Video
cagapakis | April 27, 2010Silks are incredible protein fibers produced by many different species of insects. Besides their use in making versatile textiles, silks are currently used in many different medical and engineering applications, from sutures to tissue engineering scaffolds to flexible electrode brain implants. Since I love fabrics and I'm interested in what biological engineers can do with biomaterials, I recently started working on a fun side project to raise and engineer silkworms, the animals used in industrial silk production around the world. We're having a lot of fun learning about silk and how to raise…
grrlscientist | April 27, 2010tags: Political Change with Pen and Paper, politics, letter-writing campaign, Omar Ahmad, TEDTalks, streaming video
Politicians are strange creatures, says politician Omar Ahmad. And the best way to engage them on your pet issue is a monthly handwritten letter. Ahmad shows why old-fashioned correspondence is more effective than email, phone or even writing a check -- and shares the four simple steps to writing a letter that works.
After years of volunteering for grassroots political groups, I have used my experience to teach and help people write letters to politicians over the years, but…
grrlscientist | April 26, 2010tags: Du bist Terrorist, You are a terrorist, internet security, online censorship, politics, satire, social control, cultural observation, social commentary, streaming video
Du bist Terrorist (or "You are a terrorist" -- yes, this video has English subtitles) is a satirical response to two official German social-marketing-campaigns. One of them, Du bist Deutschland (You are Germany), was promoting nationalism and a child-friendly Germany, Du bist Terrorist is a look at today's politics in Germany, where all citizens are viewed with general suspicion and Germany has become a preventive…
grrlscientist | April 26, 2010tags: Cleanternet, internet security, online porn, online censorship, politics, satire, comedy, humor, cultural observation, social commentary, streaming video
Cleanternet is a campaign to support European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström in her plans to introduce a website blocking system in Europe.
grrlscientist | April 25, 2010tags: Parrots the Universe and Everything, biogeography, lemurs, twig technology, conservation, endangered species, evolution, komodo dragons, kakapo, baiji, comedy, Douglas Adams, streaming video
Douglas Adams was the best-selling British author and satirist who created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [DVD]. In this talk at UCSB recorded shortly before his tragic and untimely death, Adams shares hilarious accounts of some of the apparently absurd lifestyles of the world's creatures, and gleans from them extraordinary perceptions about the future of humanity.
grrlscientist | April 25, 2010tags: What Would Jesus Do?, Axis of Awesome, music video, religion, cults, mind control, offbeat, beliefs, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
Yesterday, I ran a video that featured the Australian comedy music group, Axis of Awesome and their take on the science of popular music. Today, just in time for Sunday sacrilege, I am sharing another of their music videos; "What Would Jesus Do?", performed live, during Good News Week.
grrlscientist | April 24, 2010tags: Zeitgeist: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, documentary, television, religion, cults, mind control, offbeat, beliefs, history, mythology, streaming video
These multi-part videos are from a television exploration into the story of religion: the greatest story ever sold to the public by the power elites, who shamelessly use religion as a way to control the masses (includes Spanish subtitles).
Part 2 (the relationship between ancient myths and christianity and judaism; the relationship between astrology and christianity, etc.):
Part 3 (origin of the symbol of the cross, the meaning of the…
rallain | April 24, 2010Check this out.
So, the guy jumps from 150 feet into some cardboard boxes. Why are the boxes important? You want something that can stop you in the largest distance to make your acceleration the smallest. Here is my Dangerous Jumping Calculator. Basically, you put in how high you will jump from and how much distance you will take to land and it tells you your acceleration.
You will probably need this G-force tolerance info from wikipedia.
One problem - this calculator doesn't really work for this case. It doesn't take into account air resistance. Does air resistance even matter in this…
grrlscientist | April 24, 2010tags: The Four Chord Song, Axis of Awesome, Jordan Raskopoulos, Lee Naimo, Benny Davis, funny, comedy, silly, humor, fucking hilarious, streaming video
This amusing video investigates the science behind popular music: Australian comedy group 'Axis Of Awesome' performs a sketch from the 2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival where they play parts of popular songs to demonstrate their claim that popular music contains only four cords that are rearranged. Somewhat.
Footage courtesy of Network Ten Australia. More information about Axis of Awesome.
grrlscientist | April 23, 2010tags: Things You CAN'T Do When You're NOT a Dog, behavior, silly, humor, fucking hilarious, streaming video
To kick off this week's Silly Saturday, here's a ridiculous look at what dogs can get away with but humans can't. (I've watched this several times and am surprised I haven't used it yet on the blog, so here it is now).
grrlscientist | April 23, 2010tags: Deutsch für Doofe, German for Boneheads, German language, education, streaming video
Okay, let's face the facts: my German sucks. Every time someone says something to me in German, my first reaction is to either respond in Spanish or Indonesian or (surprisingly) Japanese. As a result, I am left stammering my way through a ragtag collection of phrases in several languages, and no one, not even I, can understand what I am trying to say. So I am too intimidated to attempt to practice speaking my piss-poor German because the Germans are not very forgiving of idiots (forgetting of course,…
grrlscientist | April 22, 2010tags: The Secret Life of Scientists, careers, Webby Awards, scientists, public outreach, educational, funny, documentary, NOVA, PBS, streaming video
Okay, my peeps, I need your help. PBS is airing a NOVA series called "The Secret Life of Scientists." This miniseries has been nominated for a Webby Award for the Best Documentary Series, and is almost tied with a David Lynch film. We need your help to push this one over the top and give it the support of the people! I've embedded a clip below that I know you will enjoy (interestingly, I know several of these scientists in real life, too). So…
grrlscientist | April 22, 2010tags: Glowing Life in an Underwater World, marine biology, bioluminescence, luciferase, luciferin, green fluorescent protein, eye-in-the-sea cam, ethology, evolution, Edith Widder, TEDTalks, streaming video
Some 80 to 90 percent of undersea creatures make light -- and we know very little about how or why. Bioluminescence expert Edith Widder explores this glowing, sparkling, luminous world, sharing glorious images and insight into the unseen depths (and brights) of the ocean.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's…
grrlscientist | April 21, 2010tags: Prometheus and Bob, behavior, space alien, caveman, humor, funny, comedy, animation, art, streaming video
What happens when a space alien tries to 'edumacate' a caveman? This video is hilarious (as are all the others in the series) and no one dies, or (to the best of my knowledge) says anything vulgar, although Bob (who sounds suspiciously like Homer Simpson) does lose his hair ... Hrm.
jgoldman | April 21, 2010Animals dream, too!
It's definitely not a seizure, and it's definitely not random motor actions. Those actions are totally coordinated. Poor dog must have been dreaming about a dog fight or something.
grrlscientist | April 21, 2010tags: The Truth About HSUS, pets, animals, animal rights, wingnuts, cults, Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States, HSUS, streaming video
The real agenda of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is to remove money from your wallet and put it into their CEOs' retirement funds, to ignore animal shelters, and to forever destroy your ability to live with animals.
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Take Your Daughter to Work Day, Star Wars, Stormtrooper father, comedy, humor, parody, satire, silly, fucking hilarious, streaming video
A funny look at a stormtrooper whose wife demands that he takes his daughter to work with him and the events that transpire as a result.
Read more about the 2010 campaign to bring our daughters and sons to work.
cagapakis | April 20, 2010Light interacts with and controls biological systems in diverse and fascinating ways. Our eyes are made up of thousands of cells that respond to light, sending signals to our brain as light in different colors and shapes moves across them. Photosynthetic cells are full of receptors that can sense and respond to many wavelengths of light, allowing cells to absorb light for photosynthesis, but also to move towards areas of more sunlight and know when the seasons are changing. Synthetic biology takes these light-responsive systems as parts that can be recombined, shuffled and integrated into…
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Every Pollen Grain has a Story, pollen, microscopy, forensics, pollen signature, pollen fingerprint, science, Bosnian war crimes, pollinology, Jonathan Drori, TEDTalks, streaming video
Pollen goes unnoticed by most of us, except when hay fever strikes. But microscopes reveal it comes in stunning colors and shapes -- and travels remarkably well. Jonathan Drori gives an up-close glimpse of these fascinating flecks of plant courtship.
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…
grrlscientist | April 19, 2010tags: Watch a National Geographic Bird Illustrator at Work, field guides, books, bird art, illustrator, National Geographic, Jonathan Alderfer, streaming video
See harlequin ducks come alive on paper in this time-lapse video featuring National Geographic bird expert and illustrator Jonathan Alderfer.