How Do You Measure the Size of the Universe?

February 25th, 2015

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The universe is HUGE. But, there is only so much of the universe we can ACTUALLY see, and if we wanted to measure that FINITE space, how would we do it? A gigantic ruler? One really long car ride? Or maybe it’s something even more spectacular, something that involves not only the observable universe as it is NOW, but how it was when it was first BORN? Join Gabe in this week’s SpaceTime as he embarks on the quest to MEASURE THE SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE.

Extra Credit:
Much of this episode was based on this Nobel Prize winning paper.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/popular-physicsprize2011.pdf

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Comments:
PantsuMann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAU9ofjcx-Y&lc=z13nctnimkrgfbmnu224dxjwqw3oj1t1e

Nik G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAU9ofjcx-Y&lc=z13mwre5iujmutkt1235cvrjwm2dclxep

vegetaafh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAU9ofjcx-Y&lc=z12zslixqvmdj3sn422bvxeifo3bdpwp104

Rob LaRosa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAU9ofjcx-Y&lc=z13kjbxjckq2dxh2u22pufc4tpygtvlxo04

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New SpaceTime episodes every Wednesday!

Want to ask some sort of crazy question about Space?:
Tweet at us! @pbsspacetime
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Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com

Hosted by Gabe Perez-Giz
Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)


Is It Irrational to Believe in Aliens?

February 18th, 2015

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Aliens! Could humans really be alone in this expansive universe? And if we’re not, how come we’ve never made contact with other intelligent life? Everyone’s thought about it; especially members of the scientific community. Join Gabe as he presents some of the most popular theories that scientists use to rationalize their support or skepticism of the existence of aliens. We may never know the answer to this age old question, but a little scientific thinking never hurt anybody!

Extra Credit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation
http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf

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Comments:
D. Moritz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McsgRggUjE4&lc=z13eszqgvo33i1x2m23dtdyoowyjefau4

Gaëtan DO VAN LANH via Google+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McsgRggUjE4&lc=z12pe5o5glbnvncty231fvgygubde34rz04

The Gentleman Physicist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McsgRggUjE4&lc=z12su3mzuom3zds0u23hetyoyqilsfvih04

Nicholas Feeley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McsgRggUjE4&lc=z121zvar2uqjdzlel22mxz4bawjev3d0n

James Morgan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McsgRggUjE4&lc=z13dhrqizwajwvqeh23hf3kjmxz1wvar504

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New SpaceTime episodes every Wednesday!

Want to ask some sort of crazy question about Space?:
Tweet at us! @pbsspacetime
Facebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetime
Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com

Hosted by Gabe Perez-Giz
Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)


What Planet Is Super Mario World?

February 11th, 2015

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We’ve run, jumped, and stomped all over the world of Super Mario, but, where in the universe is Super Mario EXACTLY? It’s virtual so it obviously DOESN’T exist, but if it did, could Super Mario world be in our solar system? And what do the planet’s dynamics reveal about Mario’s crazy jumping ability? Join Gabe as he takes us on a rick-roaring tour of our known universe as we search for the answer in this week’s SpaceTime!

A Little More About Gabe
Gabe Perez-Giz is an astrophysicist who studies various aspects of black hole physics. He received his PhD from Columbia University and then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at NYU’s Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics. He also mentors high school students in astronomical research projects at the American Museum of Natural History. Basically, he knows stuff.

Extra Credit:

How ‘g’ relates to ‘h’ and ‘t’:
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/mariogravity.shtml
https://www.cpp.edu/~ajm/professional/talks/conckine.pdf

How Tall Mario is:
http://krakelak.deviantart.com/art/Height-Chart-v1-447834080
http://www.vgf.com/forums/threads/vgb-nintendo-characters-height-weight.83443/

Other Super Mario World Gravity Studies:
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/mariogravity.shtml
http://hamaluik.com/posts/super-mario-world-physics/

Learn More about Exoplanets
http://exoplanets.org/

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New SpaceTime episodes every Wednesday starting… today!

Want to ask some sort of crazy question about Space?:
Tweet at us! @pbsspacetime
Facebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetime
Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com

Hosted by Gabe Perez-Giz
Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)


An Astronaut’s View of Earth

February 9th, 2015

What it’s like to see the Earth from orbit.
Special thanks to Col. Chris Hadfield for chatting with me. http://chrishadfield.ca/

Space imagery courtesy of NASA and the ESA
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/
http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos

Music by Kevin MacLeod “New Frontier” http://incompetech.com
And “Eureka” by Huma-Huma


Quantum Entanglement & Spooky Action at a Distance

January 12th, 2015

Does quantum entanglement make faster-than-light communication possible?
What is NOT random? http://bit.ly/NOTrandoVe
First, I know this video is not easy to understand. Thank you for taking the time to attempt to understand it. I’ve been working on this for over six months over which time my understanding has improved. Quantum entanglement and spooky action at a distance are still debated by professors of quantum physics (I know because I discussed this topic with two of them).

Does hidden information (called hidden variables by physicists) exist? If it does, the experiment violating Bell inequalities indicates that hidden variables must update faster than light – they would be considered ‘non-local’. On the other hand if you don’t consider the spins before you make the measurement then you could simply say hidden variables don’t exist and whenever you measure spins in the same direction you always get opposite results, which makes sense since angular momentum must be conserved in the universe.

Everyone agrees that quantum entanglement does not allow information to be transmitted faster that light. There is no action either detector operator could take to signal the other one – regardless of the choice of measurement direction, the measured spins are random with 50/50 probability of up/down.

Special thanks to:
Prof. Stephen Bartlett, University of Sydney: http://bit.ly/1xSosoJ
Prof. John Preskill, Caltech: http://bit.ly/1y8mJut

Looking Glass Universe: http://bit.ly/17zZH7l
Physics Girl: http://bit.ly/PhysGirl
MinutePhysics: http://bit.ly/MinPhys
Community Channel: http://bit.ly/CommChannel
Nigel, Helen, Luke, and Simon for comments on earlier drafts of this video.

Filmed in part by Scott Lewis: http://google.com/+scottlewis

Music by Amarante “One Last Time”: http://bit.ly/VeAmarante


Would You Take This Bet?

January 5th, 2015

How much would it take for you to risk $10?
Check out Audible: http://bit.ly/AudibleVe
Can you solve this? http://bit.ly/248Ve
Regression to the mean: http://bit.ly/VeRTTM

Help translate Veritasium videos into other languages: http://veritasium.subtitl.us

Psychological literature shows that we are more sensitive to small losses and than small gains, with most people valuing a loss around 1.5-2.5 times as much as a gain. This means that we often turn down reasonable opportunities for fear of the loss. However over the course of our lives we will be exposed to many risks and opportunities and this invariably means that taking every small reasonable bet will leave us better off than saying no to all of them.

NOTE: The video is not saying to accept every bet, only those with reasonable odds (preferably in your favour), and those which if you lose would not cause significant financial or other damage. In those cases it is wise to be loss averse!

Filmed by Adrian Tan

Thanks to Physics Girl for suggestions on previous versions of this video. https://www.youtube.com/physicswoman


The Most Radioactive Places on Earth

December 17th, 2014

Who on Earth is exposed to the most ionizing radiation?
Check out Audible: http://bit.ly/AudibleVe
I’m filming a documentary for TV about how Uranium and radioactivity have shaped the modern world. It will be broadcast in mid-2015, details to come. The filming took me to the most radioactive places on Earth (and some places, which surprisingly aren’t as radioactive as you’d think). Chernobyl and Fukushima were incredible to see as they present post-apocalyptic landscapes. I also visited nuclear power plants, research reactors, Marie Curie’s institute, Einstein’s apartment, nuclear medicine areas of hospitals, uranium mines, nuclear bomb sites, and interviewed numerous experts.

Notes about measuring radiation:
Sieverts are a measure of ‘effective dose’ – that means they measure the biological impact of the energy transferred to tissues from radiation.

Obviously I owe a debt to the fantastic chart made by xkcd, which inspired my visual approach to this video.
https://xkcd.com/radiation/

DOSES MAY VARY
The level of radiation varies widely around the world depending mainly on altitude and geology (excluding nuclear accidents).

Estimates of particular doses also vary. All numbers reported in this video should be taken as order of magnitude only.

The most contentious claim may be that smokers receive the highest dose of ionizing radiation. This is not a whole body dose, but a dose to the lungs as specified in the video. References are here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco
http://www.rmeswi.com/36.html

Special thanks to:
Physics Girl: https://www.youtube.com/physicswoman
MinutePhysics: https://www.youtube.com/minutephysics
Natalie Tran: https://www.youtube.com/communitychannel
Bionerd23: https://www.youtube.com/bionerd23
Nigel and Helen for feedback on earlier drafts of this video.

Music is “Stale Mate”


The Most Persistent Myth

December 1st, 2014

Many technologies have promised to revolutionize education, but so far none has. With that in mind, what could revolutionize education?
These ideas have been percolating since I wrote my PhD in physics education: https://ve42.co/phd
I have also discussed this topic with CGP Grey, whose view of the future of education differs significantly from mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vsCAM17O-M

I think it is instructive that each new technology has appeared to be so transformative. You can imagine, for example, that motion pictures must have seemed like a revolutionary learning technology. After all they did revolutionize entertainment, yet failed to make significant inroads into the classroom. TV and video seem like a cheaper, scaled back film, but they too failed to live up to expectations. Now there is a glut of information and video on the internet so should we expect it to revolutionize education?

My view is that it won’t, for two reasons: 1. Technology is not inherently superior, animations over static graphics, videoed presentations over live lectures etc. and 2. Learning is inherently a social activity, motivated and encouraged by interactions with others.

Filmed and edited by Pierce Cook

Supported by Screen Australia’s Skip Ahead program.

Music By Kevin MacLeod, http://www.incompetech.com “The Builder” and by Amarante Music: http://www.amarantemusic.com


How Were the Pyramids Built?

November 5th, 2014

Key aspects of pyramid construction from quarry to completion.
Check out Audible: http://bit.ly/AudibleVe
Live show in Alabama: http://bit.ly/VeRAOI

The most common misconception about the pyramids is that they were built by slaves. Recent archeological evidence suggests they were instead constructed by paid workers. Some may have performed this work as a form of tax payment for several months of the year. Skilled engineers would have planned and orchestrated the building. An estimated 10,000-20,000 people would have been working on a pyramid at any one point in time. They were well fed and provided with shelter near the pyramids. Plus their burial sites close by indicate they were respected and were not slaves.

Much of the limestone was quarried from the Giza plateau itself, meaning the stones did not need to be transported far. The granite casing of Menkaure’s pyramid, on the other hand, was transported from Aswan, around 600 miles, or 1000 km up the Nile.

Editing assistance by Dustin Chow

Music by Kevin MacLeod, Incompetech.com “Desert City” and “Ibn Al-Noor”


Sparks from Falling Water: Kelvin’s Thunderstorm

October 23rd, 2014

The physics behind Kelvin’s Thunderstorm explained. No, it is not a practical way of generating electricity, which is why we use turbines at hydro stations.

This video goes into more detail about the phenomenon demonstrated in this Hunger Games collab video: http://youtu.be/Rwa26CXG1fc