Riding Light by Alphonse Swineheart
It´s the International Year of Light and this mesmerising video shows how slow actually light is! Just enjoy and appreciate the vast distances in the universe by experiencing in real time how long it takes light at 300.000 km/s to travel just a tiniy tiny distance....
A Capella Science
Making science popular is always welcome, if only because it shows that scientists are human and science is something anyone could tackle. Listening Bohemian Gravity, for example won´t teach anyone string theory, but will probably get them smiling. Associating "hard physics" with a smile is definitely positive. After all, engaging is all about emotions!
Check out A Capella Science´s Youtube Channel for more!
MAGNIFYING THE UNIVERSE - The ultimate "Powers of 10"
A couple of entries ago we recommended a resource for getting a feeling of timescales. Now here´s the equivalent in terms of spatial scales... for those who remember the 1977 video "Powers of 10" this can be considered the ultimate interactive version thereof... See it here as presented by openculture.com:
UNIVERSE SANDBOX
As this resource is now free for schools, it seems fit to feature it here, as it is a very useful tool to get engaged with astronomy in an interactive manner.
HERE IS TODAY - A SENSE OF TIMESCALES
No much comment is needed for this fantastic application, great in its simplicity. A great idea and communication tool.
Finally someone REALLY explaining how E=mc^2 is derived within Special Relativity
Sick of hearing that Einstein's famous equation E=mc^2 is part of Special Relativity without further explanation? How often have you actually had to say it yourself not quite grasping how it follows from the simple postulates of Special Relativity?
Well I just could not take it anymore and after browsing through large numbers of sources who keep just stating without explaining, I finally found this website, which does a great job in really tackling the problem and putting the famous equation into its real context within Special Relativity.
I am not saying that when talking to non-specuialists one needs to go through the mathematical derivation of the equation, but at least knowing where this derivation starts and ends will give you, and your audience, a real feel of where the equation stands.
Sufficient to be able to know and tell that it comes from applying the concept of the speed of light being the maximum speed achievable, to the Kinetic Energy. Just as applying it to other aspects of motion gives you time dilation, space contraction and mass increase at high speeds, the other three consequences of Special Realtivity. Simple as that.
So, well done, anonymous author of this website. For all the rest: See? It wasn't that hard!
THE INNER LIFE OF THE CELL
This is an amazing visualization of the fascinating way living cells work, each one being a highly complex clockwork, or perhaps rather a living colony of different elements in cooperation making incredible things happen. Created by XVIVO with (Harvard) students in mind, I think it is mindblowing for anyone. My favorite sequence, around minute 3:40, when that little "guy" is dragging that big molecule along one of those internal "highways" of the cell: he know exactly where to go and that he must deliver that big ball! Thanks to Dr. Aniko Varadi (University of the West of England) for pointing out this magnificent animation!
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)