streaming videos
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.
grrlscientist | May 11, 2010tags: The Delicious Dish, Betty White, comedy, humor, funny, satire, parody, television, Saturday Night Live, National Public Radio, The Splendid Table, Good Food, streaming video
For those of you without a TV or who don't live in the US (where Saturday Night Live is filmed and broadcast), here's a look at a skit that aired on the most recent episode hosted by Betty White. In this skit, SNL is parodying Margaret-Jo McCullen and Teri Rialto who host "The Splendid Table" and "Good Food" on National Public Radio.
grrlscientist | May 10, 2010tags: Octopus versus Fish, Chinaman Leatherjacket, animal behavior, predatory behavior, documentary, Jervis Bay, Australia, streaming video
A scuba diver captured this interesting footage of a group of Chinaman Leatherjacket fish attacking and killing an Octopus, in Jeris Bay, Australia, in this is an amazing display of animal behavior.
grrlscientist | May 10, 2010tags: Shining, The Shining, parody, satire, humor, funny, Something Awful Goon, streaming video
I've watched this video many times before and have always been impressed by how a horror film can be recast as a comedy simply through careful choice of narrator and which scenes to include in a trailer.
grrlscientist | May 9, 2010tags: A Small Announcement, Star Wars, parody, satire, humor, funny, Jennifer Hays, streaming video
This is a really strange announcement of a pregnancy and impending birth by a couple who apparently thought they'd never have their own kid. I wonder what the relatives think about the entire world tuning in to watch this announcement?
And why aren't they naming the kids Luke and Leia after all that? Hmph.
grrlscientist | May 9, 2010tags: Did Religion Have an Evolutionary Value?, religion, psychology, social structure, social commentary, cultural observation, Richard Dawkins, streaming video
Richard Dawkins argues that humanity's historical predisposition towards religion and supernatural beliefs may have held an evolutionary utility. "The rule of thumb: 'Believe whatever your parents tell you,' quite clearly could have survival value," says Dawkins.
He's the King of All the Atheists (um, yeah, right), and now Richard Dawkins is hammering home what he sees as his key argument against the existence of God. In his book,…
grrlscientist | May 8, 2010tags: Mexican Bishops Ask for Forgiveness, catholicism, religion, sex abuse, child rape, pedophilia, social commentary, cultural observation, Al Jazeera, streaming video
As the Vatican tries to defuse growing anger over child abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Church, bishops in Mexico have released a statement asking victims for forgiveness.
Church authorities in Mexico have now admitted that one of their priests, Marcial Maciel, had over a 40-year period, preyed on nearly 200 young seminarians and children, including two of his own.
The Vatican has continued to deny allegations of a…
grrlscientist | May 8, 2010tags: Brontë Sisters Action Figures, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anna Brontë, historical figures action figures, silly, fucking hilarious, humor, funny, television, streaming video
This amusing video was a fake television commercial by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, made in 1998 for a series of educational shorts about action figures based on historical figures. Its educational value was somewhat suspect. It was (unfortunately) never aired.
grrlscientist | May 7, 2010tags: Total Eclipse of the Heart, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, William Shatner, Lin Yu Chun, streaming video
Just in time for silly Saturday: this is for all you Star Trek and Whitney Houston fans: William Shatner and Lin Yu Chun perform a hilarious rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" on the television show, Lopez Tonight.
grrlscientist | May 7, 2010tags: Deutsch für Doofe, German for Boneheads, German language, education, SpeedyConKiwi, streaming video
Lesson two in how to not offend Germans while buying beer.
Let me review:
Hello = Hallo
Good morning = Guten Morgen
Good evening = Guten Abend
Good day = Guten Tag
Good night = Gute Nacht
Goodbye = Auf Wiedersehen
Bye = TschüÃ/Ciao
See you soon = Bis bald
See you later = Bis später
See you tomorrow = Bis morgen
Please = Bitte
Thank you = Danke
You're welcome = Bitte
grrlscientist | May 6, 2010tags: How we Wrecked the Ocean, oceans, fish, fishing industry, introduced species, biological pollution, chemical pollution, climate change, coral bleaching, Jeremy Jackson, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
In this bracing talk, coral reef ecologist Jeremy Jackson lays out the shocking state of the ocean today: overfished, overheated, polluted, with indicators that things will get much worse. Astonishing photos and stats make the case. So in a nutshell: we've wrecked everything around us: the water, the air, the animals, the climate, and any illusion of world peace we ever had. We're…
grrlscientist | May 6, 2010tags: David Cameron Met a Black Man, UK politics, conservative party, humor, funny, comedy, satire, art, streaming video
This video is for all my friends who are voting in today's General Election in the UK. According to my observations (admittedly, as an outsider), David Cameron is a proud member of the "it sucks to be rich" political party.
This political music video is by Tim Ireland and uses the tune 'Common People' (written by Jarvis Cocker, and covered here by Ben Folds, Joe Jackson and William Shatner) to help make its point.
grrlscientist | May 5, 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 wheels.
grrlscientist | May 5, 2010tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: AMNH paleontologists Dr Mike Novacek and Dr Mark Norell
What: free public presentation for kids of all ages, "Travels with Tyrannosaurus"
When: tonight, 5 May at 700pm
Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps]
Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID to purchase alcohol)
Amazing fossils are still out there, waiting to be discovered. Museum…
grrlscientist | May 5, 2010tags: The World's Smallest Horse, miniature horses, animals, pets, selective breeding, artificial selection, streaming video
The world's smallest horse, a colt named Einstein, was born 22 April 2010 on a farm in Barnstead, New Hampshire. Just 14 inches tall and weighing only 6 pounds at birth, Einstein appears to have beaten the previous "world's tiniest horse" record holder by three pounds. This raises the question: how small can humans force horses to evolve through selective breeding? Apparently, pretty damned small, according to equine geneticist Samantha Brooks of Cornell University, who…