Yesterday’s lackluster Academy Awards ceremony may have afforded you some unexpected time for contemplating life’s more urgent questions, such as the one British comedian Alan Davies pursues above: How long is a piece of string? Watch Davies, who is also a frequent panelist on the popular Stephen Fry-hosted quiz show Quite Interesting, explore the riddle’s philosophical implications and inevitable connection to string theory with the help of physics, quantum mechanics, and finally a visit with mathematician Marcus de Sautoy. Fans of the Davies/du Sautoy interaction may also want to check out Du Sautoy’s TED talk on Symmetry, as well as the debates in that video’s comments section.
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There is a similar episode on BBC Horizon “Do you know what time it is?” which I throughly enjoyed.
The link no longer works. I found an alternate source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbodZKrAOGg