television
grrlscientist | May 31, 2010tags: I'm a Scientist, Get me out of Here!, internet chatrooms, online program, technology, public outreach, scientists, employment, what do scientists do?, teenagers, streaming video
This video describes a new online program targeted to UK teenagers; "I'm a Scientist, Get me out of Here!" This program's goals are to provide teens access to real scientists, to provide them the opportunity to get beyond stereotypes about scientists, to learn how science relates to real life and to provide the scientists with feedback on their communication style -- can they explain their work to teenagers?…
oracknows | May 27, 2010I've written about the credulous mass of misinformation that is TV's The Doctors before. As you might imagine, I'm not impressed with the quality of the medical information that is dispensed on this show. It's everything I hate about glitzed up medicine as TV entertainment, particularly the vacuously beautiful hosts. I thought Dr. Stork and his merry band of bubble-brained doctors had hit their low point, but I was wrong. Earlier this week, they appeared to be extolling the claimed virtues of (or at least not treating particularly skeptically the claims for)--of all things--urine therapy. Don…
grrlscientist | May 27, 2010tags: Amazing Jellies, jellyfish, siphonophores, gelata, gelatinous zooplankton, gelatinous marine animals, fluorescence, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Chad Widmer, Steve Haddock, QUEST, KQED, television, documentary, streaming video
Perhaps you'd like to see what some of those creatures are that are being endangered by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? This lovely video provides a glimpse of the "gelata": siphonophores, jellies and other soft, gelatinous marine animals that lack bones and brains, but nonetheless, comprise much of marine life. They are otherworldly creatures that glow in the dark…
grrlscientist | May 26, 2010tags: Hazmat Dive into the Middle of the Gulf Oil Spill, Corexit, environment, Gulf oil spill, BP, British Petroleum, chemical dispersants, Philippe Cousteau Jr., Sam Champion, television, streaming video
What is the chemical dispersant, Corexit, doing to the oil in the Gulf? This video follows Philippe Cousteau Jr. and Sam Champion as they dive into Gulf's oily waters wearing hazmat uniforms. Their video shows that the oil is being broken up into tiny droplets that coat everything in their path ... birds, fish, whales, boats, the bottom of the sea and people in hazmat suits ... these small…
laelaps | May 14, 2010Image via Discovery Press Web.In his monumental 1945 monograph on mammal classification, paleontologist G.G. Simpson appraised the living species of elephants to be "relicts of a dying group." The living African (Loxodonta) and Asian (Elephas) elephants were all that remained of the past diversity of proboscideans, and human activities put even these large mammals at risk of extinction. Poaching and human development on land bordering game preserves continue to put elephants at risk, and the two-hour BBC special The Secret Life of Elephants, airing this Sunday on Animal Planet in the US,…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2010tags: A Sneak-Peak at UK Conservatives, Not the Nine O'clock News, UK politics, conservative politics, immigrants, racism, comedy, humor, funny, satire, parody, television, Rowan Atkison, streaming video
This British comedy reminds me of conservative politics (and politicians) in the USA, especially those in Arizona. Amazing how little things change, isn't it?
This was the second episode from the first season of Not the nine O'clock News (1979).
grrlscientist | May 11, 2010tags: Bait Ball Feast, natural history, animal behavior, plankton, herring, seabird, humpback whale, television, BBC, streaming video
In late summer, the plankton bloom is at its height. Vast shoals of herring gather to feed on it, diving birds round the fish up into a bait ball.
grrlscientist | May 11, 2010tags: The Delicious Dish, Betty White, comedy, humor, funny, satire, parody, television, Saturday Night Live, National Public Radio, The Splendid Table, Good Food, streaming video
For those of you without a TV or who don't live in the US (where Saturday Night Live is filmed and broadcast), here's a look at a skit that aired on the most recent episode hosted by Betty White. In this skit, SNL is parodying Margaret-Jo McCullen and Teri Rialto who host "The Splendid Table" and "Good Food" on National Public Radio.
grrlscientist | May 8, 2010tags: Brontë Sisters Action Figures, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anna Brontë, historical figures action figures, silly, fucking hilarious, humor, funny, television, streaming video
This amusing video was a fake television commercial by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, made in 1998 for a series of educational shorts about action figures based on historical figures. Its educational value was somewhat suspect. It was (unfortunately) never aired.
grrlscientist | May 2, 2010tags: Wikileaks on the Culture Show, freedom of publishing, freedom of press, investigative journalism, communication, information technology, internet, television, Culture Show, Jacques Peretti, John Young, Julian Assange, streaming video
Jacques Peretti looks into Wikileaks, the anonymous whistle-blowing internet site. Features an interview with John Young of Cryptome and Julian Assange of Wikileaks. Just for good measure, John has published details of the email correspondence with the BBC.
grrlscientist | May 1, 2010tags: Bird House, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, Robinson's Be Natural, advertizing, television, streaming video
This hilarious video shows up a glimpse of life from a canary's point of view. The skill of the animal trainer is apparent, and I am astonished at the attention to detail in this commercial.
oracknows | April 30, 2010Sometimes, when it comes to the anti-vaccine movement, I feel as though I'm bipolar. There are times when I'm incredibly depressed that pseudoscience and fear mongering are winning out, leaving our children vulnerable to infectious diseases not seen in decades and believing that it's only a matter of time before we start seeing really major outbreaks. This mood tends to strike me when I see actual stories about plummeting vaccination rates and, well, small outbreaks of diseases associated with low vaccination rates and unvaccinated children.
There's a condition in surgery known as a "sentinel…
grrlscientist | April 28, 2010tags: British vs American Slang, Ellen Degeneres, Hugh Laurie, television, humor, comedy, streaming video
The fantastically talented Hugh Laurie paid a house call to Ellen, and they played an exciting game of American slang versus English slang -- and the game was bloody brilliant!
The slang that Ellen chose as "American" baffled me, too (was it actually "Ellen slang" instead of American slang?), although I did understand the British slang .. hrm.
oracknows | April 27, 2010Yesterday, I expressed concern about a FRONTLINE episode that was scheduled to air tonight entitled The Vaccine War (which, by the time you read this, should be available for online viewing in case you missed it). My concern was that there was going to be a heapin' helpin' of false balance, based on the promotional materials. My concerns were later somewhat assuaged based on the pre-airing reaction of the anti-vaccine movement, which was fairly wary, if not hostile even. Of course, any television show that doesn't conclude that their view that vaccines cause autism is at plausible or even…
drorzel | April 27, 2010Dennis Overbye has a piece on "The Big Bang Theory" in today's New York Times, taking the "Is this good or bad for science?" angle:
Three years later some scientists still say that although the series, "The Big Bang Theory" (Monday nights on CBS), is funny and scientifically accurate, they are put off by it.
"Makes me cringe," said Bruce Margon, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explaining, "The terrible stereotyping of the nerd plus the dumb blond are steps backwards for science literacy."
But other scientists are lining up for guest slots on the show, which has…
grrlscientist | April 24, 2010tags: Zeitgeist: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, documentary, television, religion, cults, mind control, offbeat, beliefs, history, mythology, streaming video
These multi-part videos are from a television exploration into the story of religion: the greatest story ever sold to the public by the power elites, who shamelessly use religion as a way to control the masses (includes Spanish subtitles).
Part 2 (the relationship between ancient myths and christianity and judaism; the relationship between astrology and christianity, etc.):
Part 3 (origin of the symbol of the cross, the meaning of the…
laelaps | April 21, 2010
In a clip from the recent BBC program Museum of Life, visitors to London's Natural History Museum try to identify what kind of animal Megatherium was. Paleo fans will know it as one of the largest ground sloths to have ever lived (as well as one of the first to be described), but if I didn't know that and had no background in paleo, I might think it was a dinosaur, too!
oracknows | April 19, 2010I've pivoted immediately from attending NECSS and participating in a panel on the infiltration of quackery into academia to heading down to Washington, DC for the AACR meeting. Then, after a packed day of meetings yesterday followed by spending yesterday evening with a friend whom I haven't seen for a long time, there's--gasp!--no new material today. Fortunately, there is this amusing little thing from two and a half years ago (which means it's new to you if you haven't been reading that long). It's also very appropriate, given that I'm at a big cancer research meeting and the decreasing…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: The Un-Funny TRUTH about Scientology, scientology, religion, cults, beliefs, L Ron Hubbard, television, Smoothmedia, streaming video
This astonishingly disturbing video is by Smooth media and is about cult of Scientology.
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: What Is Scientology?, scientology, religion, cults, mind control, Thetan, silly, offbeat, beliefs, Xenu, L Ron Hubbard, television, Boston Legal, streaming video
James Spader explains Scientology in an episode of of the television program, Boston Legal.