PBS

It's Okay to Be Smart - And Cool - About Science!

carlyo — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 17:33:49 +0000

It's Okay to Be Smart - And Cool - About Science!

Sometimes students get the wrong message from peers: that it is not cool to be smart in science and other STEM disciplines. But biologist Joe Hanson has a more positive signal that he likes to send to kids - in fact the name of his popular science show on YouTube (via PBS Digital Studios) says it all: “It's Okay to Be Smart”. Join us at the USA Science & Engineering Festival this April as Joe, in his trademark erudite but uber cool and engaging style, brings his down-to-earth, hip style of science to kids in an unforgettable stage show, shedding light on a wide array of topics, from microbes and the solar system to insects and physics -- and why it's ok to excel in STEM!

Check out Joe Hanson at the Expo this coming April! Follow Joe Hanson on twitter @jtotheizzoe.

carlyo Wed, 01/15/2014 - 12:33

Tags

performers

USA Science & Engineering Festival

Strength in Nature

dr. dolittle — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:09:42 +0000

Strength in Nature

This is a must-see special from NOVA highlighting nature's secret to creating very strong things: like the beak of a toucan, an abalone shell and a spider's web. It aired last night on PBS (premiered Jan 2011) and I found myself glued to the TV. Scientists are working hard to try to re-create some of nature's amazing strength to help improve existing technologies. One that I found amazing: scientists have been able to create genetically modified sheep to mass produce spider silk, which is reportedly stronger than kevlar!

Watch Making Stuff: Stronger on PBS. See more from NOVA.

If you cannot see the embedded video, click here to be taken to the website.

dr. dolittle Thu, 09/20/2012 - 14:09

Tags

NOVA is hosting a Sneak Peek of its new "Making Stuff" series Next Wed Oct 20 FREE!

kcollins — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:00:00 +0000

NOVA is hosting a Sneak Peek of its new "Making Stuff" series Next Wed Oct 20 FREE!

This looks like a lot of fun! And it's free! Check it out.

With David Pogue

Clips from the series plus panel discussion and Q&A

Invisibility cloaks. Spider silk that is stronger than steel. Self-healing military vehicles. Clothes that monitor your mood. What will the future bring, and what will it be made of? In NOVA's fascinating new 4-hour series, "Making Stuff", popular New York Times technology reporter David Pogue takes viewers on a tour of the material world we live in, and the one that may lie ahead -- offering a behind-the-scenes look at innovations that are ushering in a new generation of stronger, smarter, smaller, and cleaner materials. Join David, together with expert scientists and NOVA producers for exclusive clips from the series, a robust panel discussion, and a free-flowing audience Q&A.

Next Wednesday, October 20, 2010- 07:30 PM to 09:00 PM

Venue: Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University

RSVP and more details here

kcollins Fri, 10/15/2010 - 02:00

Tags

Fascinating and well recorded. I seem to remember reading, some years ago, about a mosquito, in SE Asia I think, of the genus Harpagomyia that does something similar, only it actually inserts its proboscis into the ant's crop, again the ant is a Crematogaster species. It would be nice to know of other occurences of flies, or other insects taking advantage of ants in this sort of way, or to know if other genera of ants are similarly effected

Thanks for writing in. Are you familiar with All Things Bugs, one of our exhibitors? Here is a link to their facebook page and twitter account.

http://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs?sk=wall

http://twitter.com/#!/AllThingsBugs

Webby Nominee: NOVA's The Secret Life of Scientists

grrlscientist — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:59:27 +0000

Webby Nominee: NOVA's The Secret Life of Scientists

tags: 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 watch the video, laugh and then VOTE!

More highlights from The Secret Life of Scientists.

Webby Awards: VOTE HERE.

grrlscientist Thu, 04/22/2010 - 23:59

This is a great video. If only we we are all so talented... I am heading off to vote now. Thanks for this.

What a beautiful series! Just voted.
Competition is tough, though. Nice projects, all of them.

NOVA follows the Monarch Migration

awild — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:39:57 +0000

NOVA follows the Monarch Migration

Tomorrow's NOVA on PBS covers the great orange butterflies on their migration to Mexico:

Orange-and-black wings fill the sky as NOVA charts one of nature's most remarkable phenomena: the epic migration of monarch butterflies across North America. NOVA's filmmakers followed monarchs on the wing throughout their extraordinary odyssey. To capture a butterfly's point of view, camera operators used a helicopter, ultralight, and hot-air balloon for aerial views along the butterflies' transcontinental route.

awild Mon, 01/25/2010 - 11:39

Tags

I am confused on a few points about their migration, and number of generations each year. I thought it was 3 generations, one for Mexico, one on the migration north, and the third returns to Mexico. But according to this the migration to Canada takes two generations.

When migrating south they don't mention the California Coast or where the ones that fly through Florida end up. (Do they end up in Cuba?)

That said, the camera work was breath taking. (you can watch it online) I saw a lot of great native plants there that are excellent for getting Monarchs. My only complaint is how little they showed or mentioned Milkweed. They talk about how easily the Monarch could vanish or stop migrating, and go to some lengths to show Monarchs being killed, you'd think they would have promoted the host plant a little more.

I haven't watched television in many years, but it's things like this that make me want to return to that time suck--even if only for a brief bit of time. Monarchs. They are such a great passion of mine. I can't tell you how many pass through here on their way south each autumn, but I can tell you its breathtaking and mind boggling and awe inspiring.

Beautiful film, and fun to see two former professors of mine, Taylor (KU), Brower (UF).

MrILTA:

My recollection is the show mentioned two generations moving northward, one that sort of stays in place while producing the fourth, this last being the one that flies to Mexico.

The migration to Mexico is the largest and thus the "sexiest" to conservationists, but you're right, there are other lesser migrations by this species in populations not only in North America, but in other parts of the world, e.g. Australia. A population in Hawaii is non-migratory, and also has a significant proportion with a white background, instead of the usual orange.

Cosmic Quandaries with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

grrlscientist — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:59:14 +0000

Cosmic Quandaries with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

tags: Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmic Quandaries, NOVA, PBS, Public Television, streaming video

An out of this world event, Cosmic Quandaries, held at The Palladium in St. Petersburg at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26th drew in an audience of nearly 800! With a one in a million chance of meeting one of only 6,000 astrophysicists in the world, audience members were lined up in order to have the opportunity to ask Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson a question on any and all galactic wonders they may have. This is, without a doubt, the most fascinating hour-and-a-half I've spent watching a youtube video.

grrlscientist Sat, 09/19/2009 - 00:59

Tags

It was the moat fascinating hour and a half I have ever spent at the Palladium. ;-P I did feel sorry for the poor guy to his left, though.

Yeah if you're a guy interviewing Dr Tyson live on a stage, here's a tip sit outside of his hand range :)

According to certain rumors I have heard, the man who sat to the left of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson reviewed the talk thusly:

Dr. Tyson is a wonderful speaker. When he talks about astrophysics, you don't just hear some old guy up on the stage mumbling about astrophysics, you see it, and you feel it.
When Neil described a star exploding, I could actually feel debris from that explosion, hitting my arm. When he described a gama ray burst, I could feel gama rays, hitting my arm. And when he talked about active galaxies, I could feel X-rays from those active galaxies hitting my arm.
It was a wonderful talk, and my sore arm will be reminding me of how vivid and wonderful a talk it was for weeks to come.

Indonesian Megavolcano Provides Rare Peek into Global Warming

grrlscientist — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:31:25 +0000

Indonesian Megavolcano Provides Rare Peek into Global Warming

tags: South Pacific Islands, Indonesia, Sumatra, geology, nature, volcano, global warming, Lake Toba, PBS, NOVA, television

Sixty-two-mile-long Lake Toba, seen in the center of this satellite image,
was created by the largest explosive volcanic eruption of the past
100,000 years -- an eruption whose aftermath holds important clues for us
today about rapid climate change, Drew Shindell says.

Image: NASA.

Wow, there are days when I wish I had a television, and today is one of them. Why? Tonight, PBS is showing a really fascinating program; a NOVA show entitled Mystery of the Megavolcano that I really really want to see [it shows tonight; Tuesday, September 8 at 8 pm ET/PT on PBS]. This program discusses the latest data regarding the Indonesian (Sumatra) volcano, Mount Toba, that gave rise to the greatest volcanic eruption to occur on Earth in the last 100,000 years. I've included several video clips for you below the jump (with Indonesian subtitles!!);

Trailer;

Here's an interactive online NOVA/PBS slideshow that gives you some idea of what such an eruption might have looked if we were there to photograph it.

I think this National Geographic program is about this same volcano? (You'll have to tell me. It includes Indonesian subtitles)

Part 1;

Part 2;

Part 3;

Part 4;

Part 5;

Part 6 (sorry for all the commercial ads -- to skip them, advance to 2:33);

grrlscientist Tue, 09/08/2009 - 08:31

When you move will you have greater access to media?

not sure. but if i do, and i link to videos, it is possible that those videos can only be seen in Germany or in the EU, and not in america .. we shall see.

Yes, same volcano. Interestingly, about the size of the largest Yellowstone eruption.

for some reason, it didn't show on tuesday night here in the great pacific northwet. not sure why... i was really looking forward to it.

The Lord of the Ants

grrlscientist — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:59:58 +0000

The Lord of the Ants

tags: The Ant Whisperer, ants, hymenoptera, pheromones, EO Wilson, behavioral ecology, sociobiology, evolution, streaming video

Because I do not own a television, I was thrilled to find that Lord of the Ants, the Nova program that aired on PBS tonight, is freely available as a streaming video. This program describes some of EO Wilson's amazing discoveries about ant communication, behavioral ecology and evolution [52:23]

grrlscientist Tue, 06/09/2009 - 17:59

Wild Parrots of Australia, Part 2

grrlscientist — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:59:59 +0000

Wild Parrots of Australia, Part 2

tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video

Okay, if you are like me, you were not able to see the Nature program, Parrots in the Land of Oz, which aired on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October. So I have dug up a few videos that give you a glimpse of what you did not see. This is a second video includes lots of footage of huge squadrons of flying budgerigars, and several species of stunningly colored rosellas and lories (which I've bred in captivity) [9:24]

grrlscientist Thu, 10/23/2008 - 02:59

Tags

All I could think of for the first 2 minutes was MY GOODNESS, that's a lot of budgies.

For anyone who would like to see the whole documentary at once,

if you're able to access the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/interactive/parrots/

It has a streaming serve of the documentary, not exactly hd tv quality, but passable on a small screen, and the site also has behind-the-scenes vision.

Australia's Wild Parrots, Part One

grrlscientist — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:59:59 +0000

Australia's Wild Parrots, Part One

tags: Parrots in the Land of Oz, parrots, behavior, Australia, nature, ornithology, streaming video

Okay, if you are like me, you were not able to see the Nature program, Parrots in the Land of Oz, which aired on PBS on 19, 20 and 21 October. So I have dug up a few videos that give you a glimpse of what you did not see. This video includes a close look at fig parrots and eclectus parrots (both of which were included in my research), along with several species of cockatoos -- black white and pink species [9:40]

grrlscientist Wed, 10/22/2008 - 02:59

Tags

parrots in the land of oz

PBS

streaming video