We were down for a week there, but we're back, baby!
In this episode: The cutest animal ever to be trained to use tools in a laboratory setting; rogue Olympians whose genes may let them pass doping tests; suspended animation via sewer gas; and a another reason feel superior for buying that overpriced laptop (besides the fact that it fits in an envelope).
Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Smashcut Media / Music by Jeff Alvarez
Posting today's Monitor in John Pavlus' stead...
Space methane suggests the possibility of space cows, space robots are serving their NASA masters (for now), and why is everything in space made of matter? RIP Arthur C. Clarke.
Subscribe to our weekly podcast of The Monitor via a iTunes or RSS.
Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Smashcut Media / Music by Jeff Alvarez
Yup, you read that right. If those fuzzy bastards get put on the Endangered Species List, it's bye-bye freedom, hello socialist police state.
...at least, that's what we learned a couple weeks ago at the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change.
Thanks so much for all the name suggestions, everyone! However, we decided that this whole name-change plan was flawed from the get-go. Watch our rationalization below. And you can view all the name suggestions after the jump.
Also in this episode: the Hobbit controversy rages on, science+religion = new sins, and drugs in your tap water.
Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Smashcut Media / Music by Jeff Alvarez
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Continue reading 'The Monitor #7: We get a new name (sort of)!' >
Thanks so much for the massive outpouring of new name suggestions! Keep sending 'em. We're taking next week off, but then after that... a newly named show will emerge from the glistening chrysalis of the old.
And now, the all-apocalypse episode: a doomsday vault for seeds, tracking a killer asteroid, targeting antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and contemplating a real-life Cylon attack.
Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Smashcut Media / Music by Jeff Alvarez
Perhaps I spoke too soon with our "simulated" footage of the satellite strike. The Pentagon has released video of the successful missile strike:
Click through to see a vid of the satellite-busting missile taking off.
Continue reading 'UPDATE: Satellite destruction mission video footage' >
Your weekly dose of science news, The Monitor, once again raises its ugly head. (No wait, that's just the Paul Janka lookalike in our second segment. Or the Predator in our third. Hey, it's that kind of week.)
In this episode: 3 new dinosaurs discovered (only 2 of which are cool), what hotornot.com tells us about the psychology of love, a disturbing map of human impact on the world's oceans, and a "virtual patient" that looks like Operation on steroids.
Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Smashcut Media / Music by Jeff Alvarez
What up, infotainment? The Monitor now appears every week.
In this episode: A scientific sting operation, a reality check on Bush's science budget, AIs programmed for neurosis, and some disturbing sex news out of Iceland.
Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Smashcut Media / Music by Jeff Alvarez
Halo machinima clip from Red vs. Blue
We've already talked about the reality of teleporting in our hallowed pages, but ScienCentral somehow managed to corner teleportation movie Jumper director Doug Liman and star Hayden Christensen at MIT to ask them what they really know about the scientific conceit of their latest flick. Check it:
Continue reading 'Video:Jumper's Doug Liman and Hayden Christensen on teleportation' >
Today marks Thomas Edison's birthday — 161 years ago, "the Wizard of Menlo Park" sprang forth from his mother's womb to overcome an "addled" childhood and claim over 1,093 U.S. patents for items as varied as the light bulb, the phonograph and, er, the concrete piano. How did he manage it all? Well, besides his stunning good looks (pictured left), he employed a dogged knack for invention, a mindless tolerance for pursuing trial-and-error experiments, and he wasn't afraid to let a little thing like a shower get in between him and finishing a project.
But I'll always choose to remember him for his aggressive marketing campaign during the "War of Currents" with Nikola Tesla, wherein he advocated for the benefits of direct current (DC) by electrocuting an elephant. Now that's how you win a format war (I hope you're taking notes, Sony/Blu-Ray).
In 1903, when Coney Island circus elephant Topsy was deemed a nuisance (she went berserk and killed three people, including an abusive trainer who tried to feed her lit cigarettes), her owners planned to have her executed via the traditional method of hanging (seems problematic, but whatevs). Edison, however, saw a chance to appease animal rights activists and create a gangbusters PR event by suggesting electrocution with DC. So they fed Topsy cyanide carrots and lit her up with 6,000 volts.
1,500 people attended the execution and Edison, pre-YouTuber that he was, filmed the whole thing. Check the gruesome vid after the jump:
Continue reading 'Let's go shock an elephant: Happy birthday, Thomas Edison' >
It's easy to marvel at the rapid advance of CGI monsters in movies and wonder exactly how far off Industrial Light & Magic or WETA is from achieving utter realism. Then you look at one of nature's deep-sea monsters and realize just how far Hollywood has to go:
By popular demand, The Monitor returns!
In this episode: Vegging out shrivels your face, brain-shaped cold cuts, dumb (but self-directed) college students, and an attempt at sober newsreading that goes predictably awry.
Created, written & designed by John Pavlus / Screencasts produced by Smashcut Media / Music by Jeff Alvarez
At Instant Egghead, we keep it simple. We've already shown you how to explain dark matter with the remnants of your breakfast, evo-devo with an extension cord, Moore's Law with some old newspaper, and synthetic biology with your desktop PC.
Now, watch as SciAm reporter JR Minkel breaks down the spooky powers of a quantum computer, using only the spare change in his pocket.
As always, you can subscribe to our original video feed (which now also includes The Monitor) via iTunes or RSS.
OK, fine, I have a problem, I admit it: I'm in love with fire. It was forged when my pyromaniac father regaled me of his youth burning things he shouldn't. Luckily, I didn't have a chemistry teacher like Mr. Sully to nurture it even further. But man, do I wish I did.
Some high school chemistry teachers will go so far as to set one thing on fire, but Mr. Sully positively pwns all of them with his rainbow display:
Continue reading 'Colorful, salty flame burns a chemical path to our hearts' >
We've already shown you how to explain dark matter and evo-devo, and we've braved self-driving cars and meditating in Times Square.
Now, back to the news.
Today we're premiering The Monitor, an original science newscast. It'll appear every other week (more or less) and round up some of our favorite news items in a way that you probably haven't seen before... but should feel very familiar.
Let us know what you think in the comments; subscribe via iTunes or RSS.
Created, written & produced by John Pavlus / Music by Jeff Alvarez
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