Must Watch: Welcome to the Genomic Revolution [Video]
In this accessible talk from TEDxBoston, Richard Resnick shows how cheap and fast genome sequencing is about to turn health care (and insurance, and politics) upside down. [Ted]
Category Archives: Science
DIY 2 Stage Cluster Water Rocket [Video]
Holy crap this is impressive. George Katz of Air Command Water Rockets has launched a 2 stage cluster water rocket 800 feet into the air. We arrived at the launch site around 8am as usual and started setting up. It was overcast and there was a bit of a breeze going, but at least it […]
Satellite Expected to Fall Out of Orbit on Friday
Well, at least gravity hasn’t been disproved today. The defunct Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is expected to return to earth on Friday, and NASA says the debris could spread across 500-miles. Problem is, no one knows exactly where it’s going to land. As of 9:30 p.m. EDT Sept. 22, 2011, the orbit of UARS was […]
Neuroscience as Art [Gallery]
Grad student-turned-visual artist Greg Dunn studies neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. In his spare time, he creates these almost-landscape prints of neurons–extreme close-ups of the hippocampus, retinas and plant-like pyramidals. You can find (and purchase) more of Greg Dunn’s work on his website, including these along with some actual landscapes with real trees and flowers, […]
TED Talk: Our Natural Sleep Cycle [Video]
As a person with a sleep cycle that is best described as erratic (but more accurately, nonexistent), I’m fascinated by body clock studies. In this short TED Talk, Jessa Gamble talks about the influence of circadian rhythms on culture, and vice versa. In today’s world, balancing school, work, kids and more, most of us can only […]
What we learned from 5 million books [Video]
Have you played with Google Labs’ NGram Viewer? It’s an addicting tool that lets you search for words and ideas in a database of 5 million books from across centuries. Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel show us how it works, and a few of the surprising things we can learn from 500 billion words. […]
The Secret Lives of Solar Flares [Video]
If you’re into science and need something a little more substantial than the MinutePhysics videos we talked about earlier today, you should know about ScienceAtNASA on YouTube. Every time there’s a breaking development, interesting find or something your life might be substantially emptier for not knowing (thundersnow, anyone?!), the fine folks at NASA post a […]
One-Minute Physics: Taming Infinity [Video]
If you aren’t subscribed to the minutephysics YouTube channel, you’re really missing out. With concise explanations (coupled with Crayola marker drawings to illustrate key points), MinutePhysics tackles gravity, dark matter and quantum tunneling (to name a few) in under a minute. Here’s a recent video, “Taming Infinity.” If you haven’t seen the earlier video referenced […]
Gamers Level Up Scientists, Take on AIDS
Scientists leveled up this week with the help of some online gamers. Players from the site Foldit were able to unravel an enzyme structure that caused an AIDS-like virus in rhesus monkeys, something scientists have been trying to solve for the past decade. The gamers figured it out in three weeks. Foldit users were able […]
Richard Dawkins: The Magic of Reality
Richard Dawkins, the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist and one of science education’s most passionate advocates, has spent his career elucidating the wonders of science for adult readers. But now, in a dramatic departure, he has teamed up with acclaimed artist Dave McKean and used his unrivaled explanatory powers to share the magic of science […]