astounding mathematics

this numberphile video shows a fun phenomenon of mathematics that completely blows my mind every time:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + ... = -1/12

what?!?



first of all, infinity is crazy.   we use infinity as a tool to understand physics, but we dont really get answers that are infinite.  well, i would describe to someone that the universe is infinitely large, but that doesnt mean i'm completely satisfied by it, it's just the best way to describe it right now.

this quote from dennis overbye in his new york times article on the video puts the issue slightly differently:

"Cosmologists do not know if the universe is physically infinite in either space or time, or what it means if it is or isn’t. Or if these are even sensible questions. They don’t know whether someday they will find that higher orders of infinity are unreasonably effective in understanding existence, whatever that is."

we dont understand existence; we dont understand consciousness; we dont understand infinity.   but we do understand a lot about physics - enough to gravitationally slingshot little robots around some planets in order to land on and explore other planets.   that's awesome.   

let's keep exploring and pushing the boundaries of existing knowledge!

what science could learn from football

this is a great message from science video journalist brady haran on why science should be regularly communicated to the public and what science could learn from football!

hawking radiation

ever wonder what the big deal about stephen hawking is?   late last year he won a physics prize of $3 million dollars (more than twice what the nobel prize gives). 

university of nottingham physicist, tony padilla, discusses hawking's three biggest contributions in this sixty symbols video.   very nicely explained, and cute story right at the end :)

did i see you on the internet?

"are u… did i see u on the internet?"
"um, i'm not in porn, no."
"no, talking about cosmology and stuff?"
"oh, yeah, that was probably me."

this conversation happened today. i only denied the porn straight away because the guy completely blushed when he started asking… turns out he had been watching sixty symbols videos!

sixty symbols does the LHC

brady and professor ed copeland recently visited the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near geneva for sixty symbols.

the main video in the series (click here) gives an overview of the entire project, but i wanted to share this video about the CMS experiment:



ed is absolutely adorable when he sees the detector for the very first time, as captured here ;)

deep sky videos: sombrero galaxy (M104)

i've been enjoying watching the new deep sky videos project that brady haran and crew are working on these days.

brady visited sydney last year and we filmed material for some messier objects. this video highlights my favorite of them all: the sombrero galaxy!

southern skies and southern cross

a couple months ago, brady visited australia to shoot some footage for the periodic table of videos, a new project called deep sky videos and our old favorite, sixty symbols. in this new sixty symbols video, i get to explain all about my favorite celestial objects visible in the southern hemisphere!



one thing that this video reminds me is that i start talking really, really quickly when i get excited!

there is some extra footage available to watch if you want to know a bit more!

deep sky videos

from the creator of sixty symbols, brady haran, comes a new video project and youtube channel called Deep Sky Videos, which is a collection of videos about objects in the night sky!

you'll see at least one familiar face in this preview ;)



on twitter: @DeepSkyVideos

nobel prize in physics 2011

the nobel prize in physics for 2011 has been given to three people: Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess "for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae."

of the three, i know brian schmidt who is an astronomer based at the australian national university in canberra. after i gave a seminar talk there a couple months ago, brian gave me a bottle of wine he makes at his winery, a customary gift he bestows upon all visiting speakers.

when brian attended the supernova and their host galaxies conference in sydney in june, he led a wine tasting event one evening. this is where i learned he is really into wine, and he kindly opened a bottle for us all to try! it was indeed a tasty red, and since i've tried it, i think i might hold on to the bottle i have for a while longer ;)

brady was on this announcement quickly and shares not only what the prize was awarded for, but also the story of how mike has lost a bottle of fine whisky as a result of the prize announcement, in this sixty symbols video:

neutrinos faster than light

the scientists of sixty symbols explain all of this faster-than-the-speed-of-light business....

neptune's birthday

i missed posting about this in time, but july 12th was officially neptune's birthday, because it was exactly one neptunian year (164.79 earth years) since it was discovered in 1846.

here's the sixty symbols video about neptune, where i forget what its major moon is called and talk about beer :)

messenger's orbit around mercury

in honor of the MESSENGER space craft successfully maneuvering into orbit around mercury this week, i thought i'd share a blast from the past from sixty symbols. if i remember right, this one one of first videos i recorded with brady :)

what confuses physicists?

sixty symbols continues its series of videos answering viewers' questions. in this installment we were asked "what parts of physics confuse you?" the short answer: a lot!

why your star sign is wrong

mike shares some very nice explanations in this video from sixty symbols.

Internet Stars: The Secret Life of Sixty Symbols

for anyone who happens to be near nottingham, UK thursday evening, the creator of sixty symbols and other interesting video projects at the university of nottingham, brady haran, will be giving a public lecture. i've been advised (warned?) that i should be "worried" about the potentially embarrassing out-takes he will be showing. oh dear. so if you go, please do let me know how silly i come across! thank you.


Internet Stars: The Secret Life of Sixty Symbols

Brady Haran

Thursday 27th January 2011

ABSTRACT: A small band of scientists from Nottingham have become minor celebrities on YouTube. But how did it happen? And were there problems along the way? Film-maker Brady Haran is the man behind Sixty Symbols (physics and astronomy) and the Periodic Table of Videos (chemistry). In this lecture he will take you behind the scenes on both projects. He'll discuss how the films are made and share some embarrassing 'out- takes' that prove scientists are only human!

6-7 pm
Maths & Physics Building (B1)
University of Nottingham
University Park Campus
Nottingham

antihydrogen

its nice to hear my old colleagues talk about interesting things! here the folks of sixty symbols talk about an experiment at CERN that is "trapping" antihydrogen.

arsenice and old life

you may have heard the buzz around NASA's press release last week regarding the bacteria found in california's mono lake which can build DNA using arsenic instead of the typically used ingredient phosphorus?

brady haran's university of nottingham project, periodic table of videos has tackled the topic in a very interesting way. watch below to learn more!

what happens if black holes collide?

a new video from sixty symbols is up: what happens if black holes collide?

what are special and general relatvity?

the newest installment of sixty symbols shows a discussion of the difference between special and general relativity. brady also asks what physical constant we might change if given the opportunity.

sixty symbols: star classification

our sun is classified as a "G2V" star, but what does that mean? here's a new sixty symbols video to explain how we classify stars.