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In this chapter, the scientists will try to find the best corn to make the biggest popcorn. They will also have a lot of fun with optical illusions. And finally they will show how eyeglasses gather light by using lasers. Part of the House of Science Series.
(Source: DCMP)
Bill Nye explores facts about the brain, zeroing in on some of its functions, kinds of memory, optical illusions, and general information. Suggests activities and experiments that demonstrate the wonder of the brain.
Most pet owners talk to their animals at one time or another, and some do every day. But, how much do pets actually understand? Is their perception anything like our own? These are the questions that fascinate Irene Pepperberg and she’s looking for answers from the animals themselves, specifically – African Grey Parrots. The Harvard psychology professor is a bit like the character Dr. Doolittle because she’s been talking to parrots for decades. With help from the National Science Foundation, she’s researching how much the birds understand about shapes, numbers, and colors. Her next phase of research involves how the parrots detect optical illusions, and whether they perceive them the way humans do. Her research will also reveal more about how a bird’s vision works.
Explores how studying the atom forced us to rethink the nature of reality itself, encounters ideas that seem like they're from science fiction but in fact are a central part of modern science, and discovers there might be parallel universes in which different versions of us exist and finds out that empty space isn't empty at all, but seething with activity. The world we think we know, the solid, reassuring world of our senses, turns out to be a tiny sliver of an infinitely weirder and more wonderful universe than we had ever conceived of in our wildest fantasies.
First in a three-part series exploring the history of race perceptions and behaviors towards races in the United States. Explores how recent scientific discoveries have toppled the concept of biological race. Follows a dozen high school students who sequence and compare their own mitochondrial DNA looking for a "race marker," with surprising results. Also looks at the history of racism in the United States, the advent of stereotypes based on physical attributes attributed to races, and somatotypes, with particular reference to African Americans.
Today's optoelectronic engineers are developing extremely thin glass that is both durable and scratch-resistant. Telecommunications systems require speed and accuracy, and glass is proving to be important in developing semiconductors, optical fibers, and multiplexing. Precisely engineered glass is also used in terrestrial and extra-terrestrial telescopes.
Gives a general introduction to microscopes, a device invented 400 years ago. Begins with a simple magnifying glass and moves to the optical, confocal, electron, scanning electron, and the scanning tunneling microscopes. Shows that each one "sees" with increasing detail. The microscope opens invisible worlds and aids scientists in improving ours.
Uses the fascinating setting of a circus to provide the analogy for growth. A magician creating the illusion of multiplying balls introduces microphotography, showing how cells divide and multiply. Shows how bones are continually being built and destroyed and, in a spectacular sequence of time-lapse photography, actually captures a tooth growing-from the moment it first appears out of the gum until it falls out.
This award-winning documentary on LIGO, NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, examines how LIGO is spearheading the new field of gravitational wave astronomy and opening a whole new window on the universe. LIGO's exquisitely sensitive instruments may ultimately take scientists farther back in time than ever before, catching, perhaps, the first murmurs of the universe in formation.
Are the rings of Saturn a real celestial phenomenon or merely a cosmic illusion? Technology allows the experts to get closer to the furthest planet visible to the naked eye. Old questions are answered and new ones arise. Does Saturn hold the key to Earth's weather and will one of its moons supply us with all the oil we'll ever need? Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to show what life would be like on other planets and to imagine what kinds of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.
Imagine having the ability to manipulate light waves in order to see through a skull right into the brain, or being able to use lasers to diagnose a bacterial infection in a matter of minutes. At the Center for Biophotonic Sensors and Systems (CBSS) at Boston University, technologies enabling these abilities and many others are coming to light. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), mechanical engineer Thomas Bifano and his colleagues are developing optical microscopes that can image deep into biological tissue, helping scientists observe molecular-scale activity. Their goal is to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Part of the National Science Foundation Series “Science Nation.”
Provides insights on extraterrestrial life from scholars and astronomers at premier research institutions, such as the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and NASA. Shows how proponents of the "aliens are here" theories have compiled a library of books, Internet sites, and documentaries to support their ideas. Includes an interview with Budd Hopkins, author of several alien abduction books, and a hypnosis session of a young man who recalls encountering alien creatures. Also includes a demonstration by an illusionist who shows that hypnosis is nothing more than tricking the mind.
