streaming video
grrlscientist | May 21, 2010tags: Pay Attention to Penguins, birds, penguins, environment, global warming, ethics, climate change, Dee Boersma, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
Think of penguins as ocean sentinels, says Dee Boersma -- they're on the frontlines of sea change. Sharing stories of penguin life and culture, she suggests that we start listening to what penguins are telling us.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on…
grrlscientist | May 20, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Electricity, science, physics, imagination, hot, offbeat, Electricity, jiggling atoms, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman visits the dentist and wonders about the amazing phenomenon of electricity.
From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine' (1983).
grrlscientist | May 20, 2010tags: comedy, offbeat, funny, humor, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, streaming video
Bud Abbott & Lou Costello discuss questions for passing a police exam... with crazy results!! (much like a synopsis of internet arguments, but created in the 1940s)
grrlscientist | May 19, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Magnets and 'Why?' Questions, science, physics, magnet, forces, offbeat, ice, slippery, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman tries to explain to a non-scientist just how difficult it can be to answer certain questions in lay terms! A classic example of Feynman's clarity of thought, powers of explanation and intellectual honesty - his refusal to 'cheat'.
From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine' (1983).
grrlscientist | May 19, 2010tags: Why I'm a Weekday Vegetarian, environment, global warming, meat, vegetarianism, ethics, climate change, Graham Hill, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
We all know the arguments that being vegetarian is better for the environment and for the animals -- but in a carnivorous culture, it can be hard to make the change. Graham Hill has a powerful, pragmatic suggestion ...
The video following the TEDTalk is more interesting than the actual talk itself.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and…
grrlscientist | May 18, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Rubber Bands, science, physics, imagination, hot, offbeat, rubber bands, jiggling atoms, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman thinks more about the 'jiggling' of atoms, and about rubber bands and how they 'work'. "The world is a dynamic mess of jiggling things, if you look at it right", says Richard Feynman.
grrlscientist | May 18, 2010tags: High Five Etiquette, social observation, humor, funny, silly, Tripp and Tyler, Herb Tankersleigh, streaming video
Tripp and Tyler, with the help of mentor Herb Tankersleigh, discuss the do's and don'ts of proper high-five execution.
grrlscientist | May 17, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Jiggling Atoms, science, physics, imagination, hot, offbeat, fire, jiggling atoms, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman talks more about jiggling atoms and heat, and about what fire is.
From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine' (1983).
grrlscientist | May 17, 2010tags: The Free Hugs Campaign in Finland, Helsinki, free hugs, silly, humor, funny, offbeat, weird, life, Finland, Helsinki, streaming video
The Finnish winter is long, dark and difficult for many people. So a group of Helsinki residents started a free hugs campaign to cheer people up. A group calling themselves, "FreeHugs Finland" had been promoting for this day on the internet and over 30 huggers showed up! During a couple of hours over 1000 people in Helsinki got a hug and one woman told me it saved her day! [Music: "Lonely" by Unity]
This video was taken in Helsinki, Finland on 2 December…
grrlscientist | May 16, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Jiggling Atoms, science, physics, imagination, hot, offbeat, cold, jiggling atoms, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman thinks aloud about atoms and how they jiggle, and how we perceive that jiggling as 'hot' and 'cold'.
From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine' (1983).
grrlscientist | May 16, 2010tags: Helsinki Complaints Choir, complaints, silly, humor, funny, offbeat, weird, life, life isn't fair, choir, streaming video
This amusing video is a bit of a departure from my usual Sunday morning god-mocking, but since I am in Helsinki right now, I thought you'd appreciate this. Finnish artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen collected the pet peeves and angst-ridden pleas of people in Helsinki and then composed this choral work around the list of complaints. Music composed by Esko Grundström.
grrlscientist | May 15, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Talks About Doubt, Uncertainty and Religion, science, imagination, religion, god, doubt, uncertainty, beliefs, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman talks about the improbability of the existence of a god, and his thoughts about the mythologies that form the basis of religion.
grrlscientist | May 15, 2010tags: Housecat eats with Fork and Chopsticks, tablemanners, silly, humor, funny, offbeat, weird, pets, cats, animals, streaming video
Continuing this silly Saturday's housecat theme, this cat was raised by a woman who is batshiat crazy, teaching her to eats with a fork and chopsticks.
grrlscientist | May 14, 2010tags: Cat Disappointed by Own Failure, Cat Fail, silly, humor, funny, pets, cats, animals, streaming video
Just in time for silly Saturday, even housecats are getting into the act. This amusing video is a contribution from one cat and her least favorite bird friend. The caption for this video reads: " It's all been downhill since he dropped out of cat high school."
grrlscientist | May 14, 2010tags: Deutsch für Doofe, German for Boneheads, German language, education, SpeedyConKiwi, streaming video
This video is all about how to pronounce the German alphabet -- something I cannot do correctly at this time. Not that knowing how to say this is going to help me when talking to the bankers about depositing my paycheck into my account or anything.
If I don't know how to say the alphabet by the time this video pops up, you have my permission to tie me up and force me to drink German beer until I learn how to say it.
grrlscientist | May 13, 2010tags: Mouse Agility Course, animal training, clicker training, target stick, behavior, behavioral modification, streaming video
Training animals (and people) to do what you wish them to do is a vanishing art. However, there is a training method that is gaining popularity for teaching animals, ranging from rodents to whales, to perform certain behaviors on command. This training method is clicker training. Here is one example of clicker training with a common ordinary pet mouse, where it has been trained to follow an obstacle course that is truly epic in its size.
How the heck did this mouse…
grrlscientist | May 13, 2010tags: Optical Illusion: Impossible Motion, optical illusion, Koukichi Sugihara, Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest 2010, vision, brain, streaming video
In this video, wooden balls roll up the slopes just as if they are pulled by a magnet. The behavior of the balls seems impossible, because it is against gravity. The video is not a computer graphic, but a real scene.
What is actually happening is that the orientations of the slopes are perceived oppositely, and hence the descending motion is misinterpreted as ascending motion. This illusion is remarkable in that it is generated by a…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2010tags: Prometheus and Bob, behavior, space alien, caveman, humor, funny, comedy, animation, art, streaming video
This is another look at the continuing adventures of a space alien and his pet human. In this amusing video, the space alien, Prometheus, attempts to teach the caveman, Bob, about how to use the toilet.
grrlscientist | May 12, 2010tags: A Sneak-Peak at UK Conservatives, Not the Nine O'clock News, UK politics, conservative politics, immigrants, racism, comedy, humor, funny, satire, parody, television, Rowan Atkison, streaming video
This British comedy reminds me of conservative politics (and politicians) in the USA, especially those in Arizona. Amazing how little things change, isn't it?
This was the second episode from the first season of Not the nine O'clock News (1979).
grrlscientist | May 11, 2010tags: Bait Ball Feast, natural history, animal behavior, plankton, herring, seabird, humpback whale, television, BBC, streaming video
In late summer, the plankton bloom is at its height. Vast shoals of herring gather to feed on it, diving birds round the fish up into a bait ball.