Symphony of Science (3m34s)
Symphony of Science is a production of John Boswell with the stated goal of "bring[ing] scientific knowledge and philosophy to the public, in a novel way, through the medium of music." Above is the project's debute, A Glorious Dawn, which samples heavily from Carl Sagan's Cosmos (available below). I like this project a lot, and in my book, it counts as one of the few acceptable uses of auto-tune.
LINKS GOOD ON 2011-08-28
Watch NOVA Programs OnLine
NOVA is undoubtedly the single most important television show in my life. Since before I can remember, I was a viewer, and I credit it with introducing me to science. Interestingly, PBS directly produces only a fraction of each season's episodes. The rest are repurposed documentaries from around the world. This global lens and an unflappable commitment to quality production, both in and out of house, have established NOVA as an iconic member of the PBS lineup.
Today they are pushing the bounds of traditional programming, provided rich online content for each broadcast episode through their in-house online division, NOVA OnLine.
Only a small collection of programs are available for streaming over the web, but the list is sure to grow. So go ahead; check them out.
LINKS GOOD ON 2011-08-28
TED Talk by Skeptic Magazine Founder Michael Shermer (2005) (17m:29s)
To err is human. This talk demonstrates the ease with which our biases deceive us. Hang in there for the reprise of "Stairway to Heaven," and you'll soon realize that even you aren't immune. Science recognizes our flaws while charting a course beyond them. It's not perfect, but it's darn better than the alternative.
Michael Shermer is the founder of Skeptic Magazine and author of the book Why People Believe Weird Things. Unfortunately, it isn't as entertaining as this talk though I found it enjoyable. You'll get more bang for your buck, however, if you pick up a copy of The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. This is a great book on critical thought and society.
LINKS GOOD ON 2011-08-28
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (43m:39s)
Richard Feynman is something of a rock star among young physicist, a status owed in part to his colorful personality. However, he is also greatly admired for his insight and the elegant approaches he often applied to problems. This interview, conducted for the BBC series Horizon, starts off with a wonderful explanation from Feynman on what it is to know something and builds from there to talk about his childhood and time as a professional physicist, including his time on the Manhattan Project.
LINKS GOOD ON 2011-08-29
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (~13 hours)
For a decade, Carl Sagan's Cosmos was the most watched series in public television history. It introduced me to one of my favorite authors, and it helped instill a young me with a healthy sense of awe. The entire series consists of 13 hour-long episodes, presenting the sweep of human history as told through the discoveries of science. I re-watched the whole series while I was in college, and it held up surprisingly well. Although, it was fun to make note of the march of progress. Often I found that the open questions had been answered and occasionally our understanding of a topic had grown more nuanced, but overall it is still the great program that it was back in the 80s.
LINKS GOOD ON 2011-08-29
In addition to collecting other people's videos, I produce my own intermittent video series. It presents answers to science questions, demos, experiments and the like.