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Mabel Mercer sings Experiment by Cole Porter

Posted on July 3, 2013  Comments (2)

Mabel Mercer sings Experiment by Cole Porter:

[ Video removed 🙁 ]

Lyrics for Experiment:

Before you leave these portals to meet less fortunate mortals,
There’s just one final message I would give to you.
You all have learned reliance on the sacred teachings of science
So I hope through life you never will decline in spite of philistine defiance
To do what all good scientists do.
Experiment.
Make it your motto day and night.
Experiment and it will lead you to the light.
The apple on the top of the tree is never too high to achieve,
So take an example from Eve, experiment.
Be curious, though interfering friends may frown,
Get furious at each attempt to hold you down.
If this advice you only employ, the future can offer you infinite joy
And merriment.
Experiment and you’ll see.

The lyrics were included in the book by George Box, my father and Stu Hunter: Statistics for Experimenters.

Related: Scientists Singing About Science – Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants – They Will Know We are Christians By Our Love – Cambrian Explosion Song

Scientists Singing About Science

Posted on June 30, 2012  Comments (1)

Fun video with scientists singing about science.

More scientists singing science songs: Friday Fun, Large Hadron Rap – Cambrian Explosion Song – The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma – Protein Synthesis: 1971 Video

20th Annual US First Robotics Competition

Posted on January 8, 2012  Comments (2)

If you have a child, niece, nephew, grandchild… who you haven’t been able to convince about the wonders of science maybe the starts on this promo (Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber…) can help convince them. If you want to convince your grandparents science is cool, then maybe they will like the cameos by Steven Tyler and Bono 😛 This is an effort being pushed by will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and Dean Kamen (US First Founder) to promote science and engineering. Since most politicians don’t seem interested in promoting and supporting science anymore maybe musicians can help turn things around.

I have written about US First, it is a great program. It engages children in learning by taping their curiosity and desire to create. I think learning this way is much more natural and fun and affective than what we have too often in schools today. I know I was bored quite often but was told the adults knew best. Well know I am an adult and I think I was right back then: our education system can, and should be greatly improved. Until then, US First, and similar, programs give kids a good environment for learning that keeps their desire to learn intact.

The video spot was created to promote a TV show commemorating the 20th annual US FIRST Robotics competition. Watch the TV show:

Related: Lunacy, FIRST Robotics Challenge 2009 – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), 2005 post – Test it Out, Experiment by They Might Be Giants – Botball 2009 Finals

The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma

Posted on August 4, 2011  Comments (2)

They Might be Giants once again provide an enjoyable view into the wonders of science. Previously they published the video, The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas. They published an updated video, a couple years ago, which captures the best current understanding based on the scientific inquiry process: Why Does the Sun Really Shine? (The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma).

I really do love, They Might be Giants. Even before their focus on science I enjoyed their music. But they have done wonders with all their recent work. Go Giants. Get their DVD: Here Comes Science.

Related: How Science is Unmasking the Secrets of the Sun (Science magazine, 1974) – The problem with hot gas = Test it Out, Experiment by They Might Be Giants – Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants

Their previous video, The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas, Continue reading →

Cambrian Explosion Song

Posted on July 18, 2011  Comments (0)

via Smithsonian’s Surprising Science:

What does a music teacher do when he ends up teaching science? He teaches about evolution and the geologic timeline with music, of course, and that’s what Canadian elementary school teacher John Palmer did. He originally played “Cambrian Explosion” as a rock/hip hop creation in class but has since recorded an acoustic version. (The trio is called Brighter Lights, Thicker Glasses and consists of Palmer on the guitar/vocals, Michael Dunn on the dobro and Brian Samuels [from UBC civil engineering department] on the cello.)

The video was filmed in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum (Canada) atrium with the blue whale exhibit in the background.

Related: Test it Out, Experiment by They Might Be Giants – Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants – Lobopodians from China a Few Million Years Ago – Google Art Project: View Art from the Hermitage, the Met, etc.

Friday Fun: Dancing Parrot

Posted on October 9, 2009  Comments (3)

Birds show off their dance moves

Footage revealed that some parrots have a near-perfect sense of rhythm; swaying their bodies, bobbing their heads and tapping their feet in time to a beat. Previously, it was thought that only humans had the ability to groove. The researchers believe the findings could help shed light on how our relationship with music and the capacity to dance came about.
…
Dr Patel told the BBC: “We analysed these videos frame by frame, and we found he did synchronise – he did slow down and speed up in time with the music. “It was really surprising that he had this flexibility.”

Related: Friday Fun: Bird Using Bait to Fish – Crows, Brainy Birds – Friday Cat Fun #10: Cat and Crow Friends
Continue reading →

Test it Out, Experiment by They Might Be Giants

Posted on October 2, 2009  Comments (4)

Put It to the Test is one of the songs on the great new Album and animated DVD from They Might Be Giants: Here Comes Science.

Are you sure that thing is true, or did someone just tell it to you.
Come up with a test. Test it out.
Find a way to show what would happen if you were incorrect. Test it out.
A fact is just a fantasy unless it can be checked.
Make a test. Test it out.

A fun song on fundamentals of experimenting to the scientific method.

Related: Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants – posts on experimenting – MythBuster: 3 Ways to Fix USA Science Education – Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids – Correlation is Not Causation

Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants

Posted on August 31, 2009  Comments (4)

They Might Be Giants creates great music and has moved into creating music aimed at kids, of any age, over the last few years. They are releasing a new Album and animated DVD Here Comes Science, is being released tomorrow. Their music is both enjoyable to listen to and educational, something that is often attempted but rarely done as successfully as they do.

Related: Istanbul by They Might Be Giants – science gifts
 – Studio 360 show w/ TMBG – Kids on Scientists: Before and After – Sarah, aged 3, Learns About Soap – Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids – What Kids can Learn – Hollie Steel

The release include the following songs and videos:

1. Science Is Real
2. Meet the Elements
3. I Am a Paleontologist w/Danny Weinkauf
4. The Bloodmobile
5. Electric Car w/Robin Goldwasser
6. My Brother the Ape
7. What Is a Shooting Star?
8. How Many Planets?
9. Why Does the Sun Shine?
Continue reading →

1979 “iPod” Music Player

Posted on July 16, 2009  Comments (7)

1979 music player patent application by Kane Kramer1979 music player patent drawings by Kane Kramer, from Gizmodo

Suspiciously Prescient Man Files Patent for iPod-Like Device in 1979 by Dan Nosowitz

Kane Kramer, an inventor by trade, came up with a gadget and music distribution service almost eerily similar to the iPod-iTunes relationship that predates it by three decades. The guy predicted details down to DRM and flash memory’s dominance.

Kramer’s device, the IXI, was flash-based, even though flash memory in 1979 only could have held about three minutes of audio, and featured a screen, four-way controls, and was about the size of a cigarette pack. Even weirder, he envisioned the creation and sale of digital music and foresaw all the good and bad that would come from this: No overhead, no inventory, but a great push for independent artists, with the risk of piracy looming large.

He predicted DRM, though he didn’t go into many specifics, and in his one concession to the time, guessed that music would be bought on coin-operated machines placed in high-traffic areas.

Related: Freeware Wi-Fi app turns iPod into a Phone – Google Patent Search Fun – 2008 Lemelson-MIT Prize for Invention

Wednesday Fun: Dancing Robot Hexapod

Posted on November 19, 2008  Comments (0)

Dancing Robot Hexapod

Created by students from the Upper Austria University of Applied Science for the Hexapod Robot competition that happens yearly, this dancing robot strutted its six legs, costumed with hat, sunglasses and Ali-G looking goat tee and used its metal joints to prove it has got rhythm. It is no wonder it is the winner, for it is highly entertaining!

Related: RoboCup German Open 2008 – LEGO Sumo Robotic Championship – Musical Robots – Robo-One Grand Championship in Tokyo