Tag Archives: science webcasts

Science Explained: Cool Video of ATP Synthase, Which Provides Usable Energy to Us

[I replaced the webcast – as so often happen the non-Youtube video embed failed to work as time passed]

This webcast shows animations of ATP synthase structure and the mechanism for synthesizing ATP. Biology is incredibly cool. Too bad they didn’t have stuff like this when I was in school, instead biology was mainly about memorizing boring lists of stuff.

ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) transports chemical energy within cells. When one of the phosphates is released by ATP energy is given off (and ATP becomes ADP (adenosine di-phosphate) + Pi (inorganic phosphate). And then the synthase structure can then turn it back into ATP to be used again.

The human body, which on average contains only 250 grams of ATP, turns over its own body weight equivalent in ATP each day.

The Science Behind Hummingbird Flight

Aerodynamics of the hovering hummingbird

Hummingbirds and insects have evolved for sustained hovering ï¬‚ight from vastly different ancestral directions, and their distinct phylogenies underlie the differences in their aerodynamic styles. In all other birds—and, presumably, hummingbird ancestors—the downstroke provides 100% of weight support during slow ï¬‚ight and hovering. Given that many birds possess the mass-speciï¬c power (using anaerobic metabolism) to hover for short periods, the selective pressure on hummingbird ancestors was probably for increased efï¬ciency (resulting in stiff wings with greatly simpliï¬ed
kinematics), and an upstroke muscle (the supracoracoideus) that makes the recovery stroke rapid, while contributing enough to the hovering power requirements to allow the downstroke muscle (the pectoralis) to operate within its aerobic limits.

In other words, this pseudosymmetrical wingbeat cycle is good enough, and although hummingbirds do not exhibit the elegant aerodynamic symmetry of insects, natural selection rewards ‘good enough’ as richly as it does our aesthetic ideals

Great Webcast Explaining the Digestive Systems

You will learn things like why it is so important to chew your food well (increase the surface area for enzymes to get at the food). Our bodies also have adapted to provide a huge surface area for the digestive system to work; the small intestine alone has a surface area of 250 square meters (larger than the size of most apartments). Your small intestine is 4.5 to 10.5 meters long.

The Chemistry of Fireworks

The video features John A. Conkling, Ph.D., who literally wrote the book on fireworks — he is the author of The Chemistry of Pyrotechnics.

The earliest documentation of fireworks dates back to 7th century China.

A Syrian named Hasan al-Rammah wrote of rockets, fireworks, and other incendiaries, using terms that suggested he derived his knowledge from Chinese sources, such as his references to fireworks as “Chinese flowers”.

Chinese fireworks began to gain popularity around the mid-17th century.

Scientists Singing About Science

Fun video with scientists singing about science.

More scientists singing science songs: Friday Fun, Large Hadron Rap – Cambrian Explosion Song – The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma – Protein Synthesis: 1971 Video

Sex and Development of Life in the Ocean

TED education is providing access to really interesting education material. In this webcast learn about fertilization, development and growth in the ocean depths.

Good Chemistry: A Love Song for Ionic Bonds

Song and video by 10th grade student, Eli Cirino, for extra credit in his chemistry class.

An ionic bond is a type of chemical bond formed through an electrostatic attraction between two oppositely charged ions. Ionic bonds are formed between a cation, which is usually a metal, and an anion, which is usually a nonmetal.

An ionic bond is considered a bond where the ionic character is greater than the covalent character (ionic bonds cannot exist on their own, they must have a covalent bond present also).

Video of Young Richard Feynman Talking About Scientific Thinking

The enjoyable video above shows a young Richard Feynman discussing how scientific thinking can advance our understanding of the world.

The Secret Life of Plankton

Fun video with great shots of exotic ocean life that forms the base of the food chain in the ocean from TED Education.

Lean Science: Using Cheap Robots to Aid Research

Fun video showing how scientists use Lego Mindstorm robots to aid research into creating artificial bones. Lego Mindstorm robots are useful at a very reasonable price.

The webcast also includes this practical quote from Michelle Oyen, lecturer in the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University: “without your bones you would be a pile of goo lying on the floor.”

The thinking discussed in the webcast echos the lean manufacturing principles discussed in the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog: finding good solutions to aid people in doing their jobs. The type of custom solutions they discuss here are great.

This type of use of technology is great. One of the problems we often see with technology solutions though is when they are imposed on the workplace in a way that doesn’t aid people. There is a big difference between what Toyota does (using robots to make people’s jobs easier) and what others do in trying to copy Toyota (using robots to eliminate jobs). Lean manufacturing stressed the importance of using brainpower people bring to work every day. You want to use technology to enable people. These scientists understand that. Unfortunately many managers don’t.