Planet Wonder

When I first saw this video I was amazed, entertained, and educated (in that order). I loved every minute of this wonderful tour of the International Space Station. Still, perhaps the most exciting thing about this was that the woman who leads the tour knows how to fly.  At one point she describes sleeping in a weightless space station, in another she explains how space toilets work.  But, maybe the most interesting thing she had to say was that she  [ Read More ]

Astronomy has moved way beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. Take a look at this short video showing us, at a very great distance, what a nascent solar system looks like. It’ll take your breath away.   If image fails to post, click here.

A lot of people on this planet think that we have enough going on here on Terra Firma that space exploration is an unnecessary expense. I don’t agree with that.  I can’t. I’ve dreamt of traveling to other planets all of my life.  It is a part of who I am. So what? You ask?  What’s in it for you? Fair question. Listen to Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s talk about it. Perhaps (if you haven’t done so already), you’ll come over to  [ Read More ]

I just found this video, and was immediately moved to share it with you. We have seen so many videos and still shots from the first successful Moon Landing mission, but have you ever wondered what it was like on the ground during the lift-off of the Apollo 11? Here is a video taken at 500 frames per second, and played back at a much slower speed so you can see the flaming fury of the lift-off of that historical  [ Read More ]

Sometimes Scientists are just big kids with lots of discretionary funds. Case in point: This video shows a chair that self-destructs, then rebuilds itself. The useful ness of such an experiment?  While not immediately apparent, becomes interesting when you think about self-assembling robots, and other items. Self-assembling?  Why would that be necessary?  Well, for starters, think Nanotechnology.  Think of molecular robots which are delivered (to the blood stream, for example), and then which assemble themselves into artery-cleaning machines, which either break  [ Read More ]

I’ve never been big on “Nature” films.  Oh, sure, they can show you things you don’t expect to see, but oft times they are bloody and unexpectedly gruesome. The video I present to you today was passed on to me by a friend from the Fremont Area Writers (a branch of the California Writers Club), and because I like my friend, I watched it. This is not your average, every-day “Life in Nature” video.  This is something special.  While I don’t have  [ Read More ]

As children growing up, we reveled in asking “why” questions.  “Why is the sky blue?” “Why was I born?” “What will I be when I grow up?” The list goes on and on. As children we were confident that there was a ready answer to each of our questions, and we would go to bed at night, if not wiser, at least secure in that the answers were there for the taking. But, is that true? Join Chris Anderson with  [ Read More ]

God is In the Neurons This is a fascinating animated lecture, but be warned, it isn’t for everyone.  Watch at your own risk.

There was a time when we believed that the Atom was the smallest possible particle in the Universe. Look at what “InfoPlease” has to say about this: “The idea that all matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles, or atoms,  is believed to have originated with the Greek philosopher Leucippus  of Miletus and his student Democritus  of Abdera in the 5th century B.C.  (The word atom comes from the Greek word atomos, which means “indivisible.”)  These thinkers held that, in addition  [ Read More ]

Neil deGrasse Tyson (born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. Since 2006 he has hosted the educational science television show NOVA scienceNOW on PBS, and has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Real Time with Bill  [ Read More ]