The Cubli: a cube that can jump up, balance, and 'walk'

The Cubli is a 15 × 15 × 15 cm cube that can jump up and balance on its corner. Reaction wheels mounted on three faces of the cube rotate at high angular velocities and then brake suddenly, causing the Cubli to jump up. Once the Cubli has almost reached the corner stand up position, controlled motor torques are applied to make it balance on its corner. In addition to balancing, the motor torques can also be used to achieve a controlled fall such that the Cubli can be commanded to fall in any arbitrary direction. Combining these three abilities -- jumping up, balancing, and controlled falling -- the Cubli is able to 'walk'.

 Lead Researchers: Gajamohan Mohanarajah and Raffaello D'Andrea This work was done at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, ETH Zurich, Switzerland and was funded in part by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), grant number 146717.

 For more details visit: http://www.idsc.ethz.ch/Research_DAndrea/Cubli

 

Cosmic Superstrings - Sixty Symbols

Professor Ed Copeland on strings - and superstrings.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 81. Thermodynamics

The three laws of thermodynamics are cited and explained.

 

Metamaterials and the Science of Invisibility: Newton Lecture 2013

A lecture given by the 2013 winner of the Isaac Newton medal, Professor Sir John Pendry, Imperial College London, and chaired by Professor Roy Sambles, Exeter University.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 79. Energy of Phase Changes

The roles of heat of fusion, and vaporization, in changes in phase.

Graphene: Materials in the Flatland ( A lecture by Prof. Sir Konstantin Novoselov)

In 2010, two physicists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, working at the University of Manchester, received the Nobel Prize for Physics for making and studying a new form of carbon -- graphene. Prof. Sir Konstantin Novoselov, recipient of one of IOP's highest awards, Honorary Fellowship, will talk about the work that led to the discovery of Graphene, what makes it so special, its current applications and what the future holds for this remarkable material.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 75. Heat Transfer

Conduction, convection, and radiation.

 

NASA | Alien Atmospheres

Since the early 1990's, astronomers have known that extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets," orbit stars light-years beyond our own solar system. Although most exoplanets are too distant to be directly imaged, detailed studies have been made of their size, composition, and even atmospheric makeup - but how? By observing periodic variations in the parent star's brightness and color, astronomers can indirectly determine an exoplanet's distance from its star, its size, and its mass. But to truly understand an exoplanet astronomers must study its atmosphere, and they do so by splitting apart the parent star's light during a planetary transit.

 

Big Brains. Small Films. Benoît Mandelbrot, The Father of Fractals | IBM

BM and http://IBMblr.Tumblr.com celebrate the life of Benoit B. Mandelbrot, IBM Fellow Emeritus and Fractal Pioneer. In this final interview shot by filmmaker Erol Morris, Mandelbrot shares his love for mathematics and how it led him to his wondrous discovery of fractals. His work lives on today in many innovations in science, design, telecommunications, medicine, renewable energy, film (special effects), gaming (computer graphics) and more.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 80. More on Phase Changes

Phase changes are explained and expressed in equation form.

 

NASA | Mars Atmosphere Loss: Neutral Processes

When you take a look at Mars, you probably wouldn't think that it looks like a nice place to live. It's dry, it's dusty, and there's practically no atmosphere. But some scientists think that Mars may have once looked like a much nicer place to live, with a thicker atmosphere, cloudy skies, and possibly even liquid water flowing over the surface. So how did Mars transform from a warm, wet world to a cold, barren desert? NASA's MAVEN spacecraft will give us a clearer idea of how Mars lost its atmosphere (and thus its water), and scientists think that several processes have had an impact. Scientists think that the collision of neutral hydrogen molecules may have helped to drive the Martian atmosphere into space over billions of years.

 

ScienceCasts: What Happened to Mars? A Planetary Mystery

Mars was once on track to become a thriving Earth-like planet, yet today it is an apparently lifeless wasteland. A NASA spacecraft named MAVEN will soon journey to Mars to find out what went wrong on the Red Planet.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 78. Crunching Can & Dipping Bird

Examples of evaporation and condensation.

 

All of the energy in the universe is... - George Zaidan and Charles Morton

The energy in the universe never increases or decreases -- but it does move around a lot. Energy can be potential (like a stretched-out rubber band waiting to snap) or kinetic (like the molecules that vibrate within any substance). And though we can't exactly see it, every time we cook dinner or shiver on a cold night, we know it's there. George Zaidan and Charles Morton get excited about energy.

 Lesson by George Zaidan and Charles Morton, animation by Pew36 Animation Studios.

 

NASA | Firefly Mission to Study Lightning

Somewhere on Earth, there's always a lightning flash. The globe experiences lightning some 50 times a second, yet the details of what initiates this common occurrence and what effects it has on the atmosphere - lightning may be linked to incredibly powerful and energetic bursts called terrestrial gamma ray flashes, or TGFs -- remains a mystery.

In mid-November, a football-sized mission called Firefly, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, will launch into space to study lightning and these gamma ray flashes from above.

The NSF CubeSat program represents a low cost access to space approach to performing high-quality, highly targeted science on a smaller budget than is typical of more comprehensive satellite projects, which have price tags starting at $100 million. The CubeSat Firefly, by focusing its science goals, will carry out its mission in a much smaller package and at a considerably lower cost.

 

SparkFun According to Pete # 36: Transistor Biasing Configurations

Pete discusses two of the three major Transistor Biasing configurations, specifically common base and emitter follower.

 According to Pete is a video segment starring SparkFun Director of Engineering Pete Dokter. In this video series, Pete addresses common engineering questions, discusses current projects, and explores the wide world of embedded electronics!

 

Using gamma radiation in a unique way

Measuring the level of liquid inside a metal vessel or pipe is a huge process challenge for the petrochemical industry. Tracerco's LevelFinderPlus uses a gamma radiation source and segmented detector to accurately determine the liquid level in a vessel and the amount of other material that may have built up within the container. Andrew Hurst explains how the company's physicists addressed the challenge.

 Tracerco has received an IOP Innovation Award 2013 from the Institute of Physics for developing the measurement system.

 

Big Questions: The Ultimate Building Blocks of Matter

The Standard Model of particle physics treats quarks and leptons as having no size at all. Quarks are found inside protons and neutrons and the most familiar lepton is the electron. While the best measurements to date support that idea, there is circumstantial evidence that suggests that perhaps the these tiny particles might be composed of even smaller building blocks. This video explains this circumstantial evidence and introduces some very basic ideas of what those building blocks might be.

 

Wind lidars: using laser beams to detect wind speeds

The accurate measurement of wind speeds is critical for effective siting of wind farms. The ZephIR lidar calculates wind speed and direction by projecting a laser into the air and detecting the Doppler-shifted backscatter from tiny particles and dust in the atmosphere. The process is explained here by their team of scientists.

 

Dark Matter

KIPAC visualization expert Ralf Kaehler and his colleague astrophysicist Tom Abel joined forces with Carter Emmart, the history museum's director of astrovisualization, and Mordecai-Mark Mac Low, a museum curator and professor at Columbia University. They turned numerical simulations calculated by Abel and then-KIPAC astrophysicist Oliver Hahn into striking scenes.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 77. Evaporation & Condensation

Why evaporation cools, and condensation warms.

 

Physics Nobel Prize 2013 - Sixty Symbols

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to François Englert and Peter Higgs - but who missed out and what will happen with future prizes?

 Discussed by Professor Ed Copeland and Professor Mike Merrifield from the University of Nottingham.

 

Gravitational Lensing

KIPAC visualization expert Ralf Kaehler and his colleague astrophysicist Tom Abel joined forces with Carter Emmart, the history museum's director of astrovisualization, and Mordecai-Mark Mac Low, a museum curator and professor at Columbia University. They turned numerical simulations calculated by Abel and then-KIPAC astrophysicist Oliver Hahn into striking scenes.

 

The stars

In this educational video, produced on the terrace and in the Arago dome of the Observatory of Paris, Pierre Kervella, astrophysicist at the observatory present this operation of stars.

 

NASA | Five Days of Flares and CMEs

This movie shows 23 of the 26 M- and X-class flares on the sun between 1800 UT Oct. 23 and 1500 UT Oct. 28, 2013, as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. It also shows the coronal mass ejections -- great clouds of solar material bursting off the sun into space -- during that time as captured by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

 

Supercomputing and the search for supernovae

Berkeley Lab's Peter Nugent discusses "Supercomputing and the search for supernovae" in this Oct. 28, 2013 talk, which is part of a Science at the Theater event entitled Eight Big Ideas.

 

The Higgs and all that. How the universe works and why we should care

Berkeley Lab's Ian Hinchliffe discusses "The Higgs and all that. How the universe works and why we should care" in this Oct. 28, 2013 talk, which is part of a Science at the Theater event entitled Eight Big Ideas.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 76. Radiant Energy

The role of temperature in emission of radiant energy.

 

Is a quantum wavefunction a real thing?

In less than 100 seconds, Daniel Mortlock ponders whether the quantum wavefunction could be more than a mathematical function.

 

Imaging atoms in 3-D

Berkeley Lab's Peter Ercius discusses "Imaging atoms in 3-D" in this Oct. 28, 2013 talk, which is part of a Science at the Theater event entitled Eight Big Ideas.

 

NASA | A Laser Scientist Answers 5 Questions About LVIS

With winter closing in, a new NASA airborne campaign launched October 31, 2013 in Greenland. For the first time, the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor, or LVIS, is flying about NASA's new C-130 aircraft to measure the island's ice following a summer's melt. This data will complement measurements the LVIS instrument has taken in previous springtime campaigns as a part of Operation IceBridge, a six-year multi-instrument survey over both Arctic and Antarctic ice.


 

Coming to a hospital near you: mass spectrometry imaging

Berkeley Lab's Ben Bowen discusses "Coming to a hospital near you: mass spectrometry imaging" in this Oct. 28, 2013 talk, which is part of a Science at the Theater event entitled Eight Big Ideas.

 

Generating electricity from viruses

Berkeley Lab's Seung-Wuk Lee discusses "Generating electricity from viruses" in this Oct. 28, 2013 talk, which is part of a Science at the Theater event entitled Eight Big Ideas.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 74. Thermal Expansion of Water

Densest water at 4°C explained, with classroom video of ice formation.

 

ScienceCasts: The Sounds of Interstellar Space

As Voyager 1 recedes from the solar system, researchers are listening for "interstellar music" (a.k.a. plasma waves) to learn more about conditions outside the heliosphere.

 

What is quantum gravity?

In less than 100 seconds, Leron Borsten explains that general relativity and quantum mechanics are very successful in their own domains, but the jury is still out on how to unify these two great theories of physics.

 

Peltier Module Cooling - The Peltier Effect

Using the Peltier effect to cool with a Peltier module, even turning water to ice. I also test the efficiency of Peltier cooling 250ml of water. The Peltier effect is also known as the thermoelectric effect.

 

Floating

Drops of hot water dropped on to the surface of cold water, floating under a slight breeze of air, distributing themselves, shown with a thermal camera.

 

Fluid Juggling

Fluid jets can suspend light balls in the air in a display of hydro gymnastics. This video is one of several entries to the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics annual Gallery of Fluid Motion.

 Video Credit: Roberto Zenit and Enrique Soto (National Autonomous University of Mexico
 

Modern Physics: Special Relativity (Stanford), Lecture 8

Lecture 8 of Leonard Susskind's Modern Physics course concentrating on Special Relativity. Recorded June 9, 2008 at Stanford University.

 

Standing Waves and Resonance

Standing Waves can resonate in a pipe. The resonance occurs in an open-closed pipe when an odd integer number of quarter wavelengths fit exactly in the length of the cavity of the pipe. This animation illustrates what happens when a plunger is used to "scan" the effective length of a pipe driven by a tuning fork. Three different cases are shown for a set of increasing frequencies.
 

Standing Waves and Harmonics

The harmonic frequencies of a system depend upon the geometry of that system. This animation shows the first five harmonics for both a pipe closed at both ends as well as a pipe open at one end. The animation ends with a wave which is actually comprised of a combination of those first five harmonics for each system.

 

Magnetic Levitation

Diamagnetism and magnetic levitation.

Hewitt-Drew-it! 73. Thermal Expansion of solids

Expansion of solids, bimetallic strip, and ring around the Earth.

 

Gaia space observatory

Gaia is a space observatory to be launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 20 November 2013. The mission aims to compile a 3D space catalogue of approximately 1 billion astronomical objects.

 

Planck's view of the Universe

This animation highlights some of the many discoveries made by ESA's Planck space telescope over its 4.5 year observing career, from new discoveries in our home Milky Way Galaxy stretching back to the first few moments after the Big Bang 13.82 billion years ago.

 

Sackler Public Astronomy Lecture - David Spergel - Cosmology After Planck

The Planck Telescope has made an accurate full-sky measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature, the leftover heat from the Big Bang. These measurements probe both the physics of the very early universe and the basic properties of the universe today. The Planck measurements confirm the earlier results from the WMAP telescope and rigorously test our standard cosmological model and provide an accurate determination of basic cosmological parameters (the shape of the universe, its age, and its composition). When combined with other astronomical measurements, the measurements constrain the properties of the dark energy and the nature of dark matter. The observations also directly probe the physics of first moments of the Big Bang: the current data are consistent with the idea that the early universe underwent a period of rapid expansion called inflation.

 Many key cosmological questions remain unanswered: What happened during the first moments of the big bang? What is the dark energy? What were the properties of the first stars? In this free public lecture, Dr. Spergel will discuss the role of ongoing and future CMB observations and describe how the combination of large-scale structure, supernova and CMB data can be used to address these key cosmological questions.

 

What is cosmic inflation?

In less than 100 seconds, Andrew Jaffe explains why cosmologists believe that the universe underwent a period of vast and raid growth when it was just fractions of a second old.

 

Mach 3 Bubble Shockwaves

Supercomputer simulations reveal the intricate density and vorticity patterns resulting from a Mach 3 shockwave hitting a helium bubble.

 Video Credit: Babak Hejazialhosseini, Diego Rossinelli and Petros Koumoutsakos from the Computational Science and Engineering Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

 

Inside the ISS: Splitting Hairs About Gravity

An astronaut in microgravity is being accelerated by the force provided by a single hair.

 

NASA | Canyon of Fire on the Sun

A magnetic filament of solar material erupted on the sun in late September, breaking the quiet conditions in a spectacular fashion. The 200,000 mile long filament ripped through the sun's atmosphere, the corona, leaving behind what looks like a canyon of fire. The glowing canyon traces the channel where magnetic fields held the filament aloft before the explosion. Visualizers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. combined two days of satellite data to create a short movie of this gigantic event on the sun.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 72. Specific Heat

The "thermal inertia" of substances is explained, particularly water.

 

Fluid Knots and Smoke Ring Physics

"Filamental Vortex Loops," such as those found in smoke rings and mushroom clouds, crop up in a number of applications in fluid dynamics. Earlier this year, scientists created a long-sought twist on this phenomenon: knotted vortex loops.

 With the help of 3-D printer-created hydrofoils, lasers, and a high-speed camera, researchers from the University of Chicago collected the beautiful images in this video.

 

Is time travel possible? - Colin Stuart

Time travel is a staple of science fiction stories, but is it actually possible? It turns out nature does allow a way of bending time, an exciting possibility suggested by Albert Einstein when he discovered special relativity over one hundred years ago. Colin Stuart imagines where (or, when) this fascinating phenomenon, time dilation, may one day take us.

 Lesson by Colin Stuart, animation by TED-Ed.

 

ScienceCasts: The Effects of Space Weather on Aviation

Astronauts aren't the only ones who need to worry about solar flares. Ordinary air travelers can also be exposed to significant doses of radiation during solar storms. A new computer model developed by NASA aims to help protect the public by predicting space weather hazards to aviation.

 

Modern Physics: Special Relativity (Stanford), Lecture 7

Lecture 7 of Leonard Susskind's Modern Physics course concentrating on Special Relativity. Recorded May 25, 2008 at Stanford University.

 

Why does ice float in water? - George Zaidan and Charles Morton

Water is a special substance for several reasons, and you may have noticed an important one right in your cold drink: ice. Solid ice floats in liquid water, which isn't true for most substances. But why? George Zaidan and Charles Morton explain the science behind how how hydrogen bonds keep the ice in your glass (and the polar ice caps) afloat.

 Lesson by George Zaidan and Charles Morton, animation by Powerhouse Animation Studios Inc.

 

What is the anthropic principle?

In less than 100 seconds, Roberto Trotta explains this often-misunderstood philosophical idea: why it seems so unlikely that conditions in the universe are so perfectly tuned for life to exist.

 

3 Simple Ways to Time Travel (& 3 Complicated Ones)

Walk, build a wormhole...

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 71. Heat and Temperature

Heat and Temperature are defined and distinguished.

 

Moving Sand Cart Over a Rotating Surface

A sand-carrying cart on a track leaves a trail of sand when it travels over a rotating table. This demonstrates the Coriolis Effect.

 

Isaac Newton - The Last Magician (BBC Documentary)

Recluse. Obsessive. Heretic. Isaac Newton is now considered to be the greatest genius of all-time, a great rationalist who laid the foundations for many of the scientific and mathematical breakthroughs that shape the modern world.

But this 60-minute biography, part of the BBC's Genius Of Invention season, reveals a much more complex figure by interviewing experts and delving into his own writings and those of his contemporaries. Newton emerges as an often divisive figure, one who lived a largely solitary life. In the secrecy of his study and laboratory, we find that he also delved into heretical religion, alchemy and the occult.

 

Why do neutrinos change flavour?

In less than 100 seconds, Kenneth Long describes neutrinos in the context of quantum mechanics, explaining how they can oscillate between varieties.

 

Light Darkness And Colours - A fascinating Journey Through The Universe Of Colours

Using Goethe's Theory of Colours (Zur Farbenlehre) as point of departure, Light Darkness and Colours takes us on a fascinating journey through the universe of colours. In 1704, Sir Isaac Newton published *Light and Refraction*, his study of the interactions between sunlight and prisms. Newton was, as a good scientist, intent on achieving objectivity, which meant studying sunlight in isolation. He thought colours were contained solely in light, and found the spectrum he was looking for. When he reproduced this experiment, Goethe found another, hidden set of colours missed by Newton. Goethe found the hidden colours in the boundaries between light and darkness. He felt, as an artist, that one could not talk about light without including darkness. Calling it 'the light-darkness polarity', Goethe made this new scientific discovery using artistic methods in conjunction with science.

 

The uncertain location of electrons - George Zaidan and Charles Morton

The tiny atoms that make up our world are made up of even tinier protons, neutrons and electrons. Though the number of protons determines an atom's identity, it's the electrons -- specifically, their exact location outside the nucleus -- that particularly perplex scientists. George Zaidan and Charles Morton show how to make an educated guess of where those itty-bitty freewheeling electrons might be.

 Lesson by George Zaidan and Charles Morton, animation by Karrot Animation.

 

Modern Physics: Special Relativity (Stanford), Lecture 6

Lecture 6 of Leonard Susskind's Modern Physics course concentrating on Special Relativity. Recorded May 19, 2008 at Stanford University.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 70. Bernoulli Applications

Examples of Bernoulli's principle.

 

The Wimshurst Machine

A Wimshurst electrostatic generator, working on the principle of induction, generates high voltage differences and sparks between two movable electrodes.   By increasing the distance between the electrodes, higher potential differences can be built up.

Electrostatic induction refers to the principle that charges in an object (especially a conductor) redistribute themselves in the presence of nearby charges. Opposite charges are attracted to each other, while similar charges are repelled. Larger charges can be stored by connecting the knobs to Leyden jars which are component parts of the machine.

 

What do plastic bags have in common with metal?

In less than 100 seconds, Adrian Sutton explains why metals and plastic bags deform in different but related ways.

 

How atoms bond - George Zaidan and Charles Morton

Atoms can (and do) bond constantly; it's how they form molecules. Sometimes, in an atomic tug-of-war, one atom pulls electrons from another, forming an ionic bond. Atoms can also play nicely and share electrons in a covalent bond. From simple oxygen to complex human chromosome 13, George Zaidan and Charles Morton break down the humble chemical bond.

 Lesson by George Zaidan and Charles Morton, animation by Bevan Lynch.

 

Quantum Computing: A revolution in bits

A computer that operates using the effects of quantum mechanics could make today's best computers seem like primitive toys.

 This film takes you to the University of Sussex in the UK, where a group of physicists is developing a promising type of quantum computer based on trapped ions. If the scientists can one day produce a practical, scaled-up version of their quantum machine, it could be used to address some of the most complicated problems in science.

 

Particle accelerators and society

Talk given by Lyn Evans, project leader of the LHC and now of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, at the CERN Opendays 2013. To view this talk alongside the slides shown see http://cds.cern.ch/record/1605122.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 69. Bernoulli Principle

Bernoulli Principle explained with examples.

 

Modern Physics: Special Relativity (Stanford), Lecture 5

Lecture 5 of Leonard Susskind's Modern Physics course concentrating on Special Relativity. Recorded May 12, 2008 at Stanford University.

 

Motion of Electric Charges in a Uniform Magnetic Field

This animation portrays the motion of an electric charge in a uniform magnetic field. Starting with the special case where the initial motion is perpendicular to the magnetic field, we see that the motion is circular. The frequency of this circular motion (the cyclotron frequency) does not depend upon the speed of the charge. When generalizing the charge's motion to the full 3-D case, we see that the charge's will spiral along (and around) magnetic field lines.

 

Breakdown of Air

Grounding rod tips of different sizes are used to discharge a large Van de Graaff generator. The larger the curvature of the tip, the more charge must build up to break down the air, resulting in longer sparks.

The electricity ionizes air molecules, releasing quick flashes of light. A pointed tip barely sparks at all, but instead creates an electric field so strong that it forms a tiny ball of plasma just beyond the tip. This is known as "St. Elmo's Fire", and is just visible when all the lights are turned off.

Can we see the motion of electrons on the atomic scale?

In less than 100 seconds, Amelle Zair provides a brief introduction to the field of attosecond science.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 68. Air-Buoyancy Problems

Problem solving with air buoyancy is investigated.

 

Fluorescent and Neon Tubes in an Electric Field

A fluorescent tube swings at the end of a long plexiglass rod. It is made to rotate and then brought near the Van de Graaff generator. The tube lights up when there is a potential difference between its ends. This happens when it is pointing radially away from the Van de Graaff. The same can be done with a small neon tube.

 

Modern Physics: Special Relativity (Stanford), lecture 4

Lecture 4 of Leonard Susskind's Modern Physics course concentrating on Special Relativity. Recorded May 5, 2008 at Stanford University.

 

Higgs Boson Discovery Wins Nobel Prize for Physics

Peter Higgs and Francois Englert win Nobel Prize in Physics. Want to know what makes the Higgs Boson Nobel Prize-worthy? Brian Greene explains.

 

Higgs and Englert awarded 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics for Higgs boson theory

Theoretical physicists, Britain's Peter Higgs and Belgium's Francois Englert have been awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Peter Higgs, whose work in 1964 predicted the existence of the Higgs boson. Last year researchers at the Large Hedron Collider announced they had discovered the particle, so ending the one of the biggest scientific hunts in history. Belgian Francois Englert was the first to put forward the theory of the boson.

 

The Discovery of the Higgs Boson: America's Role

The discovery of the Higgs boson was an international endeavor, involving thousands of physicists from across the world. While the accelerator at which the experimental work was done is located on Europe, the US supplied more physicists than any other single country. America had a very large role in the discovery of the Higgs particle and continues to have a leading role in the ongoing studies of the boson's properties. This video describes some of the contributions of U.S. universities and laboratories.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 67. Buoyancy of Balloons

Buoyancy of ascending balloons.

 

How do we know that the universe is flat?

In less than 100 seconds, Roberto Trotta explains how astrophysicists calculate geometries in the universe.

Interrupted Pendulum

A pendulum swings from a support post and another post is added to interrupt its swing. We desire to know the maximum height at which the pendulum will perform a full loop around the post. The pendulum requires both potential and kinetic energy in order to complete a full loop. Therefore, it will never be able to return to its height of release while completing a full loop. Ultimately, the pendulum has enough energy to complete a full loop when interrupted at a height equal to two-fifths its initial height of release.

 

Can We Get to Alpha Centauri

You like space exploration, and we like space exploration. So why aren't we investigating our closest to galactic neighbor, the triple star system Alpha Centauri? Is it time to give interstellar travel a shot? How would we do it? Hank explains our options, and lays out the challenges. Short version: You're gonna have to be patient!

 

Modern Physics: Special Relativity (Stanford), Lecture 3

Lecture 3 of Leonard Susskind's Modern Physics course concentrating on Special Relativity. Recorded April 28, 2008 at Stanford University.

 

The physics of sperm vs. the physics of sperm whales - Aatish Bhatia

Traveling is extremely arduous for microscopic sperm -- think of a human trying to swim in a pool made of...other humans. We can compare the journey of a sperm to that of a sperm whale by calculating the Reynolds number, a prediction of how fluid will behave, often fluctuating due to size of the swimmer. Aatish Bhatia explores the great (albeit tiny) sperm's journey.

 Lesson by Aatish Bhatia, animation by Brad Purnell.

 

What is the maximum Bandwidth? - Sixty Symbols

Just how much data can we transfer using fibre optic cables?

 

Rarefied Gas Dynamics

Frederick S. Sherman and Franklin C. Hurblut, University of California, Berkeley
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

ScienceCasts: Amateur Astonomers See Comet ISON Approaching the Sun

Comet ISON is still more than two months away from its spectacular close encounter with the sun. Already, the brightening comet has become a good target for backyard telescopes in the pre-dawn sky.

 

Accelerator on a Chip: How It Works

In an advance that could dramatically shrink particle accelerators for science and medicine, researchers used a laser to accelerate electrons at a rate 10 times higher than conventional technology in a nanostructured glass chip smaller than a grain of rice.

 

Light waves, visible and invisible - Lucianne Walkowicz

Each kind of light has a unique wavelength, but human eyes can only perceive a tiny slice of the full spectrum -- the very narrow range from red to violet. Microwaves, radio waves, x-rays and more are hiding, invisible, just beyond our perception. Lucianne Walkowicz shows us the waves we can't see.

 Lesson by Lucianne Walkowicz, animation by Pew36 Animation Studios.

 

Science of Water Balloons from @sixtysymbols

What do physicists do with a high-speed camera, water balloons and a spare half hour!?

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 66. Boyle's Law

Paul shows a simple derivation of the gas law.

 

Introduction to Capacitors

Demonstrates basic function and includes information on calculating the capacitance of parallel and series configurations.

 

ESA Euronews: Planck, Higgs and the Big Bang

When it comes to the origins of the Universe, there's one idea that really captures our imagination: everything, even time itself, started with the Big Bang.

The concept of the Big Bang is difficult to describe and problematic to measure, however that's exactly what two major projects have set out to do: one on Earth, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the other in space, ESA's Planck mission.

In this edition of Space, Euronews gets to the heart of the matter and attempts to discover how matter and everything in the Universe came into being. We speak with experts from the CERN, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Sorbonne University and ESA, all studying how the Universe works.

 

Relativity Train

The Relativity Train is a realization of the famous Einstein thought experiments involving traveling trains carrying clocks and meter sticks. The demonstration is used to show how the preservation of the postulated constancy of physical laws and the speed of light in all inertial frames requires length contraction and time dilation in the train frame relative to the lab frame of reference. The demonstration is, of course, not a real experiment but rather a visual means of showing (without using any equations) how length contraction and time dilation are necessary consequences of Einstein's two assumptions.

 

SL-1 Accident Briefing Report - 1961 Nuclear Reactor Meltdown

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (Idaho Operations Office) briefing about the SL-1 Nuclear Reactor Meltdown.

 The SL-1, or Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, was a United States Army experimental nuclear power reactor which underwent a steam explosion and meltdown on January 3, 1961, killing its three operators.

 

Hero's Engine

This demonstration illustrates the earliest form of steam engine, as described by Hero of Alexandria around 150 B.C. A small amount of water is heated to produce steam, which accelerates out of small tubes. In turn, the steam creates thrust and the engine quickly spins up.

 

What is M-theory?

In less than 100 seconds, Leron Borsten explains how M-theory has the potential to unify the various forms of string theory with the theory of supergravity.

 

MAGNETS: How Do They Work?

How do magnets work? Why do they attract and repel at long distances? Is it magic? No... it's quantum mechanics, and a bit more, as we explain in this, the longest MinutePhysics video ever.

 

 Magnetism seems like a pretty magical phenomenon. Rocks that attract or repel each other at a distance - that's really cool - and electric current in a wire interacts in the same way. What's even more amazing is how it works. We normally think of special relativity as having little bearing on our lives because everything happens at such low speeds that relativistic effects are negligible. But when you consider the large number of charges in a wire and the strength of the electric interaction, you can see that electromagnets function thanks to the special relativistic effect of length contraction. In a frame of reference moving with the charges, there is an electric field that creates a force on the charges. But in the lab frame, there is no electric field so it must be a magnetic field creating the force. Hence we see that a magnetic field is what an electric field becomes when an electrically charged object starts moving.

 

NASA | Tracking Energy through Space

This short video features commentary by David Sibeck, project scientist for the THEMIS mission, discussing a visualization of reconnection fronts.

 Taking advantage of an unprecedented alignment of eight satellites through the vast magnetic environment that surrounds Earth in space, including NASA's ARTEMIS and THEMIS, scientists now have comprehensive details of the energy's journey through a process that forms the aurora, called a substorm.
Their results showed that small events unfolding over the course of a millisecond can result in energy flows that last up to half an hour and cover an area 10 times larger than Earth.

 Trying to understand how gigantic explosions on the sun can create space weather effects involves tracking energy from the original event all the way to Earth. It's not unlike keeping tabs on a character in a play with many costume changes, because the energy changes form frequently along its journey: magnetic energy causes eruptions that lead to kinetic energy as particles hurtle away, or thermal energy as the particles heat up. Near Earth, the energy can change through all these various forms once again.

 Most of the large and small features of substorms take place largely in the portion of Earth's magnetic environment called the magnetotail. Earth sits inside a large magnetic bubble called the magnetosphere. As Earth orbits around the sun, the solar wind from the sun streams past the bubble, stretching it outward into a teardrop. The magnetotail is the long point of the teardrop trailing out to more than 1 million miles on the night side of Earth. The moon orbits Earth much closer, some 240,000 miles away, crossing in and out of the magnetotail.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 65. Atmospheric Pressure

Applications of atmospheric pressure lead to the famed Magdeburg hemispheres.

 

How to Destroy a Magnet (+ interactive periodic table)

Magnets are amazingly strong... but there's a very easy way to destroy them. All you need to know is a little bit about ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, and temperature!

 

E=mc² is wrong? - Sixty Symbols

It's the most famous science equation in history... but E=mc² is not technically correct.

Modern Physics: Special Relativity (Stanford), Lecture 2

Lecture 2 of  Leonard Susskind's Modern Physics course concentrating on Special Relativity. Recorded April 21, 2008 at Stanford University.

 

Cavitation

Phillip Eisenberg, Hydronautics Inc.
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

Finding the Center of Mass...achusetts

A cutout of Massachusetts is hung in several orientations and a line is drawn straight downwards. The lines intersect at the center of mass.

 

NASA | Chasing Comet ISON

Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) may become a dazzling sight as it traverses the inner solar system in late 2013. During the weeks before its Nov. 28 close approach to the sun, the comet will be observable with small telescopes, and binoculars. Observatories around the world and in space will track the comet during its scorching trek around the sun. If ISON survives its searing solar passage, which seems likely but is not certain, the comet may be visible to the unaided eye in the pre-dawn sky during December.

This animation shows two views of comet ISON's path through the inner solar system. The first is a view following the comet along its orbit. The second is a view perpendicular to ISON's orbit. Like all comets, ISON is a clump of frozen gases mixed with dust. Often described as "dirty snowballs," comets emit gas and dust whenever they venture near enough to the sun that the icy material transforms from a solid to gas, a process called sublimation. Jets powered by sublimating ice also release dust, which reflects sunlight and brightens the comet.

 

Star Classification - Sixty Symbols

The Sun is designated as a "G2V" star. What does that mean?

 

A Capella Science - Bohemian Gravity!

A song about string theory...

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 64. Pascal's Principle

Piston arrangements and examples of multiplying forces.

 

ScienceCasts: The Strange Attraction of Hot Jupiters

An exotic class of exoplanets called "hot Jupiters" are even weirder than astronomers imagined. While these worlds may have Earth-like blue skies, new data show that they are anything but Earth-like.

 

Prof Jim Smith: Is the future nuclear?

Professor Jim Smith is an environmental physicist from Portsmouth University and he is an expert in the Chernobyl accident's causes and consequences.

He was one of many big names who gave talks at the IOP's Physics in Perspective event at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 2013.

Feather and Coin in a Vacuum

The free fall of a coin and feather are compared, first in a tube full of air and then in a vacuum. With air resistance, the feathers fall more slowly. In a vacuum, the objects fall at the same rate independent of their respective masses.

 

Asteroids - Sixty Symbols

Find out why astronomers no longer use symbols for asteroids. More astronomy and physics at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

The Aurora Borealis

This video explains how particles originating from deep inside the core of the sun creates northern lights, also called aurora borealis, on our planet.

See an extended multimedia version of this video at forskning.no (only in Norwegian).

All the animated parts of the video was made with Apple Motion 4.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 63. Buoyancy Problems

Problem solving with buoyancy is investigated.

 

Flow Inbstabilities

Erik Mollo-Christensen, MIT
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

Granular Jets (slow motion) - Sixty Symbols

Dropping metal balls into granular glass beads. Featuring Professor Roger Bowley.

 

ScienceCasts: The Harvest Moon

The full Moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox is coming this week.  Don't miss the Harvest Moon.

 

Natthi Sharma: Making Sense of the Weird Quantum Reality at TEDxEMU

The audience will first be exposed to experimental results on electrons/photons that require for their explanation very counter-intuitive concepts, such as being here and there or spinning up and down at the same time, underlying quantum physics. Very special visual analogs will be used --- analogies are always useful to comprehend new in terms of known --- to comfort the intellectual paralysis of our (predisposed) mind in understanding the co-existence of mutually exclusive attributes in the microscopic quantum world.

 Dr. Natthi Sharma is professor of physics at Eastern Michigan University since 1986.

 

How to Make a Neutrino Beam

Neutrinos are elusive particles that are difficult to study, yet they may help explain some of the biggest mysteries of our universe. Using accelerators to make neutrino beams, scientists are unveiling the neutrinos' secrets.

 

Double Cone and Plane

A double cone is placed on the bars of an inclined plane. Instead of rolling down the plane the cone rolls up. Although the plane slants upward, the bars diverge so that the rotational axis of the cone, which passes through the center of mass, actually moves downward.

 

Laser Cooling - Sixty Symbols

Learn how lasers can be used to cool atoms to temperatures approaching absolute zero. More physics at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

The Kinetic Theory

Solid, liquid, gas.

 

MAKE presents: The Integrated Circuit

A brief introduction to the technology that makes it possible for today's electronics to do so much with very little space - the IC (aka microchip)

 

Hewitt-Drew it! 62. More on Buoyancy

How density affects sinking, floating, and remaining in equilibrium doing neither.

 

Lorentz Force in Action

A tin foil speaker experiment. Which means: Playing music through a tin foil. ;-)

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 36

X-Ray astronomy.

Farewell Special.

 

ScienceCasts: ISS "Firestation" to Explore the Tops of Thunderstorms

Sometimes, Earth mimics a supernova, producing a Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flash from the tops of thunderstorms. A new lightning sensor on the International Space Station could solve the mystery of these energetic bursts.

 

How to Survive a Lightning Strike

Conductors, Faraday cage...

 

Parallel RC circuits

US Department of Defense 1972-01-01

 Reviews the operation of parallel RC circuit and specifically points out how to solve for branch currents and total impedance by using ohm's law. Reviews vector representations and show how approximate total current and phase angle are found by measuring the vectors. Introduces trigonometric functions used to solve for total impedance, total current, phase angle, and power factor. Concludes with a brief review of apparent and true power and their relationship to the power factor.

 

Spinning Water

The spinning water takes on a curved shape, which sure looks like a parabola. But why does it do that?

 

Waves in fluids

Arthur E. Bryson, Harvard University
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

The Shrinking Proton - Sixty Symbols

The proton may be smaller than we thought. Our experts explain why this could be a really big deal for physics. More videos at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

Spring Paradox

A mass hangs from two identical springs. First, the springs are attached in series by a short string between them. The springs are also connected in parallel by two peripheral strings that are initially slack. The center string is cut, changing the system from series to parallel. The mass does not move downwards, as one might have thought. Rather, the mass moves upwards because the spring constant of the system is increased.

 

How to Melt Cars and BBQ Pigeons - Sixty Symbols

Geometric Optics - discussing the Walkie Talkie skyscraper and the Nottingham Sky Mirror.

 The Walkie Talkie, or Walkie Scorchie (?), is a new building in London which has been reflecting light in a rather hazardous way! The Sky Mirror is a sculpture at the Nottingham Playhouse. This video features Professor Mike Merrifield from the University of Nottingham.

 Visit our website at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

NASA | Downloads the Future

LLCD will be NASA's first-step in creating a high performance space-based laser communications system.

The LLCD mission consists of space-based and ground-based components.

The Lunar Laser Space Terminal (LLST) is an optical communications test payload to fly aboard the LADEE Spacecraft and it will demonstrate laser communications from lunar orbit.

The ground segment consists of three ground terminals that will perform high-rate communication with the LLST aboard LADEE. The primary ground terminal, the Lunar Laser Ground Terminal (LLGT) is located in White Sands, NM and was developed by MIT/Lincoln Laboratory and NASA.

The ground segment also includes two secondary terminals located at NASA/JPL's Table Mountain Facility in California and the European Space Agency's El Teide Observatory in Tenerife, Spain.

The main goal of LLCD is proving fundamental concepts of laser communications and transferring data at a rate of 622 megabits per second (Mbps), which is about five times the current state-of-the-art from lunar distances. Engineers expect future space missions to benefit greatly from the use of laser communications technology.

Hewitt-Drew-it! 61. Buoyancy on a Submarine

How is the buoyancy of a submarine affected when it is submerged?

 

A trip through space to calculate distance - Heather Tunnell

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/a-trip-through-space-to-calculate-distance-heather-tunnell

 Imagine two aliens racing across outer space to their moon. Who can we deem the fastest alien? With DIRT -- or the equation Distance = Rate x Time -- we can calculate their rates, using the distance they traveled and the time they took. Heather Tunnell explains how to use this helpful equation to determine which of our alien friends is truly faster.

 Lesson by Heather Tunnell, animation by Karrot Animation.

 

The Art of Science Learning

"The Art of Science Learning" is an exciting project funded by the National Science Foundation that seeks to spark innovation and creativity in science education through the integration of art-infused learning methods. The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, is one of only three Incubators for Innovation nationwide that will be implementing and testing a new innovation curriculum which uses the arts to energize creative thinking and critical analysis.

 

Series RC Circuits

US Department of Defense 1972 Reviews the use of vector analysis, pythagorean theorem, and trogonometric functions as applied to a series RC ciruit. Graphically illustrates the consruction of the impedance and voltage vector. Shows use of Ohm's law for AC to solve for unknown circuit parameters. Uses an oscilloscope to demonstrate phase relationships and relative amplitudes.

 

MAKE presents: The Inductor

The deceptively simple wire coil that proves incredibly useful in the world of electronics - the inductor's ability to store energy in an electromagnetic field is the key to making transformers, electromagnets, and many more components. It truly is an awesome device!

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 35

Doppler Effect. The Big Bang. Cosmology.

 

Four ways to understand the Earth's age - Joshua M. Sneideman

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-earth-s-age-in-measurements-you-can-understand-joshua-m-sneideman

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old -- but how can humans relate to a number so colossal, and where do we fit on the geologic timeline? Comparing the Earth's lifetime to one calendar year, events like the extinction of dinosaurs and Columbus setting sail took place relatively recently. Joshua M. Sneideman reminds us of our time and place in the universe.

 Lesson by Joshua M. Sneideman, animation by Powerhouse Animation Studios Inc.

How to find black holes with lasers: Dr Andreas Freise

In 1916, Einstein -- as a consequence of his new theory of gravity -- predicted the existence of gravitational radiation (ripples in the fabric of space--time that propagate at the speed of light).

Today, the hunt for such gravitational waves has sparked a new field of fundamental and instrumental science, using kilometre-sized telescopes that exploit laser technology. These new instruments are now in operation and close to observing Einstein's prediction for the very first time.

The observation of gravitational waves has the potential to change dramatically our understanding of the universe; we will be able to "hear" some of the most violent events in cosmic history, including black holes colliding in the centre of galaxies and the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang.

 

INSIDE a Spherical Mirror

BBC Science Club - The Story of Physics

Short animation, which was part of the Science Club series on BBC2 hosted by Dara O Briain Directed by: Åsa Lucander Art&Design: Åsa Lucander Additional Art: Marc Moynihan Stop Motion & Compositing: Julia Bartl Animation: Kim Alexander, Marc Moynihan, Anna Fyda, Barry Evans, Lucy Izzard, Simon Testro, Phoebe Halstead, Michael Towers Sound: Laura Coates Produced by: 12foot6

 
BBC Science Club - Physics from Asa Lucander on Vimeo.

ScienceCasts: NASA Mission Seeks Lunar Air

A NASA spacecraft slated for launch in September will fly to the Moon to investigate the tenuous lunar atmosphere. Researchers hope "LADEE" will solve a mystery that has been puzzling them since the days of Apollo.

 

Michelson Interferometer

In this setup, an interferometer is used to measure the wavelength of laser light. The incident beam is split into two paths, recombined, and projected on a screen. When one of the path lengths is varied, the interference pattern on the screen changes. By measuring the distance that a path length must be changed in order to achieve the original interference pattern, one can determine the wavelength of the incident light.

 

Voltage Doublers

US Department of Defense - 1970-01-01

Explains the theory of operation of a voltage doubler. Traces charge and discharge paths for the capacitors. Determines peak output voltage and ripple frequency.

 

Vacuum Cannon - Sixty Symbols

We discuss vacuums, pascals and show you a special vacuum cannon, which fires ping pong balls at 400 miles per hour. More physics at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

We let the particle physics people give their version of what a vacuum is like.

Big Questions: Missing Antimatter

Einstein's equation E = mc2 is often said to mean that energy can be converted into matter. More accurately, energy can be converted to matter and antimatter.

During the first moments of the Big Bang, the universe was smaller, hotter and energy was everywhere. As the universe expanded and cooled, the energy converted into matter and antimatter. According to our best understanding, these two substances should have been created in equal quantities. However when we look out into the cosmos we see only matter and no antimatter.

The absence of antimatter is one of the Big Mysteries of modern physics. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln explains the problem, although doesn't answer it. The answer, as in all Big Mysteries, is still unknown and one of the leading research topics of contemporary science.

Hewitt-Drew-it! 60. Archimedes

Archimedes' principle has a fascinating application, the famous Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.

 

How do we see beneath the surface of tissue with light?

In less than 100 seconds, Bruce Tromberg provides an introduction to the art of seeing beneath skin using light.

 

Bullet Block Experiment

A bullet is fired upward into a wooden block.  Does the block raise higher if the bullet hits its center of mass, or if the bullets hits elsewhere?

Experiment, prediction, results:


Explanation:

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 34

Gratings. Resolving Power. Single-Slit Diffraction. Angular Resolution. Human Eye. Telescopes.

 

Secondary Flow

Edward S. Tyler, MIT
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

MAKE presents: The Diode

It's the simplest semiconductor device made. It ushered in the age of radio, the electronic valve that rectifies and regulates - the diode!

 

Jabulani Football Physics - Sixty Symbols

We discuss the Jabulani (official World Cup football) which has caused so much debate - and a few of our scientists take it for some field testing!

 

Out scientists field test the official World Cup football with an impromptu penalty shoot-out.

Pulling a Cloth From Under a Beaker

A beaker is placed on top of a cloth, on top of a stool. The cloth is pulled quickly from underneath the beaker, while the beaker remains stationary. The impulse of the net force is made very small by reducing the time over which the cloth acts on the beaker. In other words, the force of the cloth does not act on the beaker long enough to accelerate it, so it does not move.

 

Planck Length - Sixty Symbols

The planck length is unimaginably small. More physics videos at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 59. Buoyancy

Why is buoyancy an upward force? Why not sideways, or in some other direction?

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 33

Double-Slit Interference, interferometers.

 

Plate Sliding Under a Soda Can

A can is placed on top of a metal sheet on a stool. A broom hits the sheet causing it to fly from underneath the can, while the can remains stationary. The impulse of the net force is made very small by reducing the time over which the metal sheet acts on the can. In other words, the force of the sheet does not act on the can long enough to accelerate it, so it does not move.

 

MAKE presents: The Transistor

They electronically switch and amplify signals by harnessing the unique abilities of semiconductor materials. Their invention has transformed the world of electronics and accelerated our entry into the digital age. Behold - the Transistor!

Brought to you by makezine.com
Audio and video by Collin Cunningham

 

How do aircraft remain in the sky?

In less than 100 seconds, Kara Peters puts our minds at ease by explaining how lift force can overcome gravity.

 

Turbulence

Robert W. Stewart, University of British Columbia
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films

Film notes

Other videos from this series

Curie Point of Iron

A piece of iron is suspended with a copper wire at the height of one pole of a magnet. At first the iron is attracted to the magnet. The iron is then heated with a torch and eventually falls from the magnet. As the iron cools it will again be attracted to the magnet.

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 32

Review for Exam 3.  Magnetic materials, magnetic field in a solenoid, transformers, RLC circuits, electromagnetic waves...

 

The Science of Hyperloop

Michael Aranda explains the nuts and bolts of Hyperloop, the new magnet-driven, solar-powered transit system proposed by Spacex genius Elon Musk. Learn how Musk answered three vexing questions to create the transportation of the future -- or maybe the transportation of Futurama.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 58. Liquid Pressure

Liquid pressure depends on the density and the height, not the volume.

 

How can you filter out the vuvuzela?

Sixty Symbols takes a look at the dreaded vuvuzela and how it can be filtered out of World Cup football broadcasts. More physics at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

 

Do We Expand With The Universe?

The universe is expanding...do we expand with the universe?

 

Gyroscopes Made Easy

The motion of a gyroscope in response to an applied force is analyzed. TSG's gimbaled gyroscope is used to demonstrate.

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 31

Rainbows. A modest rainbow will appear in the lecture hall! Fog Bows. Supernumerary Bows. Polarization of the Bows. Halos around the Sun and the Moon. Mock Suns.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 57. Scaling 3

How does scaling affect heating, nourishment, and falling speeds of various creatures?

 

ScienceCasts: The Sun's Magnetic Field is About to Flip

Something big is happening on the sun. The sun's global magnetic field is about to flip, a sign that Solar Max has arrived.

 

DC Motor

A DC current is sent around a wire loop that is free to rotate. The current causes the loop to feel a torque in the presence of a magnetic field. Switching the current when the loop flips over allows it to continue accelerating, demonstrating the principle of a DC motor and the Lorentz force law.

 

Higgs Boson: The Inside Scoop

In July of 2012, physicists found a particle that might be the long-sought Higgs boson. In the intervening months, scientists have worked hard to pin down the identity of this newly-found discovery. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln describes researcher's current understanding of the particle that might be the Higgs. The evidence is quite strong but the final chapter of this story might well require the return of the Large Hadron Collider to full operations in 2015.

 

What is a frequency comb?

In less than 100 seconds, Paul Williams explains how optical frequency combs fill an important technological gap between the light bulb and the laser.

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 30

Polarizers. Malus's Law. Brewster Angle. Polarization by Reflection and Scattering.  Why is the sky blue? Why are sunsets red? The sun will set in the lecture hall!

 

The World's First Human-Made Nuclear Reactor

Today on SciShow, Hank brings us a little science history, telling us the tale of the world's first human-made nuclear reactor, which was built by a team of scientists and students led by Enrico Fermi in a converted squash court under a football field in Chicago.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 56. Scaling 2

How does scaling up the sizes of living creatures affect heat transfer?

 

How does a pressure cooker work?

The laws of Physics apply to our everyday activities, even cooking food. Watch this animated video explaining how a pressure cooker works to cook our food faster.

 

How To Make a Quantum Bit

We have looked at how a transistor works, the fundamental unit of classical computers, and how a quantum computer works in theory, taking advantage of quantum superposition to hold exponentially more information than classical computers. Now we look at the practical side of making a quantum bit, or qubit. How do you put it in a state where it is stable? How do you read and write information on it? These processes are described for a solid state qubit - a phosphorous atom in a silicon crystal substrate. Both the electron and the nucleus of the phosphorous atom can be used as qubits.

 

Could We Stop An Asteroid?

Could we stop an asteroid on a collision course for Earth? (featuring Bill Nye).

 

Non-Isotropic Oscillator

A puck on an air table acts as a non-isotropic oscillator, tracing out a Lissajous figure with a 2:3 ratio.

 For more on the theory behind this demo, and to see others like it, please visit us at http://www.ap.smu.ca/demos

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 55. Scaling 1

How does scaling up the sizes of living creatures affect strength?

 

ScienceCasts: Perseid Fireballs

New research from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office identifies the Perseids as the "fireball champion" of annual meteor showers. This year's Perseid display peaks on August 12th and 13th.