The best free cultural & educational media on the web
The best free cultural & educational media on the web
≡ Category: Life, Science | ≅ 2 Comments
Robert Sapolsky – one of the world’s leading neurobiologists, a MacArthur Fellow, Stanford professor, and author of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers — breaks down an intriguing question. Precisely in what ways are we (humans) different from other animals inhabiting our world? The differences are fewer than we think. But there are some, and they’ll make [...]
≡ Category: Science | ≅ Leave a Comment
This humbling footage of the Milky Way was filmed on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the same location that recently gave us footage of stars orbiting a black hole. This is, of course, not a coincidence. Mauna Kea hosts the world’s largest observatory for optical, infrared, and submillimeter astronomy. Thanks Robert for sending this our way.
via [...]
≡ Category: Science | ≅ 2 Comments
This animated footage gives you a more global view of the Chilean earthquake in action. Seen from this vantage point, there’s a certain beauty to Mother Nature in action. Waves rippling across the Pacific, as if a stone were thrown into a calm pond. But, obviously, for those experiencing the earthquake on the ground, it’s [...]
≡ Category: Science | ≅ 1 Comment
An interesting factoid relating to the devastating earthquake in Chile this weekend. A NASA scientist surmises that the quake probably shifted the Earth’s axis and shortened the day. As this piece in Business Week goes on to explain:
Earthquakes can involve shifting hundreds of kilometers of rock by several meters, changing the distribution of mass on [...]
≡ Category: Science | ≅ Leave a Comment
The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the ocean and also the lowest known elevation on earth, plunging down some 36,200 feet. This graphic, sent along by Bill and Ian, puts the Trench into perspective, allowing you to see it in scale just how low it goes…
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≡ Category: Science | ≅ 2 Comments
Imagine a TV display that contains millions of “smart pixels” that can move into different places and reliably create 3D images? That’s what researchers at an MIT research lab are currently doing. But, in the absence of real smart pixels, they’re using “remotely controlled micro-helicopters that can be choreographed electronically to display shapes and images.” [...]
≡ Category: Psychology, Religion, Science | ≅ 1 Comment
More and more, the Dalai Lama has been developing an interest in what modern science has to say about human emotion — or, more particularly, how neuroscience makes sense of meditation and compassion. Partly as a result, Stanford University has launched The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, which is delving deeper into [...]
≡ Category: Science, Stanford | ≅ Leave a Comment
Back in January, we gave you a heads up about a new course available online: The Stanford Mini Med School. Now it’s time for a quick update: the Stanford School of Medicine has launched a handsome web site that conveniently centralizes the video lectures in one place. 10 lectures (from the Fall term) now appear. Eventually, [...]
≡ Category: Current Affairs, Science, TED Talks | ≅ 3 Comments
The major TED conference wrapped up late last week. And now the videos start to roll out. Above Bill Gates (to quote TED) “unveils his vision for the world’s energy future, describing the need for miracles to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he’s backing a dramatically different type of nuclear reactor. The necessary goal? [...]
≡ Category: History, Politics, Science | ≅ Leave a Comment
You can’t get good democracy without science, and you can’t get good science without democracy. That’s why great political and scientific revolutions have historically gone hand-in-hand. It’s an intriguing argument that Timothy Ferris (UC Berkeley) makes in his new book, The Science of Liberty, and debates in an interview with Michael Krasny, aired last week on [...]
≡ Category: Science | ≅ 4 Comments
In 2004, the Hubble Space Telescope captured 10,000 galaxies in an image that’s now called the Ultra Deep Field. It’s our deepest look into the universe. The video above animates the Deep Field image and puts it into 3D. No need to read more. Just watch.
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≡ Category: Math, Science, TED Talks | ≅ 1 Comment
Our reader Garnet sets the stage for this video: “Mathematicians have long declared that geometrical hyperbolic space could not be modeled in the real world. Now it’s been done, through crochet! Watch TED video science writer Margaret Wertheim explain how the art of crochet emulates sea slugs creating coral structures in hyperbolic space, using art [...]
≡ Category: Physics, Science | ≅ Leave a Comment
Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, Bohr and many other great scientists appear on paper currencies from around the world. Note that you can click on each image to see it in a higher resolution.
via @olfus
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≡ Category: Life, Science | ≅ Leave a Comment
Apparently, the Swedes call when they know you’ll be home. Worth a listen.
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≡ Category: Science | ≅ 1 Comment
Here’s some vintage Richard Dawkins. Back in 1991, the Oxford University biologist presented a series of lectures for the Royal Institution. In the very first lecture (presented above), Dawkins forces his audience to confront some big questions. (What’s the origin of life? Where do we fall in the scheme of life on planet Earth? What’s [...]
≡ Category: Science, Stanford | ≅ 3 Comments
Starting this past fall, Stanford’s School of Medicine and Stanford Continuing Studies (my day job) teamed up to offer The Stanford Mini Med School. Featuring more than thirty distinguished faculty, scientists, and physicians, this yearlong series of courses (three in total) offers students a dynamic introduction to the world of human biology, health and disease, and [...]
≡ Category: Science, TED Talks | ≅ 2 Comments
TED recently took its show to India, and one of the more interesting presentations featured neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran (UCSD) explaining how mirror neurons, a recently discovered system in the brain, “allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization,” and also helped us evolve as a species. Good [...]
≡ Category: Philosophy, Religion, Science | ≅ 5 Comments
In this clip from Richard Dawkins’ YouTube Channel, philosopher A.C. Grayling offers an argument for why intelligent design should’t be taught alongside evolution in the classroom. Some will agree with his position, and some won’t. And probably few will have no opinion. If you have reactions to Grayling’s argument, please state them civilly and intelligently [...]
≡ Category: Life, Science, Technology | ≅ 1 Comment
Every year, The Edge.org poses a thought-provoking question to 150+ engaging thinkers, and the answers never disappoint. This year, they throw out the question: How is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? In this collection, you will find answers by George Dyson, Clay Shirky, Tim O’Reilly, Marissa Mayer, Richard Dawkins and many more. Below, [...]
≡ Category: Physics, Science | ≅ 1 Comment
For the past two years, Stanford has been rolling out a series of courses (collectively called Modern Physics: The Theoretical Minimum) that gives you a baseline knowledge for thinking intelligently about modern physics. The sequence, which moves from Isaac Newton, to Albert Einstein’s work on the general and special theories of relativity, to black holes and string [...]
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