David Attenborough and More on Youtube!!

The man himself! Sir David Attenborough.

The unparalleled naturalist David Attenborough has participated in a huge number of fantastic nature documentaries over the year, and it turns out a fair number of these are available on youtube! Having stumbled on these yesterday and spent several hours enjoying them, I felt compelled to share them with you, the public hungry for knowledge!

Youtube user akhilind has posted many of these videos so I direct you to this person’s channel. He’s got the Private Life of Plants, which makes extensive use of time lapse photography to bring slow (but fascinating!) plant behavior into the realm of human perception. He’s got the classic Planet Earth, a practically pornographic (in the lushness of the visuals, I mean!) look at our planet from pole to pole. He’s got Blue Planet, which focuses on the watery parts of our globe. He’s also got a wide variety of other documentaries, with the emphasis seeming to be on environmental preservation and appreciation. So give it a look!

As a personal recommendation, let me suggest the episode of the Private Life of Plants called Flowering, which provides many many examples of unique and wonderful flower/pollinator relationships. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r96hhTmNCX0

Now keep in mind this is just one person’s channel! There are many other users who have uploaded many other entertaining and informative videos from all kinds of different productions. Just search around for a topic of interest and you’re sure to find some material you’ll enjoy. Youtube is an excellent resource for education, and if you can for a moment gently push aside the videos of obese men eating pizza or small mammals rapidly turning their heads, you can discover a treasure trove of wonderful things. Sometimes people complain that the internet is not used to its full potential as an information disseminating medium, but that is hardly the fault of the internet! It’s simply ours. The material is there, waiting to be viewed. It’s only up to us to click the link!

So go look! Go on! I promise you’ll find something you like.

-Neil

More New Tunes from John Boswell

Ooooh, Johnny, lay another dose of those sweet scientific sounds on me! The new track is titled “The Unbroken Thread,” and it features David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, and Jane Goodall. Here it is:

Until next time!

-Neil

Emergent Phenomena and You

The matter of the Chimpanzee and the matter of the stone are not so different...

Today I want to discuss something more philosophical than usual. This post contains personal thoughts that are not scientific and upon which there is not a consensus opinion. But I find the topic very, very interesting and I felt like sharing. So here we go.

The topic is Emergent Phenomena.

Let us start with a neuron.

Go Outside, Meteors!

Is it the Sunday/Monday midnight??? Yes??? Then go outside and look because the Geminids should be peaking around now and it’s supposed to be the show of the year!

Go!

Fascinating Animals 1: Whales

Two majestic marine mammals

Greetings, faithful blog readers!  My name is Sam and I’m going to take you on a fascinating tour of the animal kingdom over my next few posts, as well as whatever other scientific topics strike my fancy.  Today, I’d like to talk about our fishy friends, the whales (not actually fish, though we’re sure you knew that), and the fascinating topic of animal intelligence.

Everyone knows that the dolphins at SeaWorld can learn tricks, but the assumed limits of whale intelligence are being shattered regularly.  Dolphins are capable of recognizing their own reflections (a sign of self-awareness), singing the “Batman” theme song (reproducing rhythm and pitch) and most recently, hunting with sponges to protect their noses (tool usage).  Clearly, the cognitive ability of our marine amigos is not to be underestimated!

Fantastic Images of Deep Sea Life

A flashlight fish, one of the many denizens of the deep.

Top DTC reporter Sam alerted me this morning to a press release by the Census of Marine Life with some new photos of deep sea critters. Go to their site and have a look! The organization has lots of photos of amazing creatures, and video too!

There’s some seriously cool stuff down there.

-Neil

NASA Confirms Solar Tsunamis

The sun. It's big, hot, and apparently, occasionally subject to some serious turbulence.

Scientists at NASA have confirmed earlier observations of wavelike events on the solar surface as being truly stellar tsunamis. NASA is good at putting out really great press releases, and they know a heck of a lot more about this than I do, so I’m just going to point you to their site. Make sure you check out the videos!

The sun is awesome. “Some matter in a ball,” indeed.

-Neil

Obama Unveils Initiative to Improve Math and Science Education

Look, Beaker, the good-decision-o-meter is reading off the scale!

I shrieked with childlike joy when I learned today that the Obama administration will be pushing extracurricular math and science education in an initiative called Educate to Innovate. Better programming on television, science geared video games, and episodes of Sesame Street discussing the scientific method are all on the agenda. Below the fold is the New York Times article by reporter Kenneth Chang in full:

New Tunes from John Boswell

I recall reading a discussion on science and poetry. I recall the author (I can’t remember who it was) asking, where are the poets inspired by science? Given the indescribable beauty and majesty of this universe we live in, and are part of, why is it that we find so few poets or artists inspired by scientific discoveries? I don’t know the answer to the question, but I have a bit of evidence that contradicts the assumption that science fails to inspire art!

Hot off the presses, here’s another stirring melody from John Boswell of Symphony of Science. You will remember him from the two other pieces he has composed, also posted on this site.

Without further delay, here’s “Our Place in the Cosmos,” by John Boswell, and featuring the words of Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Michio Kaku and Robert Jastrow.

Beautiful!

What are your thoughts on our place in the cosmos as revealed by science? Do you find it frightening to confront our smallness? Does the enormity of time, stretching so far in either direction, make your life seem vain? Do you struggle with the idea that you and all your wonders stem from a body made of matter? Or does our smallness inspire you to consider with what luck we exist at all? Does the enormity of time force an emphasis on this very moment? And does all of human complexity stemming from common matter elevate that matter, rather than degrading the human? What do you think?

-Neil

Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks Last Night!!

An 1833 depiction of the Leonid Meteor Shower.

Thousands of you are coming here for information on the shower, but I don’t have a post up about today’s event! So here it is!

The Leonid Meteor shower occurs every year when Earth passes through the cloud of debris left behind by the passage of the comet Temple-Tuttle. Specks of dust are rapidly heated upon contact with our atmosphere and glow spectacularly for a brief moment. If you want to catch a glimpse of our brush with this cometary dust cloud, tonight is a good night. Last night was technically the peak, but since the cloud of dust is fairly large, Leonid meteors should be visible tonight and tomorrow as well. Some folks have reported some brilliant displays, so if you’re awake you may as well take a look. In any case if you decide to check out the event, just find a nice spot with a good view of as much of the sky as possible. Make sure it’s dark and free from light pollution. Then relax on your back and enjoy the show! Oh – some additional viewing tips from someone who knows his stuff:

It’s more important to orient looking away from sources of light pollution – especially the moon if it’s up. If possible, orient so these light sources are blocked from your visual field by objects in your surroundings. This will encourage your pupils to open a bit wider, and allow seeing fainter meteors. Orient toward the holes in the clouds, if any. Orient so that the place where you are lying is comfortable. Aaahhh!

Have fun and dress warm!!

-Neil