Why is glass transparent?

2/5/2014 2:41:39 PM

should just call this the TED ED THREAD

2/5/2014 3:09:06 PM

I didn't even realize it was a TED-Ed video. I just though it interesting. I'll post other stuff :

Maker stuff seems appropriate too



[Edited on February 5, 2014 at 3:30 PM. Reason : .]

2/5/2014 3:17:12 PM

2/6/2014 11:38:46 AM

2/7/2014 12:02:33 PM

A guy creates a "Long Clock" in Minecraft, which measures a googol of years.



I find these "what's after humans" pieces to be really interesting in the way that they force perspective. Also, this reminds me of the old-school mechanical adding machines featured in books like Cory Doctorow's Makers

[/so many links]

[Edited on February 11, 2014 at 12:03 PM. Reason : .]

2/11/2014 12:02:31 PM

^ that's awesome.

I, too, love those "what's after humans" discussions.

Will it really take that long for the universe to end naturally? I think it would happen a lot sooner than that, like perhaps 10^50 or even 10^30 years.

Quite interesting to also consider what different religions say about that!

2/11/2014 6:42:53 PM

That started off as the coolest thing I've seen today, and ended as the saddest.

2/11/2014 7:14:56 PM

Tis is related to the previous video

http://www.policymic.com/articles/81873/experience-just-how-big-the-universe-is-in-one-mind-blowing-interactive

2/11/2014 9:23:12 PM

Thanks, 0EPII1. I'll watch and let you know what I think soon.

2/11/2014 9:32:58 PM

2/11/2014 9:39:39 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBC8IFWC1P0

The Gun That Aims Itself

TLDW;

Perfect Aim from 1000 yds out. hit a button on the gun that uses a built in laser to paint the intended target with a dot. Hold down the trigger and superimpose the live scope dot with the painted bullseye dot and the rifle fires. Need to know the drop of a bullet from 1000 yds out? Don't worry the gun figures all of that out for you. Just ine up the dots and BOOM from 1000 yds out.

[Edited on February 12, 2014 at 1:28 AM. Reason : ...]

2/12/2014 1:22:03 AM

Hell yes! Lasers and nucular nuclear fusion!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-lasers-fuelling-hopes-of-unlimited-clean-nuclear-energy-9124237.html

[Edited on February 13, 2014 at 12:26 PM. Reason : pew pew pew ]

2/13/2014 12:25:47 PM

So whenever I read about biohacking or other transhuman stuff (because I'm a dork who loves cyberpunk), this magnet thing comes up a lot. The idea of experiencing an additional sense is pretty interesting. The thought of having in ripped out in an MRI is pretty horrifying.

http://gizmodo.com/5895555/i-have-a-magnet-implant-in-my-finger

2/14/2014 4:43:34 PM

That's not an additional sense

2/14/2014 6:13:27 PM

in effect it does give him a new perception to magnetic fields... a perception that many organisms have in one way or another... it is thought many species can "see" magnetic field lines, and others "feel" them... might not be a bonafide textbook definition of a new sense, but it does offer the ability to "feel" magnetic fields.

2/14/2014 10:58:42 PM

Quote :

"should just call this the TED ED THREAD"

I dislike TED ED. They made too many videos that said 1 or more things that were empirically incorrect. They present facts with an air of classroom authority, and are often wrong.

Minute Earth, on the other hand, has been off the hook so far. Dropping the science like it's hot.

Regarding magnetic fields, I wish someone would make a video on the unification of electric and magnetic fields with relativity. That is one of the greatest physics-gasims I have ever understood.

2/14/2014 11:05:58 PM

^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TKSfAkWWN0 ?

I thought he was going to touch on it, but he didn't. It's interesting nonetheless
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NbBjNiw4tk

2/15/2014 10:19:44 AM

^^^thats using an existing sense. Its not a new sense.

2/16/2014 10:47:07 AM

using it a different way, therefore giving him the ability to sense something different...

2/16/2014 3:16:36 PM

No. Just stop.

2/16/2014 3:20:25 PM

you just stop. our "five senses" are not as clearly defined as your elementary school textbook tells you.

2/16/2014 5:40:52 PM

Its no different than holding a magnet and FEELING force imparted by the magnet. Its not a new sensation.

[Edited on February 16, 2014 at 5:59 PM. Reason : .]

2/16/2014 5:58:12 PM

the most power-efficient way to put someone's eye out...

...is a 556nm laser-pointer (but it's far from cost-efficient, 532nm is much better by that metric): http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/new-portable-dpss-wavelength-556nm-20mw-cni-65451.html

2/16/2014 6:29:52 PM

Quote :

"Its no different than holding a magnet and FEELING force imparted by the magnet. Its not a new sensation."

you are oversimplifying with your narrow view.

2/16/2014 7:59:56 PM

This isn't talking about narrow view of smell and taste, when they're very much related...

Putting a magnet in your finger and claiming to sense magnetism is no different than using an infrared camera, and claiming you have expanded your sense of sight.

2/16/2014 8:06:43 PM

his body (because of the new implant) can sense magnetic fields. doesn't seem out of place to colloquially call it a "new sense"..

2/16/2014 8:16:34 PM

Quote :

"^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TKSfAkWWN0 ? I thought he was going to touch on it, but he didn't. It's interesting nonetheless https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NbBjNiw4tk"

F yeah. That was some good stuff.

2/17/2014 6:53:36 PM

Possibly want to watch on mute if you don't want to hear the observer's awed reaction, but this is a video of the aurora during a solar flare



As explained by Phill Plait of Bad Astronomy

Quote :

"We can get aurorae from just the solar wind without a big storm from the Sun, but when there is a storm the aurora are much brighter and more active. The shape of the aurora seen from the ground depends on the shape of the Earth's magnetic field. It can form long ribbons or sheets which look like curtains of light in the sky, or it can just be a diffuse glow. The shape can change as the solar wind's magnetic field interacts with the Earth's field, and it's usually slow and stately. But it can also happen very rapidly, as you can see in the video. Then the aurora is like a living thing, writhing and shimmering."

[Edited on February 21, 2014 at 11:21 AM. Reason : flare not storm]

[Edited on February 21, 2014 at 11:29 AM. Reason : more typos!]

2/21/2014 11:20:58 AM

http://www.enigmaworldcodegroup.com/

2/21/2014 4:43:55 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/24/world/oldest-earth-fragment/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

2/25/2014 10:19:25 AM

The Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory (which I think I've posted about before, but it's pretty crazy)

Quote :

"IceCube is a unique telescope at the South Pole. Most optical telescopes look at photons, but IceCube looks for evidence of a more mysterious particle called a neutrino. Because of this, it is referred to as a neutrino telescope or neutrino detector. Using an optical telescope to look at the Universe is like taking a photo, but looking at the Universe with a neutrino telescope is similar to taking an X-ray."

A light detector is lowered into the IceCube Neutrino Observatory near the South Pole, which acts as a neutrino detector in search of the elusive subatomic particle.

Quote :

"The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino telescope constructed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica.[1] Its thousands of sensors are distributed over a cubic kilometre of volume under the Antarctic ice. Similar to its predecessor, the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), IceCube consists of spherical optical sensors called Digital Optical Modules (DOMs), each with a photomultiplier tube (PMT)[2] and a single board data acquisition computer which sends digital data to the counting house on the surface above the array.[3] IceCube was completed on 18 December 2010, New Zealand time.[4] DOMs are deployed on "strings" of sixty modules each at depths ranging from 1,450 to 2,450 meters, into holes melted in the ice using a hot water drill. IceCube is designed to look for point sources of neutrinos in the TeV range to explore the highest-energy astrophysical processes."

https://icecube.wisc.edu
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/02/24/133997980/cool-science-the-icecube-neutrino-observatory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IceCube_Neutrino_Observatory


[Edited on February 25, 2014 at 2:27 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on February 25, 2014 at 2:28 PM. Reason : .]

2/25/2014 2:25:33 PM

This is one of the most amazing things ever

http://www.policymic.com/articles/83177/in-amazing-feat-of-science-surgeons-save-child-s-life-by-3-d-printing-a-new-heart

2/25/2014 8:26:29 PM

Even more amazing is how misleading that headline is

Surgeons Save Child's Life by 3-D Printing a New Heart small plastic model heart

2/25/2014 8:55:20 PM

Yeah I know, I thought they printed a new heart to put inside the child.

Still, the model they have made is anatomically correct, and considering that it took 20 hours to print, it must be pretty complex!

2/25/2014 9:02:45 PM

For fucks sake OEP you are the worst. How do you continually fall for this click-bait shit?

2/25/2014 9:20:36 PM

3d printers are so damn cool.

Paralyzed Skier Walks Again with 3D Printed Exoskeleton
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57619037-76/3d-printed-exoskeleton-helps-paralyzed-skier-walk-again/

Quote :

"Boxtel's new exoskeleton, the first of its kind, was custom-built for her. Designers from 3D Systems scanned her body, digitizing the contours of her spine, thighs, and shins, a process that helped them mold the robotic suit to her. Then they combined the suit with a set of mechanical actuators and controls made by EksoBionics. The result, said 3D Systems, is the first-ever "bespoke" exoskeleton."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bhCAkUMQ5GA

2/25/2014 11:10:01 PM

Quote :

"Still, the model they have made is anatomically correct, and considering that it took 20 hours to print, it must be pretty complex!"

http://www.amazon.com/Bio-Signs-Human-Anatomy-Heart/dp/B00124QAYI/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1393388159&sr=1-4&keywords=model+heart


I would've done this in 20 hours if I hadn't superglued my fingers together. It's anatomically correct, doesn't cost $600 and has been around for decades

2/25/2014 11:22:22 PM

Quote :

"This is one of the most amazing things ever"

Quote :

"This is one of the most amazing things ever"

Quote :

"This is one of the most amazing things ever"

Quote :

"This is one of the most amazing things ever"

Quote :

"This is one of the most amazing things ever"

2/25/2014 11:56:53 PM

^^

Are you a doctor? A surgeon? A neonatal surgeon? A neonatal heart surgeon? Are you really challenging the surgeon and calling him stupid? There must be some reason he didnt purchase that model off of amazon to help him with the surgery (aside from the fact that they needed a model of a newborn's heart), right? If not, email the surgeon to let him know of a site called http://www.amazon.com which can save him lots of time and money next time, let alone not make him look so stupid as to be put to shame by a TWWer.

2/26/2014 12:03:43 PM

While the title was misleading, I think it's a novel solution to planning an operation for an underdeveloped/inferior heart. Pretty cool.

2/26/2014 12:12:32 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTY1Kje0yLg

pretty neat simplification of gravity. I like the lycra analogy for space

2/26/2014 12:57:08 PM

^Master teaching. That is so awesome. Thanks. I'ma show the science teachers I know.

2/26/2014 6:06:05 PM

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/4/5469016/new-hebrides-trench-explored-unexpected-eels-found

3/4/2014 9:40:17 AM

Let's do math too because reasons.

My new favorite YouTube channel is Vihart, a self-described "recreational mathemusican." I especially like her series Doodling in Math Class



[Edited on March 17, 2014 at 12:07 PM. Reason : close your tags!]

3/17/2014 12:01:26 PM

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26605974

3/17/2014 12:19:58 PM

^^I second Vihart, I subscribed to their channel years ago. Its an awesome way to kill time while also learning something.

3/17/2014 1:17:24 PM

Ya, I love it. I wish there were something similar/inspirational for English teaching/students.

3/17/2014 1:47:51 PM

The Oatmeal has a few strips on spelling and grammar that are really good., and I think there are a few other cartoonists that have done similar work to make spelling and grammar instruction entertaining

This is one of my favorite, and was the best way I've seen to learn the difference between "Who" and "Whom"
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/who_vs_whom

3/17/2014 2:03:53 PM

I've definitely enjoyed stuff by The Oatmeal (and XKCD and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and Dinosaur Comics). John Green has some great stuff with Mental Floss and Crash Course

[Edited on March 17, 2014 at 3:00 PM. Reason : .]

3/17/2014 2:59:51 PM