Science Documentary Films. "The Thing": A 140,000-Year-Old Organism Discovered in Antarctica's Ice-Shrouded Lake Vostok. An ancient living laboratory of our planet's past in Antarctica may have provided a preview of what we can expect to find deep below the barren surface of Mars and in the ice-shrouded seas of Jupiter's Europa.
Two of the world's leading experts on life at the lower temperature extremes, Buford Price of the University of California, Berkeley and Todd Sowers of Penn State observed that microbes colonizing life appear to have two levels of metabolism: a survival metabolism in which they remain alive but become dormant until exposed to nutrients or higher temperatures, or, a maintenance metabolism for steady sustained growth. The team observed that some organisms in permafrost appear to have "protein repair enzymes that maintain active recycling of certain amino acids needed for cell repair for at least 30,000 years. " They added that the "extremely low expenditures of survival energy enable microbial communities in extreme environments to survive indefinitely. " The Online Literature Library.
Tree.jpg (JPEG Image, 800 × 800 pixels) 2008 / Juketube. 8 shocking things we learned from Stephen Hawking's book. From the idea that our universe is one among many, to the revelation that mathematician Pythagoras didn't actually invent the Pythagorean theorem, here are eight shocking things we learned from reading physicist Stephen Hawking's new book, "The Grand Design," written with fellow physicist Leonard Mlodinow of Caltech.
The book, covering major questions about the nature and origin of the universe, was released Sept. 7 by its publisher, Bantam. 1. The past is possibility According to Hawking and Mlodinow, one consequence of the theory of quantum mechanics is that events in the past that were not directly observed did not happen in a definite way. Instead they happened in all possible ways. This is related to the probabilistic nature of matter and energy revealed by quantum mechanics: Unless forced to choose a particular state by direct interference from an outside observation, things will hover in a state of uncertainty. General Biology Video Lecture Course. Tiny Quantum Computers in Bacteria = Efficient Solar Power.
Image: "Pediastra, a flat colony of green algae", Wim van Egmond Scientists at Berkeley report a breakthrough in the riddle of how bacteria can convert sunlight to energy at efficiencies nearing 100%.
And the answer is more elegant and amazing than you will believe. Imagine your favorite Sci-fi character trapped in a maze. The future of the planet depends upon finding the fastest way out. 50 Years of Protein Structure Determination. InnerHi. Pythagorean cup. Cross section Cross section of a Pythagorean cup.
A Pythagorean cup (also known as a Pythagoras cup, a Greedy Cup or a Tantalus cup) is a form of drinking cup that forces its user to imbibe only in moderation. Credited to Pythagoras of Samos, it allows the user to fill the cup with wine up to a certain level. The 13 Most Important Numbers in the Universe - James D. Stein's Cosmic Numbers.
In the 17th century, scientists understood three phases of matter—solids, liquids and gases (the discovery of plasma, the fourth phase of matter, lay centuries in the future).
Back then, solids and liquids were much harder to work with than gases because changes in solids and liquids were difficult to measure with the equipment of the time. So many experimentalists played around with gases to try to deduce fundamental physical laws. Free university lectures - computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry. Whether your goal is to earn a promotion, graduate at the top of your class, or just accelerate your life, lectures can help get you there.
Our archives of lectures cover a huge range of topics and have all been handpicked and carefully designed by experienced instructors throughout the world who are dedicated to helping you take the next step toward meeting your career goals. Lifelong learns can turn their free time turn into self-improvement time. Personal and Historical Perspectives of Hans Bethe. Snowflakes under the microscope. If you look closely at falling snow, you can see a great many different crystal shapes.
There’s a lot more to see than you might think! Photographing snowflakes can be great fun and a rewarding hobby. MythBuster Adam Savage: 3 Ways to Fix U.S. Science Education. When Jamie Hyneman and I speak at teacher conventions, we always draw a grateful crowd.
They tell us Thursday mornings are productive because students see us doing hands-on science Wednesday nights on our show MythBusters, and they want to talk about it. These teachers are so dedicated, but they have difficulty teaching for the standardized tests they're given with the budgets they're not given. It's one reason the U.S. is falling behind other countries in science: By 2010, Asia will have 90 percent of the world's Ph.D. scientists and engineers. We're not teachers, but our show has taught us a lot about how to get people interested in science. Here are three humble suggestions that might help reinvigorate American science education. MythBusters Results — Outcomes from all MythBusters Episodes.
This Will Mindfuck You: The Double-Slit Experiment. The video below shows scientific proof that there is something NOT quite logical or scientific about this universe.
