Science off the Sphere: Space Balloonacy

In his off duty time, NASA Astronaut Don Pettit cools down with some microgravity water balloon experiments aboard the International Space Station.

Other Science off the Sphere videos

ScienceCasts: Hidden Magnetic Portals Around Earth

A NASA-sponsored researcher at the University of Iowa has developed a way for spacecraft to hunt down hidden magnetic portals in the vicinity of Earth. These portals link the magnetic field of our planet to that of the sun.

 

A meeting of Youtube physics stars!

BrainSTEM is a conference of science YouTubers, instigated by Henry Reich of MinutePhysics. Here's a fun Veritasium video about the event:

 

 And here's a Sixty Symbols video about Minute Physics:

 

Tunnel effect animation

Quantum tunnel effect and STM tunneling microscope.
Copyright Bobroff 2012
Source: Tout est quantique

Quantization in quantum physics

The way a quantum wave is quantized in a box.
Copyright Bobroff 2012.
Source: Tout est quantique

CERN NEWS : Are we there yet on the search for the Higgs boson ?

Rumors about imminent results on the Higgs boson from the LHC experiments are appearing in blogs, social media and newspapers all over the world. Meanwhile, thousands of physicists are carefully analyzing the data, looking not only for the Higgs but for many other new phenomena.

 

What Keeps Nuclear Weapons from Proliferating: The hardest step in making a nuclear bomb

Bill explains that the hardest step is making the proper type of uranium. Weapons and power plants require uranium that contains a greater amount of the isotope uranium-235 than found in natural uranium, which is mostly uranium-238. He outlines the key difficulty in separating the two isotope: They have nearly identical properties. He explains the two key methods for separation: Gas diffusion and centrifuges.

Other "Engineer Guy" videos

Vortex Shedding (Flow Tank Version)

Wolfgang uses a pendulum partially immersed in a makeshift flow tank to show us the effect of vortex shedding on a small object.


When fluid flows around a cylindrical object, there is a range of flow velocities for which a von Karman vortex street is formed. The shedding of these vortices imparts a small, periodic force on the object. Here the object is a cylinder attached to a physical pendulum whose frequency of oscillation is adjustable. The end of the cylinder is submerged in flowing water. When the frequency of the pendulum is adjusted to match the frequency of vortex shedding, the cylinder swings transverse to the direction of flow with a peak-to-peak amplitude of a few centimeters.

Other Harvard demonstrations

Voyager 1 at the Final Frontier

At the edge of the solar system, Voyager 1 is reporting a sharp increase in cosmic rays that could herald the spacecraft's long-awaited entry into interstellar space.

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 20

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism, Spring 2002

Professor Walter Lewin

Self-Inductance, RL Circuits, Magnetic Field Energy.

Other lectures from the same course

What is CERN? - Sixty Symbols

Professor Ed Copeland gives his own explanation and brief history of CERN - a Mecca for physicists and home of the Large Hadron Collider.

Other Sixty Symbols videos

Marco Tempest: The electric rise and fall of Nikola Tesla

Combining projection mapping and a pop-up book, Marco Tempest tells a visually arresting story about Nikola Tesla -- called "the greatest geek who ever lived" -- from his triumphant invention of alternating current to his penniless last days.

Other TED Talks

Why is the sky blue?

Rayleigh scattering.

X-Ray Diffraction of DNA

Explanation of the technique used by Rosalind Franklin to observe the double helix.

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 19

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism, Spring 2002

Professor Walter Lewin

Electricity and the heart (electrocardiograms, pacemakers), magnetic levitation.

Other lectures from the same course

Falling slinky

What happens when a slinky that has been extended under its own weight is released? How does it fall to the ground?

Other Veritasium videos

ScienceCasts: Why Won't the Supernova Explode?

A question has been troubling astronomers: Why won't the supernova explode? Although real stars blow up, the best computer models of dying stars do not result in much of a bang. NASA has launched a new observatory named "NuSTAR" to seek out the missing physics of exploding stars.

Science off the Sphere: 1.21 Legowatts

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit gets creative with an educational LEGO kit aboard the International Space Station. Answer the challenge question at www.physicscentral.com/sots for a chance for prizes!

Other Science off the Sphere videos

How an atomic clock works, and its use in the global positioning system (GPS)

Bill shows the world's smallest atomic clock and then describes how the first one made in the 1950s worked. He describes in detail the use of cesium vapor to create a feedback or control loop to control a quartz oscillator. He highlights the importance of atomic team by describing briefly how a GPS receiver uses four satellites to find its position.

Other "Engineer Guy" videos

Proof Without Words: The Circle

Proving the circumference of a circle is πR² using only beads and a ruler!

Other Minute Physics videos

Weekend Projects - Solar Joule Bracelet

The Solar Joule Bracelet combines two separate projects, a solar battery and a "joule thief," to build a wearable circuit that powers an LED. Solar energy flows through the photodiodes, building up a supercapacitor, which essentially acts like a battery. This energy is then delivered to the joule thief, where oscillations eventually exceed the LED's forward voltage, making it light up. Once fully charged, these oscillations will occur so fast that the LED will appear continuously bright, visible even during daytime!

 Complete instructions

 

ScienceCasts: Andromeda vs. the Milky Way: Astronomers Predict a Titanic Collision

Astronomers no longer have any doubt: Our Milky Way Galaxy will have a head-on collision with Andromeda. Fortunately, they say, Earth will survive when the two great star systems meet 4 billions years from now.

 

How a Laser Works

Bill shows how the three key characteristics of laser light - single wavelength, narrow beam, and high intensity - are made. He explains the operation of a ruby laser - the first laser ever made - showing how electronic transitions create stimulated emission to give coherent light, and then how the ends of the ruby cavity create a narrow wavelength highly collimated beam.

Other "Engineer Guy" videos

Picture of the Big Bang (a.k.a. Oldest Light in the Universe)

Where does all the stuff in the universe come from?

Cosmic microwave background radiation.

Other Minute Physics videos

 

Into the Subatomic Jungle

Come with us on a journey into the subatomic jungle, where particles are wild and discoveries hide around every corner.

(There's not a lot of information here, but it is rather funny.)