Video
grrlscientist | June 18, 2010tags: The Intriguing Sound of Marine Mammals, sounds, songs, communication, language acquisition, noise pollution, shipping, acoustic environment, vocal imprinting, marine mammals, dolphins, whales, Peter Tyack, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
Bird watchers (especially those who do most of their birding by ear) will particularly enjoy this video: Peter Tyack of Woods Hole talks about a hidden wonder of the sea: underwater sound. Onstage at Mission Blue, he explains the amazing ways whales use sound and song to communicate across hundreds of miles of ocean.
TEDTalks is a daily video…
grrlscientist | June 17, 2010tags: FuÃball, sports, soccer, futbol, World Cup Soccer, Niederlande, Dänemark, Lego, silly, satire, humor, funny, television, streaming video
This hilarious video satire is surprisingly well-done. It shows a clip from the Netherlands versus Denmark game.
grrlscientist | June 17, 2010tags: FuÃball, sports, soccer, futbol, World Cup Soccer, USA, England, Lego, silly, satire, humor, funny, television, streaming video
This hilarious video satire is surprisingly well-done. It shows a clip from the USA versus England World Cup game. (This is a great video for those who didn't see the game since this video shows the highlights).
grrlscientist | June 16, 2010tags: Black Market Soccer, sports, soccer, futbol, World Cup Soccer, human trafficking, slavery, documentary, investigative reporting, television, streaming video
Sadly, slavery is not dead after all. This video shows a scene from the documentary "Soccer's Lost Boys." In this video, correspondent Mariana van Zeller goes undercover to explore the last, desperate hope of young West African players living illegally in Paris: a pick-up game with sketchy middle-men who try to sell the players to outside agents.
The reason that FIFA, the governing body of the sport, has decided to hold the World…
rallain | June 16, 2010Somewhere on the internet, I came across this Cracked.com article on movie myths about guns. The article wasn't too bad, but I really liked this video they included from Arnold's movie Commando.
The myth for this particular clip was that guns never run out of ammo in the movies. Right away, I thought: I wonder how many bullets he shot? BRING IT ON.
First, I am going to find the fire rate of Arnold's weapon. Oh, I know I could look it up on Wikipedia or something - but I am not going to do that. I am going to determine the fire rate from the clip.
After capturing an audio segment where…
grrlscientist | June 16, 2010tags: Drop into the Ocean, Greenpeace, documentary, whaling, overfishing, fish farming, mining, oil drilling, climate change, underwater marine parks, endangered species, conservation, marine biology, streaming video
Take a deep breath and imagine the oceans.... This disturbing video is a short Greenpeace documentary outlining the threats that humans pose to our oceans and a proposal for what we ALL can do to help restore their health. [In short, if you haven't stopped eating all fish -- and most especially shrimp -- yet, this video will make you think seriously about this decision]
grrlscientist | June 15, 2010tags: Earthworm Porn, animals, annelids, mating habits, reproductive behavior, sexuality, Isabella Rossellini, streaming video
This video is a look at Isabella Rossellini's bizarre and hilarious look at sex in the natural world as she explores the mating habits of those naughty earthworms.
grrlscientist | June 15, 2010tags: Foucault's Pendulum, physics, rotation, Pendulum, Jim LaBelle, Dartmouth University, wow, streaming video
This video features physics and astronomy professor Jim LaBelle, as he discusses the truly fascinating science behind a classic physics experiment, Foucault's pendulum, while seated next to Dartmouth University's pendulum in Fairchild Tower.
While scientists already knew that the Earth had a rotation, they had struggled to come up with a way of definitively proving this was so. In 1851, French scientist Leon Foucault gave a sensational demonstration in the Paris Pantheon proving…
grrlscientist | June 14, 2010tags: The Science Behind Gliding Paper Airplanes, physics, teaching, flight, pressure, paper airplanes, streaming video
Do you need a fun, hands-on experiment for your physics classroom? This video shows how a group of high school students, led by a terrific teacher, made origami paper airplanes from phone book pages that glide on a wave of air and what they learned from this experience. Magnificent.
grrlscientist | June 14, 2010tags: Using Science to Create the Ultimate Chocolate Bar, Theo Chocolate Company, Seattle, organic chocolate, fair-trade chocolate, Doc Choc, Andy McShea, streaming video
Harvard-trained molecular biologist Andy McShea takes a distinctly scientific approach to making better and healthier chocolate. Dr McShea, known as "Doc Choc," is the Chief Operating Officer of the 4-year-old Theo Chocolate company, which he describes as the fastest-growing organic, fair-trade chocolate producer in the United States.
Visit Theo Chocolate Company or read more about it in TheScientist's Dr. Chocolate […
grrlscientist | June 13, 2010tags: A Story Told With Sand, art, performance art, sand animation, storytelling, wow, Kseniya Simonova, streaming video
Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII. This is the most unique piece of performance art I've ever seen.
grrlscientist | June 13, 2010tags: Atheists Don't Have No Songs, Steve Martin With The Steep Canyon Rangers, atheism, 2010 New Orleans Jazzfest, comedy, satire, humor, funny, offbeat, streaming video
This video was filmed at the recent 2010 New Orleans Jazzfest. It features a silly song, "Atheists Don't Have No Songs," performed by Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers. I think atheists need to fix this little problem (not having any songs) don't you?
grrlscientist | June 12, 2010tags: Atheism: In Your Own Words, The Thinking Atheist, atheism, humanism, rationalism, religion, cults, self delusion, fantasy life, wishful thinking, streaming video
Realizing that you are an atheist is a profound, personal experience. This video records the stories (in their own words) of some people who came to the realization that they are atheists.
grrlscientist | June 12, 2010tags: The BP Oil Spill Meets Cats, Oil Spill, BP, entertainment, humor, weird, strange, wow, streaming video
This amusing little video should catch you up on everything that's happened with the BP oil spill so far.
If teh kittehs don't give you enough information, let's listen to what Obama has to say:
grrlscientist | June 11, 2010tags: The No Underwear Subway Ride: Uncensored, NYC, New York City, prank, humor, funny, comedy, satire, Improv Everywhere, streaming video
This is the "uncensored" version of Improv Everywhere's amazing April Fool's prank video, The No Underwear Subway Ride. This video shows how the group pulled off the hoax. Although they claimed that 1,000 people had exposed their genitals on the train, they actually just filmed 20 actors wearing skin-colored underwear, and then pixelated the footage to make them look naked. The "uncensored" version of the video embedded below will show you what they…
grrlscientist | June 11, 2010tags: BP Spills Coffee, Upright Citizen's Brigade Comedy Team, BP, British Petroleum, oil spill, disaster, environment, social commentary, Gulf of Mexico, comedy, humor, satire, funny, fucking hilarious, streaming video
What would happen if BP spilled a bunch of coffee on their conference room table? Pretty much the same thing if they spilled a whole bunch of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. This Upright Citizen's Brigade theater sketch spoof explores the delicate mapping between the two scenarios, and the delightful comedy that ensues. Kevin Costner's voice, or a reasonable facsimile, guest stars…
grrlscientist | June 10, 2010tags: Who You Gonna Call?, NYPL, NYC, New York City, prank, humor, funny, comedy, satire, parody, Ghostbusters, Improv Everywhere, streaming video
For years, as an unemployed scientist, I depended daily upon the New York Public Library (NYPL) to remain in touch with my world, to earn money and to research and write my blog and freelance pieces -- mostly due to the free internet access they provide in addition to a clean, safe workspace. So it always tears at my heart when I hear that NYPL is in dire financial straits. This time, Improv Everywhere is helping NYPL retain its funding by pranking…
jgoldman | June 10, 2010The official song of the World Cup, Waka Waka (This Time For Africa), by Shakira.
Totally awesome song. But also, animals playing soccer!
(h/t @avflox)
drorzel | June 10, 2010One of the questions asked of Neil deGrasse Tyson at the WSF thing last week was "When did you change from a mild-mannered astrophysicist to a rock-star scientist?" (or something close to that phrasing). In his answer, he said that after his first tv interview was edited down to a three-second shot of him wiggling his hips, he made a deliberate effort to practice giving sound bites-- answering questions in 3-4 sentences with a good "hook" for the tv people to work with.
I thought of this when I stumbled across the following YouTube clips, which were shot by TV Ontario when I was at the…
grrlscientist | June 10, 2010tags: How Poachers became Caretakers, Namibia, conservation biology, endangered species, wildlife, poachers, John Kasaona, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
In his home of Namibia, John Kasaona is working on an innovative way to protect endangered animal species: giving nearby villagers (including former poachers) responsibility for caring for the animals. And it's working.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al…