Video
grrlscientist | June 9, 2010tags: The Tourist Lane, NYC, New York City, prank, humor, funny, comedy, satire, Improv Everywhere, streaming video
As a NYCer, I screamed with laughter when I saw this video, so of course, I HAD to share it with you. The comedy group, Improv Everywhere, pranked NYC when they created separate walking lanes for tourists and New Yorkers on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk. Department of Transportation "employees" were on hand to enforce the new rules and ask pedestrians for their feedback on the initiative.
Even though this NYCer lives in Germany now, I still walk fast -- whilst Germans stroll along…
grrlscientist | June 9, 2010tags: ecology, marine biology, conservation biology, endangered species, habitat preferences, Northern Bluefin Tuna, Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus, Yellowfin Tuna, Thunnus albacares, fisheries, PLoS ONE, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club
An adult Atlantic (Northern) Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus.
A recently published study, intended to provide data to commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico so they maximize their catch of Yellowfin Tuna, Thunnus albacares, whilst avoiding bycatch of critically endangered Atlantic (Northern) Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus…
grrlscientist | June 9, 2010tags: A Bird's Eye View of the BP Oil Spill, oil drilling, oil spill, oil wells, petroleum, BP, British Petroleum, TransOcean, environment, animals, streaming video
This news report of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico features a "bird's eye view" of the spill, including footage of the pelican rookery filled with oiled adult birds and a dead dolphin. Nothing like taking a close look at the REAL victims of this disaster!
grrlscientist | June 8, 2010tags: The Worst Oil Spill in US History, oil drilling, oil spill, oil wells, petroleum, Kern County gusher, Lakeview Gusher Number One, Lakeview Oil Company, environment, history, streaming video
This video discusses the worst oil spill in US history, the Lakeview Gusher Number One that occurred 100 years ago in Kern County, California. The gusher, drilled by the Lakeview Oil Company, blew on March 14, 1910, when the drill reached the 2,440-foot level. This gusher shot oil more than 200 feet into the air for an astonishing 544 days, spewing more than 9 million barrels (378 million gallons/1.…
rallain | June 8, 2010Well, maybe that isn't the best title. You see, there is this video going around saying that it is possible that a professional bike racer was cheating by putting a hidden motor in his bike. I am not really going to talk about the cheating aspect (my gut feeling says that it would be too easy to catch, so he is not cheating).
Actually, there was an interesting analysis by Ron at CozyBeeHive. Quite a thorough job. He even used Tracker Video Analysis. However, he didn't use some of the nicer features of Tracker, so I figured I would do this analysis also. Plus, you know I love bikes.…
grrlscientist | June 8, 2010tags: Care for Some Crude With Your Sushi?, toro sushi, maguro sushi, Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus, Gulf of Mexico, pollution, oil spill, Deepwater Horizon, BP, British Petroleum, overfishing, endangered species, conservation, marine biology, streaming video
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the worst environmental disaster the US has faced. Toxic oil from the Deepwater Horizon well threatens the region's sensitive shorelines and the nesting birds along the Louisiana coast. But there's another species at serious risk: the Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus. This disturbing video…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2010tags: Obsession for .. Animals?, perfume, Obsession for Men, Bronx Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society, conservation biology, behavioral ecology, animals, mammals, big cats, weird, strange, wow, streaming video
This fascinating video shows that Calvin Klein's "Obsession for Men" is NOT just for men! This is a great example of how careful observation of captive animals' behavior is directly impacting research with wild animals. When biologists at the Bronx Zoo started spritzing "Obsession for Men" cologne near heat-and-motion-sensitive cameras, the tigers, snow leopards, jaguars and cheetahs…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2010tags: BP Fails Booming School 101, Gulf oil spill, political commentary, humor, outrage, political commentary, teaching, oil spill boom, Gulf of Mexico, BP oil spill, British Petroleum, streaming video
BP Fails Booming School 101, creating an environmental disaster and is failing to take the lead in cleanup. BP claims they "are prepared" to deal with such things as an oil spill -- if they are so prepared, then why is this happening? This video shows that, contrary to BP's lies about their preparedness, they actually are NOT prepared AT ALL. Unfortunately, our federal government is also…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2010tags: Dawn dishwashing liquid, television commercial, advertising, oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, BP oil spill, British Petroleum, streaming video
Experiments have shown that Dawn dishwashing liquid works best to save oiled wildlife and doesn't burn their tender skin and eyes. According to the information I've found, Dawn is donating all the detergent used to clean oiled Gulf of Mexico birds, and is also raising funds to help with the clean up effort.
Learn more about Dawn and their efforts to help save oiled wildlife [facebook group].
jgoldman | June 6, 2010Yesterday afternoon, I watched the livestream of the "All Creatures Great and Smart" session of the World Science Festival in New York City. The session was absolutely fantastic, and featured Brian Hare, Vanessa Woods, Jeremy Niven, Patrick Hof and Klaus Zuberbühler.
The conversation challenged long-held assumptions about the differences between "animal" and "human", and included fascinating discussion about pin-sized brains that can count, categorize, and hold a grudge against those who've tried to swat them. Does your dog really think and feel like a human? Do our closest primate…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2010tags: Christopher Hitchens on The Ten Commandments, religion, cults, ethics, morals, catholicism, christians, Vanity Fair, streaming video
In this streaming video, Christopher Hitchens deconstructs the ten commandments and then rewrites them so they actually are an ethical code and so they mean something for everyday life.
grrlscientist | June 5, 2010tags: The Thinking Atheist, Remember The Sabbath, Jewish faith, sabbath mode, oven, humor, funny, offbeat, streaming video
When I lived in NYC, a fair number of my students were Jewish. I've always found the Jewish faith to be fascinating, especially the Jews' definition of how to keep the Sabbath. My students taught me a lot about the Sabbath and the philosophy behind "keeping it" and what the rules are regarding the keeping of the Sabbath (and yes, I had a hard time not laughing when they told me all these things -- in all seriousness!)
grrlscientist | June 5, 2010tags: I Will Survive, silly, humor, funny, satire, parody, A Little Nightmare Music, Aleksey Igudesman, Richard Hyung-ki Joo, Igudesman & Joo, music video, streaming video
A hilarious reworking of the pop hit song, "I Will Survive," by the brilliant comedy music duo, Igudesman & Joo, a Silly Saturday special video.
You can learn more about this talented musical duo by visiting their website, Igudesman & Joo.
grrlscientist | June 4, 2010tags: Elementary Dating, humor, funny, comedy, silly, offbeat, Rowan Atkinson, streaming video
This Silly Saturday video features the brilliant actor, Rowan Atkinson, giving men a few important pointers about going out on a first date without looking like a complete moron (well, mostly).
I will share a secret: I made things easy for Mr GrrlScientist by kissing him while we were sitting on the stairwell of the youth hostel we were staying at, since he was yackyackyacking until 3am. I thought kissing him would shut him up. It did, but he turned red and almost passed out. But at least I got a…
rallain | June 4, 2010I got tired of attacking ESPN Sport Science. Well, tired of attacking might not be the best term. How about, attack in a new way (here are my older Sport Science attacks).
Check out episode 1 of Spoof Science:
A couple of notes:
Watch it youtube if you want the HD version
Making videos takes WAY longer than a blog post
If you hate hearing your own voice, you will really hate hearing your own voice AND seeing yourself while you are editing
jgoldman | June 4, 2010
Figure 1: Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias.
I saw this clip on the news last night, but when I went to look for the video online, it hadn't been uploaded yet. How awesome to find it this morning, already blogged by my friends at LAist!
This video was caught at Will Rogers State Beach in Malibu. Great whites are known to frequent these waters during the summer, so this isn't much of a surprise, but how cool to see the video of them breaching like that!!? At least one of the sharks caught on video has been confirmed by experts at the local non-profit Shark Research Committee to be a…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2010tags: BP's Spilling Fields, oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, humor, comedy, social commentary, BP oil spill, British Petroleum, Jon Stewart, Wyatt Cenac, streaming video
"BP gave up on getting the oil out of the water a LONG time ago. Now the challenge is to get the water and dead shrimp and stuff out of the oil."
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Cenac - The Spilling Fields - Oil Leak Containment Ideas
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes
Political Humor
Tea Party
Watch the entire episode.
grrlscientist | June 3, 2010tags: Deja Vu (All Over Again), oil spill, Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, Gulf of Mexico, Trans-Ocean, Ixtac oil well blowout, BP oil spill, British Petroleum, Rachel Maddow, streaming video
There was another oilspill in the Gulf of Mexico in 1979 -- and the same corporate players involved with that spill are there now! This 1979 oilspill WAS the worst oilspill in history, until now, of course. Despite corporate lies .. erm, claims that the technology has advanced since 1979, the same identical strategies are being used now to stop this oilspill. How long did it take to stop this oil leak? NINE…
rallain | June 3, 2010Reader Colin asked a great question about this popular clip.
How fast was the car moving?
First, a quick assumption. I will assume that the frame rate on the video is correct (meaning not slowed down). Colin already looked up the length of the Chevy Impala on Wikipedia for me. It has a length of 5.09 meters (I need that to scale the video).
This is the data I get from Tracker Video. The graph below is the x-position of the car with a line fit to the part of the motion before it hit the "ramp". Note that since the car is moving to the left, it has a negative x-velocity.
So, this says the…
grrlscientist | June 3, 2010tags: Brian Skerry Reveals Ocean's Glory -- and Horror, conservation, marine biology, fish, marine mammals, oceans, sharks, leatherback sea turtle, right whale, overfishing, photographer, Brian Skerry, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
Professional photographer Brian Skerry shoots life above and below the waves -- as he puts it, both the horror and the magic of the ocean. Sharing amazing, intimate shots of undersea creatures, he shows how powerful images can help make change.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's…