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Science Explained: Wind Powered Vehicle Traveling Faster Than the Wind

Posted on July 3, 2021  Comments (0)

This is an interesting explanation of a the physics involved with vehicle propulsion. And it is a great video showing the scientific method at work.

They only touch on it a little bit but the need for creating 4 versions of the small treadmill device to illustrate the principles in action is a great example of how science inquiry and engineering work. There are often many failed attempts before an engineering solution to the issue involved can be properly created (video on Xyla Foxlin’s efforts: Building the Vehicle Physicists Called Impossible).

Enjoy the videos.

Veritasium is also offering 3 prizes to split the $10,000 for 1 minute videos that highlight science communicators with his Veritasium Science Communication Contest.

Related: The Amazing Reality of Genes and The History of Scientific Inquiry – Science Explained: Momentum For String of Metal Beads – Circumhorizontal Arcs – Fire Rainbows – Cloud Rainbows – Scientific Inquiry Leads to Using Fluoride for Healthy Teeth

Simple Overview of Proteins

Posted on April 20, 2021  Comments (0)

This webcasts provides a good, very simple, overview of proteins.

Learn more about proteins: How Lysozyme Protein in Our Tear-Drops Kill Bacteria – Molecular Motor Proteins – Fold.it, the Protein Folding Game

Molecular Motor Proteins

Posted on January 27, 2020  Comments (1)

Webcast on amazing processes inside cells by Ron Vale.

Molecular motor proteins are fascinating enzymes that power much of the movement performed by living organisms. The webcast provides an overview of the motors that move along cytoskeletal tracks (kinesin and dynein which move along microtubules and myosin which moves along actin). The talk first describes the broad spectrum of biological roles that kinesin, dynein and myosin play in cells. The talk then discusses how these nanoscale proteins convert energy from ATP hydrolysis into unidirectional motion and force production, and compares common principles of kinesin and myosin. The talk concludes by discussing the role of motor proteins in disease and how drugs that modulate motor protein activity can treat human disease.

Ron Vale is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is also the founder of the iBiology project.

Related: Animations of Motor Proteins Moving Material Inside Cells – Science Explained: How Cells React to Invading Viruses – Looking Inside Living Cells

Animations of Motor Proteins Moving Material Inside Cells

Posted on December 23, 2017  Comments (1)

Very cool. This next video gives a bit more information on how these amazing parts of our cells move material around inside or cells.

This stuff is so interesting. I wish this type of interesting material and informative animations was what my biology education was like in k-12 instead of the boring stuff my classes were instead. I hope students today have better science classes than I did.

It is amazing how such mechanisms evolved to “walk” along transportation microtubules inside our cells.

Related: Molecular Motor Proteins webcast by Ron Vale, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco (35 minutes) – Looking Inside Living Cells – Science Explained: Cool Video of ATP Synthase, Which Provides Usable Energy to Us – Exploring Eukaryotic Cells

Dr. Steve Goodman’s Work as a Field Biologist in Madagascar

Posted on September 2, 2017  Comments (2)

Dr. Steve Goodman‘s work is a legendary Field Biologist and spends 9-10 months out of the year conducting research in other countries, with a focus on Madagascar for nearly 30 years. Learn more about the future of Madagascar’s biodiversity and research.

This video is from the great Brain Scoop channel with Emily Graslie; if you are not following that channel I highly recommend doing so for people interested in science.

Related: The Michael Jordan of Field Biology – Insect Architecture – New Life Form Found at South African Truck Stop – Neil Degrasse Tyson: Scientifically Literate See a Different World

Elephants Learn to Cooperate to Reach Their Objective

Posted on June 10, 2017  Comments (0)

This clip shows elephants learning to work together to achieve what they can’t achieve alone (from BBC’s Super Smart Animals). It is interesting to see what animals are capable of. See the related post links for more amazing animal behavior.

Related: Insightful Problem Solving in an Asian Elephant (2007) – Crows can Perform as Well as 7 to 10-year-olds on cause-and-effect Water Displacement Tasks – Beehive Fence Protects Farms from Elephants – Capuchin Monkeys Don’t Like Being Paid Less Than Their Peers – Friday Fun: Bird Using Bait to Fish

Insect Architecture

Posted on April 26, 2017  Comments (3)

In this webcast The Brain Scoop takes an interesting look at the homes of eusocial animals and other insects. The video includes many interesting details including that adult weaver ants can’t produce the silk used to weave leaves together so they pick up their larva and use them like a glue stick.

Related: For Many Crops Ants Can Provide Pest Protection Superior or Equal to Chemicals at a Much Lower Cost – Why Don’t All Ant Species Replace Queens in the Colony, Since Some Do – Symbiotic relationship between ants and bacteria – Huge Termite Mound in Nigeria

Engineering Mosquitos to Prevent the Transmission of Diseases

Posted on December 20, 2016  Comments (3)

Mosquitos are responsible for huge amount of suffering and death. In 2015 200,000,000 people were infected with malaria and 500,000 died.

It is amazing what knowledge science has provided about the causes of human disease. It is great to have videos like this available that let us learn a bit about it from a short and understandable video.

Using our scientific knowledge to design and implement solutions offers great possibilities. But we also have to worry about the risks of such attempts. Making decisions about what risks to take requires well informed people that are able to understand the opportunities and risks and make intelligent decisions.

Related: Video showing malaria breaking into cell – Scientists Building a Safer Mosquito (2006) – Engineering Mosquitoes to be Flying Vaccinators (2010)

How Eratosthenes Estimated the Circumference of the Earth Over 2,000 Years Ago

Posted on August 25, 2016  Comments (4)

In this video Carl Sagan explains how Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, in 200 BC, was able to deduce and calculate the earth was a sphere about 40,000 km in circumference.

It is wonderful to see how a bit of thought and curiosity have lead mankind to learn so much.

Related: How do Plants Grow Into the Sunlight? – Why is it Colder at Higher Elevations? – Great Webcast Explaining the Digestive System – Biology: How Wounds to Our Skin Heal

Medicinal Plants

Posted on March 24, 2016  Comments (0)

Another great webcast from SciShow. In this webcast Hank Green discusses how we have used plants to treat us and improve our health.

In the webcast, Hank also does a good job touching a bit on the scientific inquiry process (which is something I find interesting and I think is very important for people living in society today to understand).

Related: Youyou Tu, The First Chinese Woman to Win a Nobel Prize – Rubber Trees – Photosynthesis: Science Explained

Webcasts on the Human Microbiome

Posted on February 27, 2016  Comments (2)

The human microbiome is a very interesting aspect of our health and biology.

The 99% figure they quote is mainly silly. It might be technically accurate, but it is much more misleading than accurate (if it is accurate). We have more non-human cells than human but those cells are much smaller and we are overwhelmingly made up of human cells by weight (95+%).

The complexity of healthy bodies is far from understood. It is interesting to watch our understanding of the balancing act going on inside of us. Many foreign “invaders” are critical to our health.

Related: People are Superorganisms With Microbiomes of Thousands of Species – People Have More Bacterial Cells than Human Cells – Fighting Superbugs with Superhero Bugs – We Have Thousands of Viruses In Us All the Time

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