NASA | X Marks the Spot: SDO Sees Reconnection

Two NASA spacecraft have provided the most comprehensive movie ever of a mysterious process at the heart of all explosions on the sun: magnetic reconnection.

Magnetic reconnection happens when magnetic field lines come together, break apart, and then exchange partners, snapping into new positions and releasing a jolt of magnetic energy. This process lies at the heart of giant explosions on the sun such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which can fling radiation and particles across the solar system.

 

Public Lecture—The Dark Universe Through Einstein's Lens

Lecture Date: Tuesday, July 23rd. Debbie Bard, a staff scientist at SLAC and a member of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, delivered the July 23 SLAC Public Lecture, "The Dark Universe Through Einstein's Lens."

 Bard's talk explains the phenomenon known as gravitational lensing and how astrophysicists use it to explore the 95 percent of the universe that remains unseen: dark matter and dark energy.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 54. Density Problem

Given a piece of pure quartz with traces of gold, how can the amount of gold be determined?

ScienceCasts: The Zero Gravity Coffee Cup

Drinking coffee in space is surprisingly tricky. Physicists researching the strange behavior of fluids onboard the International Space Station have invented a zero-g coffee cup to make the morning "cuppa Joe" a little easier to swallow.

 

NASA | What is a Sungrazing Comet?

Sungrazing comets are a special class of comets that come very close to the sun at their nearest approach, a point called perihelion. To be considered a sungrazer, a comet needs to get within about 850,000 miles from the sun at perihelion. Many come even closer, even to within a few thousand miles.

 

Exploring other dimensions - Alex Rosenthal and George Zaidan

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/exploring-other-dimensions-alex-rosenthal-and-george-zaidan 

Imagine a two-dimensional world -- you, your friends, everything is 2D. In his 1884 novella, Edwin Abbott invented this world and called it Flatland. Alex Rosenthal and George Zaidan take the premise of Flatland one dimension further, imploring us to consider how we would see dimensions different from our own and why the exploration just may be worth it.

 Lesson by Alex Rosenthal and George Zaiden, animation by Cale Oglesby.

 

MAKE Presents: The Capacitor

Simple yet effective, they come in a dizzying array of forms and materials. Vital to so many circuits for storage, timing, and filtration – the mighty capacitor!

 In this installment of the MAKE presents series Collin Cunningham explains how to build a leyden jar, how the capacitor was invented, and how to use one to light an LED.

 

Atomic Orbitals

Part 1: The wave behavior of  matter:

 

 Part 2: Atomic Orbitals Explained

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 28

Index of Refraction, Poynting Vector, Oscillating Charges, Radiation Pressure, Comet Tails, Polarization (Linear, Elliptical, and Circular).

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 53.Solids

Density and the shapes of beams are investigated.

 

Neutrinos: Nature's Identity Thieves?

The oscillation of neutrinos from one variety to another has long been suspected, but was confirmed only about 15 years ago. In order for these oscillations to occur, neutrinos must have a mass, no matter how slight. Since neutrinos have long been thought to be massless, in a very real way, this phenomena is a clear signal of physics beyond the known. In this video, Fermilab's Dr Don Lincoln explains how we know it occurs and hints at the rich experimental program at several international laboratories designed to understand this complex mystery.

 

Exploding Wire

A 100uF capacitor is charged to 3kV (450 joules) and then discharged through a thin iron wire, causing it to explode.

 

NASA | It Doesn't Take a Planet to Make Some Rings

A study by NASA scientists sounds a cautionary note in interpreting rings and spiral arms as signposts for new planets. Thanks to interactions between gas and dust, a debris disk may, under the right conditions, produce narrow rings on its own, no planets needed.

 

Relativity Paradox - Sixty Symbols

Trains, tunnels, muons and giant guillotines - strange things happen when you travel close to the speed of light. Discussing relativity, time dilation and Lorentz contraction.

 

Professor Emanuel Derman: Models Behaving Badly

Emanuel Derman talks about his experiences in both the financial and physics world while exploring the collision between human needs and desires, mathematical modelling and economics that has featured so dramatically in the recent financial crisis.

 This talk took place on 10 July 2013.

 

A Heat Gun

A small amount of water is placed inside an airtight copper tube, with the end sealed by a rubber stopper. The tube is heated using a blowtorch, causing the water inside to boil. As the water changes from a liquid to a gas the pressure inside the tube increases. Eventually the pressure blows out the stopper, blasting it across the room like a cannon.

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 27

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism, Spring 2002

Professor Walter Lewin

Resonance; Destructive Resonance; Electromagnetic Waves; Speed of Light; Radio - TV; Distance Determinations using Radar and Lasers

Other lectures from the same course


 

Why is light slower in glass? - Sixty Symbols

Professor Merrifield largely "uncut" discussing refraction.

 

How Does a Transistor Work?

Transistors, semiconductors, doping.

 

Arrow of Time - Sixty Symbols

Sean Carroll on the arrow of time.
See all our videos with Sean: http://bit.ly/115AVqa
Sean's book about the arrow of time: http://amzn.to/16FzAt8

Hewitt-Drew-it! 52. The Periodic Table

Paul discusses some features of the periodic table of the elements.

 

Free falling in outer space - Matt J. Carlson

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/free-falling-in-outer-space-matt-j-carlson

If you were to orbit the Earth, you'd experience the feeling of free fall, not unlike what your stomach feels before a big dive on a roller coaster. With a little help from Sir Isaac Newton, Matt J. Carlson explains the basic forces acting on an astronaut and why you probably shouldn't try this one at home.

 Lesson by Matt J. Carlson, animation by Josh Harris.

 

Fundamentals of Boundary Layers

Frederick H. Abernathy, Harvard University
National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films, 1970

Film notes

Other videos from this series

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 26

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism, Spring 2002

Professor Walter Lewin

Traveling Waves, Standing Waves, Musical Instruments

Other lectures from the same course

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 51. Atoms

Paul cites personal influences in his life and discusses the atomic hypothesis.

 

How epic solar winds make brilliant polar lights - Michael Molina

Why do we see those stunning lights in the northern- and southernmost portions of the night sky? The Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis occur when high-energy particles are flung from the Sun's corona toward the Earth and mingle with the neutral atoms in our atmosphere -- ultimately emitting extraordinary light and color. Michael Molina explains every step of this dazzling phenomenon. Lesson by Michael Molina, animation by Franco Barroeta.

 

Particle Physics Gravity and the Standard Model

Lawrence Berkeley Lab Scientist Andre Walker-Loud presents to high-school students and teachers, explaining the nature of the four fundamental forces, and how the standard model of particle physics relates to cosmology. He also talks about Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and why his profession is both important and rewarding.

 

Physics of Moshing - Sixty Symbols

New research on the physics of mosh pits (at heavy metal concerts). Discussed by Professor Phil Moriarty. More from the researchers at: http://bit.ly/moshers

Is there a center of the universe? - Marjee Chmiel and Trevor Owens

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/is-there-a-center-of-the-universe-marjee-chmiel-and-trevor-owens 

 It's been a long road to the discovery that Earth is not the center of the Solar System, the Milky Way, or the universe; great thinkers from Aristotle to Bruno have grappled with it for millennia. But if we aren't at the center of the universe, what is? Marjee Chmiel and Trevor Owens discuss where we stand in the (very) big scheme of things.

 Lesson by Marjee Chmiel and Trevor Owens, animation by Qa'ed Mai.

 

The Truth About Electrons and Photons

Can we really touch things? Well if by touch we mean exchange a force-carrying particle with, then yes. The photon is the force-carrier of the electromagnetic interaction. But if the photon is also a particle of light then why aren't magnets glowing? Because the photons are virtual particles, which means they can't be directly detected (without changing the outcome we are trying to measure).

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 50.Circular/Elliptical Orbit

Paul distinguishes circular and elliptical orbits with force vectors for each.