things provide information. A world of information. With all this information bombarding us from all directions, how do we discern which claims are misinformation, which are bogus, and which are true? In this interesting video, which in my opinion should be required watching for everyone at least several times in their lifetimes,... Read more
SUMMARY: Where do good ideas come from? How are scientific discoveries made? Screengrab. Where do good ideas come from? How are scientific discoveries made? How did scientists think about the phenomena they were investigating such that they discovered something new? Do we all need to be an Einstein or a Darwin before we can discover something new about the world? Or perhaps training and educating our minds whilst remaining open to the wonders of the world is enough? In this... Read more
SUMMARY: People can be happy or sad, but can numbers be happy or sad? Image: D Sharon Pruitt (creative commons). It’s a rather gloomy morning today, so I thought I’d lighten things up by showing you a video about happy numbers. Happy numbers? you ask. What is a happy number? How can a number be happy? Are there sad numbers too? ... Read more
SUMMARY: Because instead of talking about what they know, some people talk about the questions that they ponder Remember last year’s online Google Science Fair? Well, hold on to your hats because they’re doing it again this year! In partnership with CERN, Lego, National Geographic and Scientific American, Google has announced their second online science fair. This is the largest global online science competition and it celebrates the curiosity and investigations of young scientists everywhere! ... Read more
SUMMARY: This dramatic time-lapse video features more than 2700 photographs captured during a 7-hour time period showing an individual 13-year periodical cicada nymph shedding its exoskeleton and transforming into the adult (imago) stage If you live in the southern portions of the eastern United States, you are or will soon be witnessing an astonishing natural phenomenon: the emergence of the 13-year cicada (an individual of one of the 17-year cicada species is pictured). There are seven species of periodical cicadas,... Read more
Summary: A video response to fallacious criticisms presented by anti-evolutionists, creationists and other wingnuts This video refutes the many fallacious criticisms put forward against last week’s video on irreducible complexity. This video response exposes the inability of anti-evolutionists to formulate and present a valid argument to support their position. Instead, they rely upon presenting a vast array of strawmen, arguments from incredulity, red herrings, bogus accusations, and plain dishonest misrepresentations that make them unworthy of serious consideration. ... Read more
Hypothesis: scientific evidence shows that complexity can arise through gradual evolution. This well-done video animation addresses anti-evolution anti-science “irreducible complexity” arguments by showing how complexity can arise through gradual evolution — thereby debunking anti-evolution arguments. This video specifically focuses on debunking the so-called “irreducible complexity” of the favourite examples used by creationists; the eye, the bombardier beetle, the venus flytrap and bacterial flagella. The narrator also goes on to discuss the logical flaws in several man-made examples that are favourites... Read more
SUMMARY: An interesting technique for increasing active student participation in the classroom, improving reading comprehension and familiarizing students with quickly reading and evaluation scientific manuscripts whilst decreasing boredom and that passive classroom atmosphere that gets in the way of actual learning tags: psychology, behavior, pedagogy, education, learning, teaching methods, model/rival technique, Avian Learning EXperiment, Avian Language EXperiment, ALEX, bpr3.org/?p=52,peer-reviewed research, journal club ALEX the African Grey Parrot and Dr Irene Pepperberg. Image: The ALEX Foundation. Like anyone who has taught... Read more
Okay, my peeps, I need your help. PBS is airing a NOVA series called “The Secret Life of Scientists.” This miniseries has been nominated for a Webby Award for the Best Documentary Series, and is almost tied with a David Lynch film. We need your help to push this one over the top and give it the support of the people! I’ve embedded a clip below that I know you will enjoy (interestingly, I know several of these scientists in... Read more
Posted in 