Open Culture » Video – Science

Every TED Talk Under the Sun

Dan Colman — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:55:39 +0000

If you regularly visit Open Culture, then you’re probably familiar with TED Talks — the series of 15 minute “riveting talks by remarkable people” that TED produces and makes free to the world. We’ve included TED in our collection, Intelligent Video: The Top Cultural & Educational Video Sites, and it’s one of the best sources of intelligent video out there. Having said that, I was pleased to find this Google spreadsheet of every TED Talk ever posted online. Although TED hosts many videos on its web site (and on its iTunes and YouTube channels), these platforms don’t give you clean access to the entire TED catalogue. Meanwhile, this simple and sortable spreadsheet does. So enjoy, and use it well.

via BoingBoing

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Every TED Talk Under the Sun is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Bill Gates Puts Richard Feynman Lectures Online

Dan Colman — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:30:26 +0000

From The New York Times:

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates believes that if he had been able to watch physicist Richard Feynman lecture on physics in 1964 his life might have played out differently…

However, Mr. Gates, who is also well known for his sharp and varied intellectual interests and his philanthropic commitment to education, said this week that he had purchased the rights to videos of seven lectures that Dr. Feynman gave at Cornell University called “The Character of Physical Law,” in an effort to make them broadly available via the Internet.

Microsoft Research announced on Wednesday that Mr. Gates, who purchased the rights to the videos privately from the Feynman estate, BBC and from Cornell University, in cooperation with Curtis Wong, a Microsoft researcher, has created a Web site that is intended to enhance the videos by annotating them with related digital content.

Note you will need to download Microsoft’s Silverlight to get around the site. When you access the site, you will get prompted to download it automatically.

via @courosa

Bill Gates Puts Richard Feynman Lectures Online is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

When Galaxies Collide

Dan Colman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:21:54 +0000

What will happen 3 to 5 billion years from now, when our galaxy will likely merge with the Andromeda galaxy? The (soundless) video above will give you a quick preview. This footage from the Hubble Space Telescope offers multiple views of recent galaxy collisions. It’s worth noting that when galaxies “collide,” they don’t literally hit one another. Rather they pull on one another, as the New Scientist explains. And the gravitational force is enough to do some serious violence — the kind captured in the footage above.

When Galaxies Collide is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Jupiter Slips Behind the Sun

Dan Colman — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:42:46 +0000

“NASA’s STEREO spacecraft sees Jupiter move behind the Sun in this 30 hour animation compressed into just 11 seconds. Meanwhile, you can see Jupiter’s moons orbiting it.” Get more on this cool footage from Discover Magazine and be sure to check out the Bad Astronomer Channel on YouTube, which features more videos along these lines.

Jupiter Slips Behind the Sun is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Death by Black Hole!

Dan Colman — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:39:21 +0000

Perhaps you’ve pondered your own mortality. But have you ever imagined perishing as you fall into a black hole? Probably not. But if you’re intrigued by this admittedly unlikely scenario, then watch the clip above. Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist who heads up the Hayden Planetarium in NYC, breaks down the scene for you step-by-step and in a fairly humorous way. This talk is based on his well-reviewed book, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries.

Death by Black Hole! is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

The Future of Human Health TED-Style

Dan Colman — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:09:12 +0000

This week the 2009 TED Conference is kicking into full gear, and it’s getting live blogged by BoingBoing throughout the week. See for example here, here and here. If you’re familiar with the TED format, you’ll know that the goal is to take influential thinkers and have them deliver the “talk of their lives” in 18 crisp minutes or less. It’s a good model, and it’s one that Stanford used during the fall when it delivered a short course called: “The Future of Human Health: Seven Very Short Talks That Will Blow Your Mind.” In the lecture posted above, Jennifer Raymond talks about what changes in our brains when we learn and remember, and how our understanding of these processes (and of specifically neural circuits) can eventually lead to treatments for learning disabilities, dementia and Alzheimer’s. You can find the complete list of short talks on YouTube and iTunes as well.

The Future of Human Health TED-Style is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Darwin’s Legacy on YouTube

Dan Colman — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:55:27 +0000

Back in October, I mentioned that Stanford had posted on iTunes a course called Darwin’s Legacy, which helped commemorate the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species.

The course brings together important scholars from across the US who explore Darwin’s legacy in fields as diverse as anthropology, religion, medicine, psychology, philosophy, literature, and biology. It’s now available on YouTube, and we’ve posted above a lecture by Daniel Dennett, a leading American philosopher who talks about the philosophical importance of Darwin’s theory of evolution. To watch the complete course on YouTube, simply access this playlist. You can also find the course, and many others like it, listed in our collection of Free University Courses.

Darwin’s Legacy on YouTube is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

When a Volcano Erupts Beneath the Ice

Dan Colman — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:46:51 +0000

I’m not sure that it’s quite as intriguing as what happens when waves freeze in Newfoundland, but it’s still pretty neat.

When a Volcano Erupts Beneath the Ice is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity: Now Live on YouTube and iTunes

Dan Colman — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:22:36 +0000

This week, Stanford has started to roll out a new course, Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Taught by Leonard Susskind, one of America’s leading physics minds, this course is the fourth of a six-part sequence -- Modern Physics: The Theoretical Minimum -- that traces the development of modern physics, moving from Newton to Black Holes. As the title suggests, this course (which runs 20 hours in total) focuses squarely on the groundbreaking work of Albert Einstein. And, it’s undoubtedly a plus that the course was presented in Stanford’s Continuing Studies program, which means that it’s tailored to smart non-specialists like you. You can watch the first lecture on iTunes here, or YouTube below. The remaining lectures will be rolled out on a weekly basis. If you would like to watch the longer sequence of courses, I have provided a complete list of links here. Enjoy.

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity: Now Live on YouTube and iTunes is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Alex the Parrot and the Hidden World of Animal Intelligence

Dan Colman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:00:48 +0000

Alex the Parrot spent his days working with animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg at Harvard and Brandeis. And, along the way, he upended the belief held by many scientists that birds lack basic intelligence and can only mimic words, and not really use them in any meaningful way. As you’ll see below, Alex (who died in 2007 at the age of 31) could talk and do much more. To learn more about Alex, you can listen to an extended interview with Pepperberg here, or get her well-reviewed book Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process.

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Alex the Parrot and the Hidden World of Animal Intelligence is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com