Video
rallain | October 27, 2009I know I saw this demo somewhere. Maybe it was at an AAPT conference a few years ago. I have always wanted to build this, but never got around to it. Until now. Here is the demo (it is easy, you should make one too)
So, how does this work? I think the simplest explanation is that the drinks do not spill because the string can only pull in the direction of the standing glasses. A slightly better explanation is that the string lets the tray rotate so that the sum of the acceleration and the gravitational field is in the direction of the open ending of the cup. I am still not happy with…
grrlscientist | October 27, 2009tags: Phidippus princeps, Jumping Spider, macro video, animal behavior, streaming video
A nice little Phidippus princeps "chewing" on her (his?) feet, cleaning her eyes, and her fangs. Lots of fun palp movement, and a few glimpses of fang.
Video: Thomas Shahan [Thomas Shahan's photostream]
grrlscientist | October 27, 2009tags: Food, Inc., food industry, factory farming, health, documentary, film, movie trailer, Eric Schlosser, streaming video
This is the official trailer for a 2008 documentary based on Eric Schlosser's research (Fast Food Nation DVD or book). It identifies, describes and details the problems of the food industry, its effects upon our health and provides us -- the consumer -- with strategies for changing the way the food industry operates so farmers can earn a living wage and all of us can enjoy improved health outcomes.
Learn more about this film or purchase the DVD.
grrlscientist | October 26, 2009tags: ant mimic, Jumping Spider, macro video, animal behavior, streaming video
Unfortunately, no species ID yet (can you ID this spider?), but the mimicry in both form and behavior is truly beautiful, astonishing, really.
Video: Thomas Shahan [Thomas Shahan's photostream]
grrlscientist | October 26, 2009tags: Project Kaisei, Oceanography, North Pacific Gyre, North Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic, pollution, environment, streaming video
Underwater videographer, underwater photographer, and author, Annie Crawley joined Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Project Kaisei aboard the New Horizon on a 3 week long expedition to the North Pacific Gyre. They collected data to help find a solution to the "Plastic Vortex" forming in our Ocean.
grrlscientist | October 25, 2009tags: Invisible dogs, NYC Life, prank, humor, funny, fucking hilarious, WTF, streaming video
As a NYCer, I can tell you that NYC is filled with weird people, but on some days, the populace is weirder than others. For example, more than 2,000 people walked "invisible dogs" down the streets of Brooklyn on a Sunday afternoon recently. The leashes were on loan from the current owner of 51 Bergen Street, the factory space where the invisible dog toy was invented in the 1970s. Participants of all ages spread out from Red Hook to Brooklyn Heights, very seriously walking their very silly dogs.…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2009tags: intelligent design, scientific process, science classroom, rational thinking, AtheistBusCA, streaming video
Kenneth Miller provides a brief explanation as to why "intelligent design" is not admissible in a science classroom.
grrlscientist | October 25, 2009tags: atheism, African-Americans, christianity, muslims, JohnBeezy3, streaming video
This video discusses something that I've often wondered: Where are the Black Atheists?
rallain | October 24, 2009Sometimes it is difficult to come up with new labs. Ideally, a lab should show use some of the basic physics principles as well as have something the students can measure. What to do with circular motion? I don't know how I forgot this, but here is a lab I used to do as an undergraduate student. I also like it because it doesn't really need fancy stuff like PASCO probes or anything. The basic idea is that a small mass is swung around in a circle with the tension in the string controlled by hanging a mass on the other end. Here, let me show you.
Circular Motion Lab from Rhett Allain on…
grrlscientist | October 24, 2009tags: Phidippus audax, Jumping Spider, macro video, animal behavior, streaming video
A macro video of a very large (15mm or so) adult female Phidippus audax jumping spider that the videographer found in a light fixture. Set to a recording he made in December with a vintage Japanese Alvarez classical acoustic and a Kay Swingmaster hollowbody electric.
Video: Thomas Shahan [Thomas Shahan's photostream]
grrlscientist | October 23, 2009tags: Project Kaisei, Oceanography, North Pacific Gyre, North Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic, pollution, environment, streaming video
Project Kaisei's 2009 Expedition. Footage from the Kaisei, one of two research vessels Project Kaisei sent to the North Pacific Gyre in August, 2009 to study the extent of the marine debris problem in the gyre, the impact it may be having on marine life and the food chain, and to find ways to catch and recover some of the debris for a larger clean-up effort.
grrlscientist | October 23, 2009tags: FLOW, For the Love of Water, pollution, bottled water, film trailer, streaming video
Part eight (the last part) of Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The World Water Crisis.
Learn more about the film and purchase the DVD.
grrlscientist | October 22, 2009tags: FLOW, For the Love of Water, pollution, bottled water, film trailer, streaming video
Part seven of Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The World Water Crisis.
grrlscientist | October 22, 2009tags: FLOW, For the Love of Water, pollution, bottled water, film trailer, streaming video
Part six of Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The World Water Crisis.
grrlscientist | October 21, 2009tags: FLOW, For the Love of Water, pollution, bottled water, film trailer, streaming video
Part five of Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The World Water Crisis.
esiegel | October 21, 2009I don't understand French nearly well enough to understand the explanation in this video, but I was amazed at what the physical world can do when I saw this video.
(Video courtesy of Wimp.com.) What's going on here? Well, you've got:
a series of bar magnets on the bottom,
a ceramic cylinder,
an insulating, non-magnetic piece of plastic between the magnets and cylinder,
and liquid nitrogen being poured into the cylinder before the insulator's removed.
Amazing! For those of you who like puzzles, you've got until tomorrow's post goes up to figure it out. (I'll give you a hint: Walther…
grrlscientist | October 21, 2009tags: moon bombing, science, comedy, humor, streaming video
This silly video was sent to me by Jared from LandlineTV. It is a comedic look at what happened when the earth sent out missiles in search of water.
Featuring Michael Antonucci, Yoni Lotan, Jaime Castillo, Emily Axford, Jared Neumark, Steve Levine, Dan Levine, and Paul Briganti.
Written and Produced by Captain Hippo. Jared is reading comments so I am sure he'd appreciate your thoughts and input.
grrlscientist | October 21, 2009tags: FLOW, For the Love of Water, pollution, bottled water, film trailer, streaming video
Part four of Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The World Water Crisis.
grrlscientist | October 20, 2009tags: FLOW, For the Love of Water, pollution, bottled water, film trailer, streaming video
Part three of Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The World Water Crisis.
rallain | October 20, 2009I don't really know what that title actually means. So, I have been having problems with my PASCO projectile launcher devices. I will just call them launchers (they are really cannons). In my previous post, I looked at the launch speed from a launcher shot horizontally and vertically. The problem was that I was getting different launch speeds for the vertical and horizontal shot. So, here is my plan: shoot the ball and a variety of angles from 0 to 90 degrees and see how the launch speed changes. I will only use the data from video analysis (of course using Tracker Video Analysis)…