Another Pale Blue Dot

Einstein - History Channel

2012-01-07T16:43:00.001-05:00

Einstein - History Channel

The German-born physicist Albert Einstein developed the first of his groundbreaking theories while working as a clerk in the Swiss patent office in Bern. After making his name with four scientific articles published in 1905, he went on to win worldwide fame for his general theory of relativity and a Nobel Prize in 1921 for his explanation of the phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect. An outspoken pacifist who was publicly identified with the Zionist movement, Einstein emigrated from Germany to the United States when the Nazis took power before World War II. He lived and worked in Princeton, New Jersey, for the remainder of his life.

Einstein - History Channel - YouTube:

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Einstein's Unfinished Symphony [FULL DOCUMENTARY] - YouTube

2012-01-07T16:03:00.001-05:00

As Albert Einstein lay on his deathbed, he asked only for his glasses, his writing implements and his latest equations. He knew he was dying, yet he continued his work. In those final hours of his life, while fading in and out of consciousness, he was working on what he hoped would be his greatest work of all. It was a project of monumental complexity. It was a project that he hoped would unlock the mind of God. BBC Horizon, 2005.

The Mind of God - Einstein's Unfinished Symphony [FULL DOCUMENTARY] - YouTube:

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Meltdown The Secret History of the Global Financial Collapse 2010 - YouTube

2011-12-31T20:23:00.001-05:00

Meltdown (pt 1-4) The Secret History of the Global Financial Collapse 2010 - YouTube:

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The Oldest Question: Is There Life Beyond Earth? - YouTube

2011-12-29T16:34:00.002-05:00

Christopher D. Impey, Distinguished Professor, Astronomy/Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona. Presented March 8, 2011.

Our reconstruction of the chronology of events that led to the origin of the Earth and subsequent chemical evolution on our planet informs us that nothing unusual was required for the origin and development of terrestrial life, and that therefore life may be pervasive throughout the cosmos. Whether extraterrestrial life exists is so ancient and beguiling a question that humankind is actively seeking the answer in its explorations of the planetary systems in our solar system. It may one day transpire that we discover that genesis has occurred, independently, not once but twice in our solar system. At that point, we could safely infer that life is a fundamental feature of our universe ... along with dark matter, supernovae, and black holes.

Cosmic Origins is the story of the universe but it's also our story. Hear about origin of space and time, mass and energy, the atoms in our bodies, the compact objects where matter can end up, and the planets and moons where life may flourish. Modern cosmology includes insights and triumphs, but mysteries remain. Join the six speakers who will explore cosmology's historical and cultural backdrop to explain the discoveries that speak of our cosmic origins. http://cos.arizona.edu/cosmic

The Oldest Question: Is There Life Beyond Earth? - YouTube:

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Faster Than The Speed Of Light

2011-01-24T15:00:00.012-05:00

An international group of scientists at Cern made one of the most astonishing statements of this generation: that they had detected particles that seemed to travel faster than the speed of light. If they turn out to be right, that will mean Albert Einstein's theory of relativity is wrong and travelling into the past or to a parallel universe might no longer be confined to the likes of Doctor Who. In this programme, Professor Marcus du Sautoy tries to explain to us non-boffins what it's all about and why it matters. Of course, there's always the possibility the scientists have just got it wrong.

Pamela Meyer: How to spot a liar

2011-01-24T15:00:00.010-05:00

Pamela Meyer
Pamela Meyer thinks we’re facing a pandemic of deception, but she’s arming people with tools that can help take back the truth. On any given day we're lied to from 10 to 200 times, and the clues to detect those lie can be subtle and counter-intuitive. Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting, shows the manners and "hotspots" used by those trained to recognize deception -- and she argues honesty is a value worth preserving.

Brian Cox Lecture - GCSE Science brought down to Earth

2010-09-15T17:41:00.029-04:00

The hugely popular scientist held his second 'Star Lecture' at The University of Manchester on Wednesday 8 June. Brian is an academic in the School of Physics and Astronomy,
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/briancox/
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=7095

STARS & PLANETS - Astronomy Lectures

2010-09-15T17:41:00.024-04:00

Astronomy Lecture 1: What Is a Star?
Link
1:02:02
In this first lecture video of three in the Frontiers of Science unit on astronomy, Columbia University professor David Helfand sifts through astrophysics jargon to explain the basic physics behind stars—"our signposts for measuring our place in the Universe and its history"—and how they evolve over cosmic time. A lecture transcript and companion PowerPoint presentation are also available on FoSO.

Astronomy Lecture 2: Lives of the Stars
Link
1:09:42
In this second lecture video of three in the Frontiers of Science unit on astronomy, Columbia University professor David Helfand explores the life history of a star, a biography encompassing millions of years, and how astrophysicists are able to trace stellar evolution. A lecture transcript and companion PowerPoint presentation are also available on FoSO.

Astronomy Lecture 3: Planets Everywhere
Link
53:29
In this third lecture video of three in the Frontiers of Science unit on astronomy, Columbia University professor David Helfand describes methods of detecting other solar systems and planets and their properties in the interest of answering the question: Is our solar system unique, or are there others like it in the Universe? A lecture transcript and companion PowerPoint presentation are also available on FoSO.

FORA.tv - Ian Morison: God and the Universe

2010-03-19T20:54:00.003-04:00

How many civilizations ? Only 1. -
Min 40

FORA.tv - Ian Morison: God and the Universe

'A Universe From Nothing' by Lawrence Krauss

2009-08-08T17:32:00.011-04:00

Lawrence Krauss gives a talk on our current picture of the universe, how it will end, and how it could have come from nothing. Krauss is the author of many bestselling books on Physics and Cosmology, including "The Physics of Star Trek."

Introduction to Astrophysics - YALE COURSE

2009-08-08T17:31:00.011-04:00

Course Description :
This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy. Particular attention is paid to current projects that promise to improve our understanding significantly over the next few years. The course explores not just what is known, but what is currently not known, and how astronomers are going about trying to find out.

1. Introduction to Astrophysics
2. Planetary Orbits
3. Our Solar System and the Pluto Problem
4. Discovering Exoplanets: Hot Jupiters
5. Planetary Transits
6.Microlensing, Astrometry and Other Methods
7. Direct Imaging of Exoplanets
8. Introduction to Black Holes
9. Special and General Relativity
10. Tests of Relativity
11. Special and General Relativity (cont.)
12. Stellar Mass Black Holes
13. Stellar Mass Black Holes (cont.)
14. Pulsars
15. Supermassive Black Holes
16. Hubbles Law and the Big Bang
17. Hubbles Law and the Big Bang (cont.)
18. Hubbles Law and the Big Bang (cont.)
19. Omega and the End of the Universe
20. Dark Matter
21. Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe and the Big Rip
22. Supernovae
23. Other Constraints: The Cosmic Microwave Background
24. The Multiverse and Theories of Everything

Cosmic Quandaries with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

2009-08-08T17:31:00.010-04:00

An out of this world event, Cosmic Quandaries, held at The Palladium in St. Petersburg.

'Why Evolution Is True' by Jerry Coyne

2009-08-08T17:31:00.009-04:00

Jerry Coyne explains 'Why Evolution is True' (also the title of his excellent new book) at the Atheist Alliance International 2009 conference, sponsored by The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.

First Things in the Universe - SETI Institute Lecture

2009-08-08T17:30:00.003-04:00

Tom Abel of Stanford University discusses how supercomputer simulations allow us to visually show the origin of the first stars, their ultimate demise and the impact on their future, which is our past.

Einstein for the Masses

2009-08-08T17:29:00.018-04:00

Prof. Ramamurti Shankar, J.R. Huffman Professor of Physics & Applied Physics, gives an introduction to Einstein's Theory for a lay audience. The only preparation needed is an open mind.

Prof. Shankar presented this lecture at the Association of Yale Alumni Reunion Weekend on May 29, 2010.

Carl Jung - Matter of Heart

2009-08-08T17:29:00.017-04:00

1:45:16
Matter of Heart. Documentary about the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung

CARL JUNG. WISDOM OF THE DREAM

2009-08-08T17:29:00.015-04:00

52:11
This film is one of a three-part series of films produced by PBS, on the life and work of the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

How to Make Better Decisions

2009-08-08T17:29:00.011-04:00

We are bad at making decisions. According to science, our decisions are based on oversimplification, laziness and prejudice.
And that’s assuming that we haven’t already been hijacked by our surroundings or led astray by our subconscious!
Featuring exclusive footage of experiments that show how our choices can be confounded by temperature, warped by post-rationalisation and even manipulated by the future, Horizon presents a guide to better decision making, and introduces you to Mathematician Garth Sundem, who is convinced that conclusions can best be reached using simple maths and a pencil!

Part 1

Part 2

Exploring Einstein - Life of a Genius

2009-08-08T17:28:00.002-04:00

This is the extraordinary story of how Albert Einstein spent the last years of his life. Battling to destroy the consequences of his own work. It was a quest that would end in his failure and isolation. The dramatic sections in this film are interpretations of Albert Einsteins final hours.

Are We Alone?

2009-07-05T18:35:00.020-04:00

A documentary that explores the possibilities of Life

1934 Explanation of the creation and end of the Moon

2009-07-05T18:35:00.019-04:00

1934 Explanation of the creation and end of the Moon.

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

2009-07-05T18:35:00.018-04:00

About this talk
Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure -- and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
About Alain de Botton
Through his witty and literate books -- and his new School of Life -- Alain de Botton helps others find fulfillment in the everyday.

The Universe Has No Center... and You're Not There

2009-07-05T18:35:00.015-04:00

Join the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's James White as he discusses how we think the universe appears, and more importantly, how we know that. Presented by the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Series: "Eyes on the Universe"

Robert Wright "The Evolution of God."

2009-07-05T18:35:00.013-04:00

Journalist Robert Wright visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book, "The Evolution of God." This event took place on June 8, 2009,

The God of the Gaps (by Neil deGrasse Tyson)

2009-06-03T16:59:00.015-04:00

God at the end of the knowledge.
From: Beyond Belief 2006

Aliens on Earth ? - Life - Drake Equation - Universe - Astronomer Mario Di Maggio

2009-06-03T16:59:00.009-04:00

Join Mario Di Maggio, the Thinktank astronomer, to hear about the facts and the fantasies about Aliens on Earth. Determine the likelihood of extraterrestrial intelligence and learn how to track it down.

Minute 1 OFOs
Minute 23 Life
Minute 33 Life out side Earth
Minute 37 Milky Way photo size scale
Minute 39 Elements of Life
Minute 40 Drake Equation estimation

Interactive Periodic Table

Einstein and E=mc^2

2009-06-03T16:58:00.006-04:00

Based on David Bodanis’ bestseller, and shot on location, this is the story of history’s most celebrated formula, E=mc^2, and the five great scientists who brought it to life.

The docudrama, which first aired in 2005 and which boasts an all-star cast, spans 250 years, and tells the human story behind the science.

The youthful romance of Einstein and his future wife Mileva is intertwined with some of the great scientific discoveries of the 19th century, which Einstein ultimately combined in his astonishing theory of relativity.

Michael Merzenich on re-wiring the brain

2009-06-03T16:43:00.002-04:00

About this talk
Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function.
About Michael Merzenich
Michael Merzenich studies neuroplasticity -- the brain's powerful ability to change itself and adapt -- and ways we might make use of that plasticity to heal injured brains.

"Unweaving The Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder" - Richard Dawkins

2009-06-03T16:32:00.001-04:00

"Richard Dawkins of Oxford University discusses his book "Unweaving The Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder", an investigation into the world of mysticism and science."

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

2009-06-03T16:24:00.005-04:00

The Big Bang

2009-06-03T16:22:00.001-04:00

Professor Jim Al Khalili delves into over 50 years of the BBC science archive to tell the story behind the emergence of one of the greatest theories of modern science, the Big Bang.

The remarkable idea that our universe simply began from nothing has not always been accepted with the conviction it is today and, from fiercely disputed leftfield beginnings, took the best part of the 20th century to emerge as the triumphant explanation of how the universe began.

Using curious horn-shaped antennas, U-2 spy planes, satellites and particle accelerators, scientists have slowly pieced together the cosmological jigsaw, and this documentary charts the overwhelming evidence for a universe created by a Big Bang. (Excerpt from bbc.co.uk)

Six Degrees Of Separation

2009-06-03T16:18:00.000-04:00

Documentary unfolding the science behind the idea of six degrees of separation. Originally thought to be an urban myth, it now appears that anyone on the planet can be connected in just a few steps of association. Six degrees of separation is also at the heart of a major scientific breakthrough; that there might be a law which nature uses to organize itself and that now promises to solve some of its deepest mysteries.

Cosmologist Ian Morison: It’s About Time

2009-06-03T16:12:00.001-04:00

Summary
Professor Ian Morison discusses time, one of the most mysterious concepts in our Universe. It is easy to describe how we define its passage and how we can make exceedingly accurate clocks but questions as to what determines the arrow of time and whether time travel is possible can tax the most brilliant minds!

Nancy Etcoff on the surprising science of happiness

2009-06-03T16:11:00.005-04:00

About this talk
Cognitive researcher Nancy Etcoff looks at happiness -- the ways we try to achieve and increase it, the way it's untethered to our real circumstances, and its surprising effect on our bodies.
About Nancy Etcoff
Nancy Etcoff is part of a new vanguard of cognitive researchers asking: What makes us happy? Why do we like beautiful things? And how on earth did we evolve that way?

Axis of Evil: Christopher Hitchens

2009-06-03T16:09:00.024-04:00

Acclaimed writer and political scholar Christopher Hitchens may just be the only writer to have recently visited Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Hitchens - known for his keen wit, sharp political insight and often controversial opinions - examines the differences between the countries once linked as the "axis of evil," while revealing intriguing connections between the nations.

The True story of the Screaming Eagles: 101 Airborn Division

2009-06-03T16:09:00.022-04:00

The True story of the Screaming Eagles: 101 Airborn Division - 1:32:02

Incorporating in-depth interviews with extensive never-before seen footage, this fascinating True Story of the Screaming Eagles: The 101st Airborne, is a powerful first-hand look at the first strike force used in World War II, Vietnam and Desert Storm and Shield.

Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions?

2009-05-19T18:27:00.002-04:00

About this talk
Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

About Dan Ariely
It's become increasingly obvious that the dismal science of economics is not as firmly grounded in actual behavior as was once supposed. In "Predictably Irrational," Dan Ariely tells us why.

The Legacy of Einstein : Kip S. Thorne - Life in the Universe

2009-05-19T18:25:00.008-04:00

Nobel Conference 41, 'The Legacy of Einstein,' celebrates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. The series links a general audience in debate with some of the World's foremost scientists in the areas of statistical physics, relativity, cosmology, and unified theories. In addition, the impact of Einstein's discoveries and his social and political views has had on science and humanity.This episode features speaker Kip S. Thorne. This forum was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.

The Legacy of Einstein :Wendy L. Freedman

2009-05-19T18:25:00.004-04:00

Nobel Conference 41, 'The Legacy of Einstein,' celebrates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. The series links a general audience in debate with some of the World's foremost scientists in the areas of statistical physics, relativity, cosmology, and unified theories. In addition, the impact of Einstein's discoveries and his social and political views has had on science and humanity.This episode features speaker Wendy L. Freedman. This forum was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Inside 9/11: War on America

2009-05-19T18:24:00.030-04:00

Inside 9/11 (Episode 1: War on America) - 1:44:51

National Geographic -

"War on America" opens with the dramatic 1993 World Trade Center bombing and tracks terrorist activities aimed at U.S. targets throughout the 1990s leading up to the horrific morning of September 11, 2001. With each successful attack, terrorist networks become more emboldened. The organization and the legend of Osama bin Laden grow. Meet Osama bin Laden as a young Saudi businessman who arrives in Afghanistan to raise funds to help those hurt by the war. Follow this wealthy and privileged son of a self-made billionaire as he rises through the ranks of Islamic terrorist society and remakes himself into a mujahedeen warrior. Hear how bin Laden is schooled in the teachings of radical Palestinian leader Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Azzam as Azzam calls for violent jihad, or holy war, against all enemies of the Islamic state, including the United States, most Western nations and Israel. The extreme hatred for those outside the Islamic faith becomes the cornerstone of al Qaeda's ideology from the mid 1990s until today and is the basis of bin Laden's power. As terrorist activities and organizations continue to increase in power and strength, "War on America" charts the response of the U.S. intelligence community and details the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Council, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and at least two U.S. presidents. Featured in the program are interviews with terrorism experts from the intelligence community, including former CIA and FBI agents who witnessed the growing threat. Listen as U.S. government whistleblower Bodgan Dzakovic recounts how he—as part of the FAA'S "Red Team"—was able to breach airport security almost 90% of the time with very little problem in the months prior to 9/11. Feel the frustration mount as bin Laden, time and time again, keeps a step ahead of U.S. intelligence efforts to capture him. With each new attack—the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the U.S.S. Cole—the numbers of dead and wounded grow. It becomes obvious that al Qaeda's goal is to stay under the radar, attack with small numbers and kill on a large scale. Follow the trail and review the evidence that led former CIA Director George Tenet to remark in hindsight, "The system was blinking red… [the danger] could not get any worse."«

Inside 9/11(Episode 2: Zero Hour) - 1:44:54 -
National Geographic - www.myspace.com/pchoutx

It is a beautiful morning. Nathan Goldwasser is starting his usual day at work in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, as are Ed Nichols and Stanley Praimnath in the South Tower. Sheila Moody arrives at her office at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, the 19 terrorists are boarding planes in Boston, Newark and Dulles, Virginia. They monitor the flight crews, waiting for the right moment to execute their evil plan. At 8:14 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 is hijacked. Relive the last precious moments as flight attendants call their supervisors on the ground to report the murders of fellow crew members. Listen as they describe the scene on board. Then go back to the North Tower as Nathan Goldwasser hears an enormous explosion when American Airlines Flight 11 crashes just a few floors above him. The building sways. Listen as Ed Nichols watches the tragedy unfold at the North Tower from sky lobby on the 78th floor of the South Tower. Firefighters are dispatched to the scene. But this is not a case of fighting fire; this is a mission to save as many lives as possible. Evacuations begin in the North Tower, but, in the confusion, people in the South Tower don't know whether to leave the building or return to their desks. Stanley Praimnath makes it down to the ground lobby of the South Tower, only to be told by security that it is safe and he can return to his office. Then in what seems to be the blink of an eye, United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower. Praimnath sees the plane as it heads toward his office. There's no longer any doubt-this is an attack on America. "Zero Hour" then takes viewers to the Pentagon as Sheila Moody hears the roar of a plane rapidly descending. American Airlines Flight 77 hits the Pentagon and bursts into a ball of fire. A fourth hijacking is taking place on United Airlines Flight 93. Likely targets include the White House or the Capitol building. Listen as Lyz Glick retells how her husband Jeremy and three other men planned to overtake the hijackers. "Zero Hour" captures the horror and the heroism witnessed on September 11, 2001, and takes viewers into the last moments of those who died that day and the thousands of others who survived the tragedy.

Inside 9/11 (Epilogue) - 42:50 -
National Geographic -

The final part of the Inside 9/11 series that focuses on the events of 9/11, alternating between the various hijacked aircraft and the ground targets. It also includes interviews with survivors and relatives of victims, and has a narrated still-photo gallery.

A Summary of News Coverage from September 11, 2001 - 27:04 - Jun 30, 2008

TV Archive - www.myspace.com/pctx
(5 Ratings) Rate:
This is a summary video from many of the channels recorded by the Television Archive. It's ordered by time with clips from the following channels. NBC (USA) - 0:00:00-0:02:48 The Today Show pre-events CBS (USA) - 0:02:49-0:04:24 As they break into news of the impact into the North Tower CNN (USA) - 0:04:25-0:06:24 As they cut into a commercial to go live from NYC to cover the North Tower TV Azteca (Mexico) - 0:06:25-0:07:44 Coverage of the North Tower on the morning show "Hechos" ABC (USA) - 0:07:45-0:09:14 The impact into the South Tower live ABC (USA) - 0:09:15-0:10:31 Presidential statement from Florida WUSA (CBS affiliate in Washington DC) - 0:10:32-0:12:37 Breaks into CBS network coverage to report on the Pentagon impact WTTG (Fox affiliate in Washington DC) - 0:13:38-0:14:33 Coverage of the collapse of the South Tower NBC (USA) - 0:14:34-0:15:31 Live coverage of the South Tower collapse NTVi (Russia) - 0:15:32-0:17:14 A news bulletin relating to the collapse of the South Tower CCTV4 (China) - 0:17:15-0:18:18 A news bulletin with both Tower collapses. Video is from CNN CBC Newsworld (Canada) - 0:18:18-0:20:16 Live coverage of the collapse of the North Tower CNN (USA) - 0:20:17-0:21:42 First video from the Pennsylvania crash Iraqi Satellite Channel (Iraq) - 0:21:43-0:23:12 New program with information about the attacks in America. This was the second news item in their program - the first was news of an Iraqi shoot-down of an unmanned US aircraft. BBC World (UK) - 0:23:13-0:25:23 Summary of the day's events NHK World (Japan) - 0:25:24-0:26:08 NYC coverage with very close South Tower shots VOA Worldnet (USA) - 0:26:09-0:27:04

D Day to Berlin

2009-05-19T18:24:00.021-04:00

D Day to Berlin - 51:14

Documentary

The Legacy of Einstein : Sylvester Gates

2009-05-19T18:24:00.019-04:00

Nobel Conference 41, 'The Legacy of Einstein,' celebrates the 100th anniversary of Einstein's annus mirabilis. The series links a general audience in debate with some of the World's foremost scientists in the areas of statistical physics, relativity, cosmology, and unified theories. In addition, the impact of Einstein's discoveries and his social and political views has had on science and humanity.This episode features speaker Sylvester James Gates Jr. This forum was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Dacher Keltner: Born to Be Good

2009-04-19T19:55:00.000-04:00

Summary
Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and director of the Greater Good Science Center, demonstrates that humans are not hardwired to lead lives that are "nasty, brutish, and short" - we are in fact born to be good.
He investigates an old mystery of human evolution: why have we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe, and compassion that promote ethical action are the fabric of cooperative societies?
Born to Be Good is a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good life and how the path to happiness goes through human emotions that connect people to one another.
Michael Lewis is without peer in his understanding of market forces and human foibles. He is now our jungle guide through five of the most violent and costly upheavals in recent financial history: the crash of '87, the Russian default (and the subsequent collapse of Long-Term Capital Management), the Asian currency crisis of 1999, the Internet bubble, and the current sub-prime mortgage (and more) disaster.
With his trademark humor, Lewis paints the moods and market factors and, with the luxury of hindsight, analyzes what actually happened and what we should have learned from experience

NOVA Astrospies

2009-04-19T19:42:00.004-04:00

Millions remember the countdowns, launchings, splashdowns and parades as the U.S. raced the USSR to the Moon in the 1960s, but few know that both superpowers also ran parallel covert space programs to launch military astronauts on spying missions.

The Decisive Moment

2009-04-19T17:31:00.002-04:00

Jonah Lehrer is editor-at-large for Seed Magazine and a contributing editor at NPR`S Radio Lab.
Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate or we blink and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the minds black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, theyre discovering this is not how the mind works.
Jonah Lehrer, author and editor-at-large for Seed Magazine, suggests that our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason and the precise mix depends on the situation. The trick is to determine when to lean on which part of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.
Join Jonah as he looks to answer two key questions: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?

The Pentagon's New Map

2009-04-19T17:29:00.001-04:00

Speaker: Tom Barnett, Senior Managing Director, Enterra Solutions. LLC
Location: Middlebury College, Rohatyn Center for International Affair

Seeing the Universe

2009-04-19T17:20:00.040-04:00

Seeing the Universe - 29:00 - Feb 28, 2008

The Wires that Control the Public Mind

2009-04-19T17:20:00.039-04:00

Google Tech Talks. May, 6 2008

ABSTRACT
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. ... In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons ... who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind." -- Edward Bernays, founder of the public relations industry.
Billions of dollars are spent each year in the United States alone on public relations, a little-understood profession that has become a modern propaganda-for-hire industry. "Publicity" was once the work of carnival hawkers and penny-ante hustlers smoking cigars and wearing cheap suits. Today's PR professionals are recruited from the ranks of former journalists, retired politicians and eager-beaver college graduates eager to rise in the corporate world. They hobnob internationally with corporate CEOs, senators and U.S. presidents. PR wizards concoct and spin the news, organize phony "grassroots" front groups, spy on citizens, and conspire with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy. In today's electronic age, they use 800-numbers and telemarketing, advanced databases, and "video news releases" -- entire news stories written, filmed and produced by PR firms and transmitted electronically to thousands of TV stations around the world. Canned news from PR firms is designed to be indistinguishable from real news and is increasingly taking its place, used as "story segments" on TV news shows without any attribution or disclaimer indicating that what viewers are seeing is in fact subtle paid advertisements. On the internet as well, PR firms have created slick websites that promise to inform the public while pushing hidden agendas. Example include:

the Greening Earth Society (funded by the coal industry), which claims that global warming is actually good for the environment the Foundation for Clean Air Progress (which opposes regulations to control air pollution)the African American Republican Leadership Council (a conservative organization headed by white Republicans)
Working Families for Wal-Mart (secretly funded, of course, by the Wal-Mart itself)
Project Learning Tree (sponsored by the logging industry)

PR firms create front groups as part of what they call the "third party technique." The basic idea, as described by one PR executive, is to "Put your words in someone else's mouth." They realize that their messages are more likely to persuade the public if they come from seemingly independent "third parties" such as a professor or a pediatrician or someone representing a nonprofit citizens' group. The problem is, these third parties are usually anything but neutral. They have been handpicked, cultivated, and meticulously packaged to make you believe what they have to say--preferably in an "objective" format like a news show or a letter to the editor. And in some cases, they have been paid handsomely for their opinions.
Speaker: Sheldon Rampton
Sheldon Rampton researches deceptive PR firms for the Center for Media and Democracy and is the co-author, with John Stauber, of books including "Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damned Lies and the Public Relations Industry"; "Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles With your Future": and "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq." He will discuss the Center's work including its website, Sourcewatch.org, a wiki-powered collaborative research project to document the "names behind the news."

When Will We Discover the Extraterrestrials?

2009-04-19T17:20:00.037-04:00

Google TechTalk
April 24, 2007
Speaker: Dr. Seth Shostak
The scientific hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence is now into its fifth decade, and we still haven't uncovered a confirmed peep from any cosmic company. Could this mean that finding aliens, even if they exist, is a project for the ages -- one that might take centuries or longer?
New technologies for use in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) suggest that, despite the continued dearth of signals from other societies, there is good reason to expect that success might not be far off -- that we might find evidence of sophisticated civilizations within a few decades.
Why this is so, what contact would tell us, and what such a discovery would mean, are the subject of this talk on the continuing efforts to establish our place in the universe of thinking beings.

Carrier - NOVA Documentary Series

2009-04-19T17:20:00.027-04:00

Series abouth the entire deployment of the USS Minitz
2005-2006

The Power of the Situation - Philip Zimbardo

2009-04-19T17:04:00.003-04:00

Discovering Psychology: The Power Of The Situation with Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D.
This powerful documentary takes us on a journey of self-discovery. We learn just what humans are capable of through the study of our responses to commands and leadership. How is it that dictators are so easily able to manipulate the masses? Are humans pre-programmed to carry out any actions necessary to our group acceptance?

Specifically, this documentary takes a close look at the Milgram Experiment that were carried out in the early '60s. Wiki quotes Dr. Milgram and the results of his experiment...

The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous importance, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects' [participants'] strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' [participants'] ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation.

Find out what humans are capable of...you'll be suprised!

Dacher Keltner - Positive Emotions

2009-04-19T16:48:00.004-04:00

Summary
Why have we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe and compassion?
Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, offers a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good life.

The Ground Truth: After The Killing Ends

2009-04-19T16:23:00.000-04:00

Hailed as powerful and quietly unflinching,Patricia Foulkrods searing documentary feature includes exclusive footage that will stir audiences. The filmmakers subjects are patriotic young Americans - ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq - as they experience recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and communities. The terrible conflict in Iraq, depicted with ferocious honesty in the film, is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the soldiers returning home – with personal demons, an uncomprehending public, and an indifferent government. As these battles take shape, each soldier becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to other veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon of all - the truth. (Excerpt from thegroundtruth.net)

Watch the full documentary now

Jeffrey Richelson: Defusing Armageddon

2009-04-19T16:17:00.003-04:00

Summary
Relying on recently declassified documents, Jeffrey Richelson, Senior Fellow with the National Security Archive, reveals how NEST operated during the Cold War and how the agency has evolved.
Richelson also describes its current efforts to reduce the chance of a nuclear device decimating an American city.
Jeffrey Talbot Richelson - Jeffrey Talbot Richelson is an American author and academic researcher who studies the process of intelligence gathering and national security. He has authored ten books and many articles about intelligence, and has directed the publication of several of the National Security Archive's collections of source documents.
Michael Shuster - Mike Shuster is a diplomatic correspondent and a roving foreign correspondent for National Public Radio in the United States.

Seth Shostak: Confessions of an Alien Hunter

2009-04-19T16:16:00.000-04:00

Summary
FORA.tv Studios and Whole Earth Films present Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, speaking to Blaise Zerega, President and CEO of FORA.tv, about his book Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

For twenty-five years SETI has been looking for proof of extraterrestrial life, and as the program's senior astronomer, Shostak explains it's entirely possible that before long conclusive evidence will be found.

Sex Crimes and the Vatican

2009-04-19T16:13:00.000-04:00

Created in 1962, a now infamous document was issued in secret to bishops. Called Crimen Sollicitationis, it outlined procedures to be followed by bishops when dealing with allegations of child abuse, homosexuality and bestiality by members of the clergy. It swore all parties involved to secrecy on pain of excommunication from the Catholic Church.

This document was reissued in 2001 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and sent to all bishops. Yet rather than ordering more openness and cooperation with the authorities as demanded by both law enforcers and the victims, he reiterated its policies and ensured that the Code of Silence be applied to all cases of child abuse involving a priest. Cardinal Ratzinger also instructed that all cases should now be referred to his office directly and that he would maintain ‘exclusive competence’ over the handling of allegations. This is the Catholic Church’s policy to this day and Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI.

The policy laid out in the above document has led to systemic failure by the result that a significant number of priest have, in effect, been allowed to abuse again, and further children have been put at risk.

As the documentary explores, Colm O’Gorman is the man responsible for breaking open decades of abuse by Catholic Priests in Ireland in the BAFTA award-winning BBC special Suing the Pope. He links international ’systemic evidence’ to argue the Vatican has a policy to cover up the sexual abuse of thousands of children across the world.

In Sex Crimes and the Vatican O’Gorman explores four separate cases internationally of widespread clerical abuse, putting the Roman Catholic Church on trial for the reckless endangerment of children. O’Gorman raises the question, ‘Is the Church in default of its obligation as a signatory to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child?’ (Excerpt from news.bbc.co.uk)

ISS and Astronaut seen from Earth

2009-04-17T19:19:00.004-04:00

Credit & Copyright: Ralf Vandebergh
Explanation: These two frames, taken with a video camera and a telescope, reveal remarkable details of the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting some 350 kilometers above planet Earth. Recorded during last month's visit by the crew of shuttle orbiter Discovery on mission STS-119, the pictures show extended solar arrays glinting in bright sunlight against a dark sky. They also likely capture the blurred image of a spacewalking astronaut during the mission's EVA-2 (Extravehicular Activity-2)! The astronaut is installing equipment along one of the station's truss assemblies. Astronomer Ralf Vandebergh, who often images the ISS during its favorable passes through Dutch skies, comments that no other bright ISS structures occupy the position indicated in the inset, and that a reflective, white-suited astronaut would be visible against the truss and correspond to the bright blur. Vandebergh notes that the timing and location further suggest the spacewalker is STS-119 astronaut Joseph Acaba.

Medieval Astronomy

2009-04-17T19:02:00.003-04:00

Medieval Astronomy from Melk Abbey

Discovered by accident, this manuscript page provides graphical insight to astronomy in
medieval times, before the Renaissance and the influence of Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho de Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo.
The intriguing page is from lecture notes on astronomy compiled by the monk Magister Wolfgang de Styria before the year 1490 at Melk Abbey in Austria.
The top panels clearly illustrate the necessary geometry for a lunar (left) and solar eclipse in the Earth-centered
Ptolemaic system.
At lower left is a diagram of thePtolemaic view of the solar system and at the lower right is a chart to calculate thedate of Easter Sunday in theJulian calendar.
Text at the upper right explains themovementof the planets according to the Ptolemaic system.
The actual manuscript page is on view at historicMelk Abbey as part of aspecial exhibition during the International Year of Astronomy.

Earth and the Universe - Size chart

2009-03-24T15:27:00.024-04:00

Chart of distances and sizes of the Universe.

Neil deGrasse Tyson - "The Pluto Files"

2009-03-24T15:27:00.017-04:00

he Authors@Google program welcomed Neil deGrasse Tyson to Google's New York office to discuss his book, "The Pluto Files".

About the Book:
"The New York Times best-selling author chronicles America's irrational love affair with Pluto, man's best celestial friend.
In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union voted Pluto out of planethood. Far from the sun, tiny, and eccentric in orbit, it's a wonder Pluto has any fans. Yet during the mounting debate over Pluto's status, Americans rallied behind the extraterrestrial underdog. The year of Pluto's discovery, Disney created an irresistible pup by the same name, and, as one NASA scientist put it, Pluto was "discovered by an American for America." Pluto is entrenched in our cultural, patriotic view of the cosmos, and
Neil deGrasse Tyson is on a quest to discover why.
Only Tyson can tell this story: he was involved in the first exhibits to demote Pluto, and, consequently, Pluto lovers have freely shared their opinions with him, including endless hate mail from third graders. In his typically witty way, Tyson explores the history of planet classification and America's obsession with the "planet" that's recently been judged a dwarf."
This event took place on February 9, 2009.

Who's Got God's Millions?

2009-03-24T15:27:00.016-04:00

Robert Llewellyn attempts to discover which of the world's top four monotheistic religions has the most money. His journey takes him from Canterbury Cathedral to Vatican City and Israel, as he bids to calculate the income and assets of the Anglican Commune, the Catholic Church, Judaism and Islam.

“As an atheist, I’ve always wondered how much money the faiths keep stuffed under the mattress,” says Robert Llewellyn. In this time of financial crisis, when billions of pounds are being coughed up to support struggling banks, Robert feels it is time to discover the financial interests of the world’s great monotheistic faiths – Anglicanism, Catholicism, Judaism and Islam.

Robert’s first stop is Canterbury Cathedral, where he is surprised to learn that financial figures for the Church of England are readily available. Robert then travels to Westminster Cathedral to learn about the Catholic Church’s status in England. Part of the Catholic Church’s income in the UK goes to fund the Vatican, so Rome is Robert’s next destination. It soon becomes apparent that Vatican City is a financial black hole, and no one wants to admit how much money the Pope actually has.

Next Robert travels to Jerusalem to scour the finances of Judaism, only to find the Israeli government cannot even put a figure on the number of synagogues in the country. “There’s one God – that’s the only figure I can think of,” says Ariel Catane of the National Authority of Religious Services.

Finally, Robert heads to the East London Mosque to get a handle on the wealth of Islam. Despite the plethora of statistics available, he finds that no one has ever conducted an audit of the UK’s 1,600 mosques. And his efforts to obtain the global income for Islam founder when none of the embassies of the world’s biggest Muslim countries agree to meet him. Undeterred, Robert eventually comes up with a total figure – but which of the top religions is the richest?

The World is Flat - Thomas Friedman

2009-03-24T15:27:00.015-04:00

Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist, speaking at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Sep 9, 2005

The Great Religion Debate: Dinesh D’Souza v. Michael Shermer

2009-03-24T15:27:00.014-04:00

The Great Debate: Dinesh D’Souza v. Michael Shermer 2008.9.1
The Skeptics Society (Michael Shermer) - www.michaelshermer.com

In this debate on what are arguably two of the most important questions in the culture wars today — Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? and Can you be Good without God? — the conservative Christian author and cultural scholar Dinesh D’Souza and the libertarian skeptic writer and social scientist Michael Shermer, square off to resolve these and related issues, such as the relationship between science and religion and the nature and existence of God. This event was one of the liveliest ever hosted by the Skeptics Society at Caltech, mixing science, religion, politics, and culture

Michael Ruse on Darwinism

2009-03-22T17:27:00.000-04:00

Summary
Michael Ruse, philosopher of science, recounts the history of Darwinism by explaining the theories of evolution and natural selection.
Ruse questions whether these theories are as valid today, 200 years after Darwin's birthday.
Michael Ruse - Michael Ruse is a philosopher of science, working on the philosophy of biology, and is well known for his work on the argument between creationism and evolutionary biology. He was born in England, took his undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol (1962), his master's degree at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario (1964), and Ph.D. at the University of Bristol (1970). Ruse taught at the University of Guelph Canada for 35 years. Since his retirement from Guelph, he has taught at Florida State University and is, since 2000, the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy. In 1986, he was elected as a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Bergen, Norway (1990), the McMaster University, Ontario, Canada (2003) and most recently the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada (2007).

A Conversation About the Universe with Robert Kirshner

2009-03-22T17:10:00.000-04:00

(16 minutes) A conversation with astronomer and professor of science, Robert Kirshner of Harvard University, about his book "The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos" which provides an overview of the exploration of the universe and the existence of dark energy.
(aired May 20, 2004)

1950 Movie - Destination Moon

2009-03-22T16:46:00.000-04:00

The first sci fi film made in the u.s. and first attempt at technical accuracy in manned rocketship launch to the moon.

How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax

2009-03-22T16:07:00.034-04:00

How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax
Joe Rudy and Chris Russo

In this video, Chris and Joe show the supplies used to construct their UFOs and try to verify the dates and times to prove they, in fact, set up the balloons.

In this video, Chris and Joe let go of the flares in the woods. The first part shows their test launch on January 4, 2009.

In this video, you'll see the reactions of eyewitnesses to the "UFOs", plus various clips from news programs, footage from an "Alien Sale" at a car dealership, and the producers' final thoughts on the experiment
The Reactions - 29:06

Size & Scale of the Universe - Picture sequence

2009-03-22T16:07:00.027-04:00

Picture series representing the scale and location of the observable universe.

The Observable Universe

The superclusters

The Virgo supercluster

The Local Group

Nearest structures

The Milky Way

The Orion arm

250 light years radio

20 light years radio

12 light years radio

Where is the earth in this scale

Another view of the Milky Way

The Planets - A Solar System Journey - Dava Sobel

2009-03-22T16:07:00.026-04:00

Dava Sobel, the best-selling author of "Longitude" and "Galileo's Daughter", uses her rare gifts for weaving difficult scientific concepts into gripping stories in this lecture about the planets. Sobel's talk explores our place in the universe.

Time Machine - Masters of Time - BBC Documentary

2009-03-22T16:07:00.016-04:00

Alan Boss: The Crowded Universe

2009-03-22T16:07:00.015-04:00

Summary
Considered a leader in the search for planets outside our solar system, Alan Boss says we are at a turning point in our search for extraterrestrial life.

He expects we are on the verge of finding many different Earth-like planets across the universe, and he expects it will be common to find life on those planets. He shares his ideas for how the United States can be on the forefront of the next great discovery: life on another planet.

Undersea Tonga volcano erupts in Pacific ocean

2009-03-22T16:07:00.014-04:00

Underwater volcano pictures

underwater volcano video

Video of Undersea Tonga volcano erupts in Pacific ocean

The Dance of the Fertile Universe: Are We Alone?

2009-03-01T17:42:00.001-05:00

The Dance of the Fertile Universe: Are We Alone?
Father George Coyne, an astronomer and Jesuit priest, Lynn Rothschild, an astrobiologist, offer their unique perspectives on the question and potential of extraterrestrial life.
Is the Earth the only place where life was realized? Is it possible the physical universe offered other potential niches for life? Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009
Location: The Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale, CA,
BIO

Father George Coyne - George Coyne is the former director of the Vatican Observatory and the President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world, and its research group operates the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) at the Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) in southeastern Arizona. It does leading research on current issues in astronomy such as dark matter, dark energy, quasars, and supernovae. Dr. Coyne has published many papers on polarimetric studies of interstellar medium, stars with extended atmospheres, interacting binary star systems that give off sudden bursts of intense energy, and dust about young stars. The asteroid 14429 Coyne discovered by Shoemaker and Levy is named for him. Dr. Coyne has commented often on the differences between science and theology, for example, opposing intelligent design as defined by many of its supporters. Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, interviewed Dr. Coyne for Dawkins' television program The Genius of Charles Darwin in the UK.
Lynn Rothschild - Lynn Rothschild is an evolutionary biologist-astrobiologist at NASA's Ames Research Center and a consulting professor at Stanford and Brown Universities where she teaches Astrobiology and Space Exploration. Dr. Rothchild's research has focused on how life, particularly microbes, has evolved in the context of the physical environment on Earth and potentially elsewhere in the solar system and universe. Her work has taken her to the harsh environments in some wild places on Earth. Most recently she has taken to the air in conjunction with the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department at Stanford, flying experiments up to 106,000 feet on high altitude balloons. Dr. Rothschild has appeared on a number of Naked Science TV programs on the National Geographic Channel and on the Alien Faces episode for The Universe TV program on the History Channel.
Simon P. Worden - General Worden was commissioned in 1971 after receiving a bachelor of science degree from the University of Michigan. He entered the Air Force in 1975 after graduating from the University of Arizona with a doctorate in astronomy. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, General Worden served in every phase of development, international negotiations and implementation of the Strategic Defense Initiative, a primary component in ending the Cold War. He twice served in the executive office of the presidents. As the staff officer for initiatives in the George Bush administration's National Space Council, the general spearheaded efforts to revitalize U.S. civil space exploration and earth monitoring programs, and was the architect of the "faster, cheaper, better" approach now adopted throughout the U.S. space program. General Worden commanded the 50th Space Wing that is responsible for more than 60 Department of Defense satellites and more than 6,000 people at 23 worldwide locations. He then served as Deputy Director for Requirements at Headquarters Air Force Space Command, as well as the Deputy Director for Command and Control with the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations at Air Force headquarters. Prior to assuming his current position, General Worden was responsible for policy and direction of five mission areas: force enhancement, space support, space control, force application and computer network defense. General Worden has written or co-written more than 150 scientific technical papers in astrophysics, space sciences and strategic studies. He was a scientific co-investigator for two NASA space science missions.

Combat America

2009-03-01T17:09:00.001-05:00

This DVD is basically a World War II documentary film made for Stateside audiences about life in the Mighty Eighth Air Force in England and in the deadly skies over Europe. Narrated by Clark Gable, who actually flew around five missions in B-17’s before heading off to safer locales, the film follows the daily lives of the men of the 351st Bomb Group based in England and follows the men into the air.

Watch the full documentary now

Human Communication

2009-03-01T17:07:00.002-05:00

As one of the nation's most respected communications strategists, John Davies takes on a unique role as a CEO by investing his experience daily through hands-on analysis, strategy, and messaging. He applies his lifelong study of human behavior and effective communications strategies to influence how to earn attention and gain influence in the complex information-saturated decision-making process today. As a political consultant, John Davies enjoyed a nearly 90% win ratio with more than 150 campaigns.

Conversations with History: Cosmologist Jim Peebles

2009-02-27T17:46:00.008-05:00

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Princeton cosmologist Jim Peebles for a discussion of his intellectual odyssey. They discuss his contributions to cosmology and the future of the field.

Celebrating jobs -- all kinds of jobs: Mike Rowe on TED.com

2009-02-27T17:46:00.005-05:00

From EG'08: Mike Rowe, the host of Dirty Jobs, tells some compelling (and horrifying) real-life job stories. Listen for his insights and observations about the nature of hard work, and how it’s been unjustifiably degraded in society today. (Recorded in December 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 20:03.)

Why Are People Different? - YALE / PSYCHOLOGY

2009-02-27T17:45:00.017-05:00

LECTURE DESCRIPTION
Why are people different from one another? This lecture addresses this question by reviewing the latest theories and research in psychology on two traits in particular: personality and intelligence. Students will hear about how these traits are measured, why they may differ across individuals and groups, and whether they are influenced at all by one's genes, parents or environment.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
What do your dreams mean? Do men and women differ in the nature and intensity of their sexual desires? Can apes learn sign language? Why can’t we tickle ourselves? This course tries to answer these questions and many others, providing a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. It explores topics such as perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, religion, persuasion, love, lust, hunger, art, fiction, and dreams. We will look at how these aspects of the mind develop in children, how they differ across people, how they are wired-up in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury.

Helen Fisher - "Why Him? Why Her?: Finding Real Love by Understanding Your Personality Type."

2009-02-27T17:45:00.013-05:00

Helen Fisher visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss her book "Why Him? Why Her?: Finding Real Love by Understanding Your Personality Type." This event took place on February 20, 2009, as part of the Authors@Google series.
In Why Him? Why Her?, Fisher unlocks the hidden code of desire and attachment. Each of us, it turns out, primarily express one of four broad personality types—Explorer, Builder, Director, or Negotiator—and each of these types is governed by different chemical systems in the brain. Driven by this biology, we are attracted to partners who both mirror and complement our own personality type. Based on entirely new research—including a detailed questionnaire completed by five million people in thirty-five countries—Why Him? Why Her? will change your understanding of why you love him or her and help you use nature's chemistry to find and keep your life partner.
Fisher is one of the world's leading experts on the nature of romantic love and attachment. She is the chief scientific adviser to Chemistry.com, a division of Match.com. She is the author of four previous books, two of which—The First Sex and Anatomy of Love—were New York Times Notable Books. Fisher is a research professor of anthropology at Rutgers University. She lives in New York City.

Douglas Adams - Conversations

2009-02-27T17:45:00.011-05:00

Douglas Adams - Conversations

Galileo's Battle for the Heavens

2009-02-21T18:06:00.001-05:00

In this two-hour special, we celebrate the story of the father of modern science and his struggle to get Church authorities to accept the truth of his astonishing discoveries. The program is based on Dava Sobel's bestselling book, Galileo's Daughter, which reveals a new side to the famously stubborn scientist—that his closest confidante was his illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun.

The actor Simon Callow plays Galileo in dramatic reenactments of key moments from his life: his pioneering telescopic observations of the Moon and planets, his revolutionary experiments with falling objects, and his fateful trial before the Inquisition for heresy.

Born in 1564, Galileo lived a generation after Nicolas Copernicus published his controversial theory that the Earth was not the center of the universe around which the heavens revolved. Galileo supported the idea that the Earth turned on its axis and that it, along with the planets, revolved around the sun. The view was considered absurd by most scholars since it contradicted certain passages in the Bible and challenged the commonsense experience of the Earth as a solid, unmoving object.

But Galileo found merit in the idea, especially after he aimed a newly invented instrument called the telescope at the night sky and saw that the Moon and planets were far from the perfect realms accepted by the Catholic Church. His discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter and phases in the appearance of Venus, analogous to the phases of the Moon, supported the Copernican view.

The Church insisted that Galileo couch his speculations in hypothetical terms only. But he stepped over the line in 1632 when he published his Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, in which a simpleton mouths the views of the then-reigning pope, Urban VIII. This was too much for the Pope, and Galileo was hauled before the Inquisition, which had tortured and burned to death malefactors for far less.

Galileo's clash with the Vatican put Sister Maria Celeste in an awkward position, but she continued to correspond and meet with her father and even served as his editor.

Though his life was spared, Galileo was put under house arrest, and the Dialogue was banned. But it was a Pyrrhic victory for the Church. Galileo's arguments eventually "won the war" for the Copernican theory, making it intellectually respectable to believe that the Earth in fact moves, says Harvard professor Owen Gingerich.

Part One

Part Two

Previously an obscure branch of philosophy, science was now on the road to becoming the preeminent method for discovering how the world works—thanks to Galileo.

Visit the official site here.

True Story of Black Hawk Down

2009-02-21T17:46:00.001-05:00

On October 3, 1993, an elite force of 120 American Delta units and Ranger infantry were dropped into Mogadishu, Somalia, to abduct two lieutenants of Somalian warlord Mohmaed Farrah Aidid. When two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, a mission that was supposed to last one hour turned into a 15-hour ordeal that resulted in 18 American deaths and 73 American casualties. This documentary combines actual footage of the operation and interviews with key survivors to present a minute-by-minute account of the battle.

Drawing on Mark Bowden's bestselling book about the incident and extensive interviews with the author, The True Story Of Black Hawk Down is a compelling, minute-by-minute look at the battle that claimed 18 American lives. US Rangers and Somali militiamen share their harrowing experiences, and former officials from Aidid's organization reveal how they were able to use the attack to their advantage. Finally, diplomats and high-ranking officers reflect on the incident's legacy, including the widely-held assumption that it weakened America's resolve to send troops abroad.

Balancing exceptional combat footage, brilliant commentary and the recollections of those who were there, The True Story Of Black Hawk Down is an unforgettable look at modern warfare.

Juan Enriquez: Beyond the crisis, mindboggling science and the arrival of Homo evolutis

2009-02-21T15:49:00.001-05:00

About this talk
Even as mega-banks topple, Juan Enriquez says the big reboot is yet to come. But don't look for it on your ballot -- or in the stock exchange. It'll come from science labs, and it promises keener bodies and minds. Our kids are going to be ... different.
About Juan Enriquez
Juan Enriquez thinks and writes about the profound changes that genomics and other life sciences will cause in business, technology, politics and society.

Jill Tarter: Why the search for alien intelligence matters

2009-02-21T15:22:00.000-05:00

About this talk

The SETI Institute's Jill Tarter makes her TED Prize wish: to accelerate our search for cosmic company. Using a growing array of radio telescopes, she and her team listen for patterns that may be a sign of intelligence elsewhere in the universe.
About Jill Tarter
SETI's Jill Tarter has devoted her career to hunting for signs of sentient beings elsewhere, and almost all aspects of this field have been affected by her work.

The Biggest Things in Space

2009-02-14T14:49:00.002-05:00

We cannot compare anything on earth to the largest things known in space. The Lymann Alpha blob is a bubble-like structure containing countless galaxies, perhaps the biggest object in the entire universe.

Regions of radio-emitting gas, called radio lobes, could be even bigger. Then there are super galaxy clusters, which are hundreds of galaxies merged together due to cosmic collisions.

In this documentary we discover which is the largest planet, star, star cluster, constellation, black hole, void, volcano, galaxy, explosion, moon, storm and impact crater in space.

Time - A Documentary

2009-02-12T19:05:00.000-05:00

In this four-programme series, string theory pioneer Michio Kaku goes on an extraordinary exploration of the world in search of time. He discovers our sense of time passing and the clocks that drive our bodies. He reveals the forces of time that make and destroy us in a lifetime. He journeys to some of the Earth's most spectacular geological sites to look for clues to the extraordinary depths of time at a planetary level. Finally, he takes us on a cosmic journey in search of the beginning (and the end) of time itself.

PART ONE - Daytime
We humans seem to run to the beat of time, often without being aware of how this is the case or how our perception of it may differ from another person's, from nature's rhythms or from our own internal clock. In the first episode of the series, string theory pioneer Michio Kaku witnesses one of the most extraordinary feats of timing in nature on a remote Californian beach.

We also meet a French caver who spent months in complete isolation to see what would happen to his sense of time - and discovered that we have an internal clock that drives our days. Michio self-experiments by being monitored over 24 hours to see how this clock shapes his whole body chemistry. And we test a family with a rare disease to uncover the very roots of the body clock itself.

Where does our sense of time passing come from? We all know it's critical - as comedians demonstrate at a Soho comedy club. Michio discovers this critical timer (the stopwatch) in a brain-scan experiment at Duke University. It seems that this 'sense' of time is plastic: crash victims report that time seems to slow under extreme stress. We conduct a unique experiment to test this - by dropping someone 150 feet. Meanwhile, back at Duke an experiment with cocaine and marijuana on rats reveals the chemical process by which our sense of time is altered.

But time for us is even more than this. We have a unique knowledge of time. We 'know' past and future. It's an ability shared by no other animals... apart from a special few. King the Gorilla demonstrates his awareness of time to researchers in Miami. We meet a man with no memory and reveal how much we depend on being able to place ourselves in time. This special awareness of time raises some of the most important questions about time itself: Why does it only flow in one direction? Why can't we stop it, see it or hold it? And if it so elusive, then is it real or just a figment of our minds?

PART TWO - Lifetime
Why is our time limited? And does it have to be? Could our age-old dream of immortality ever be possible? In episode two, Michio Kaku explores these questions and meets some of the key people involved in the cutting-edge research into ageing. He travels to the amazing Methuselah tree, which is almost 5000 years old and still producing new pine cones. He discovers that time does get faster as you get older and, under hypnosis, he goes in search of his lost time, stored as memories. But it only proves that lost time is really gone forever.

We are incredible machines for living - but if we're programmed to live, are we also programmed to die? As we grow, our cells divide into a complex colony of three trillion individual cells in our bodies. Sir Paul Nurse has spent a lifetime studying cells to search for the most basic process of life - the secret of cell division. We discover that cells seem to be potentially immortal. They continue to divide again and again perfectly. Even our own bodies are replaced through our lives - most of our cells are replaced in a roughly seven-year cycle. Yet we know that we age and that time wreaks changes on our bodies.

This episode reveals the biological changes in our cells that make our skin wrinkle and our bones become brittle. This new understanding is beginning to reveal the process of time in our bodies and, through this, scientists are now looking at ways of slowing or even stopping time. Scientists in California are studying sea urchins for clues as they not only live longer than ever thought before but they appear to show no sign of ageing. Genetic manipulation is extending the lives of mice. And a British scientist is now suggesting that the pace of advance is so fast that the first immortals are already living today; that before our children have reached the end of their natural lives, the technology to stop and even reverse ageing will exist. But what will that mean for our essential humanity?

PART THREE - Earth Time
Our awareness that time stretches back long before we were born, and will continue to stretch into the future long after we're gone, lies at the heart of our humanity. Without this sense we couldn't learn from the past, and wouldn't plan for the future But where did we come from, and where are we going in time? Every culture mythologises time and attempts to answer the ultimate questions: was there a beginning? And will there be an end?

In the 17th century an Irish bishop used the scientific method and the Bible to calculate a date of creation - approximately 6000 years ago. It was a remarkable achievement, but he was wrong. Michio climbs down the layers of rock from which the Grand Canyon is carved to discover that the world must be much older. Meteorites hold the ultimate clues to the formation of the Earth - a staggering 4.6 billion years ago. Michio reveals that, far from being fixed, the Earth has been reshaped with incredible violence. It's usually too slow to witness directly, but inhabitants close to the world's most active volcano, Kilauea, on Hawaii know the Earth's forces all too well as they recover their homes from volcanic ash.

It's almost impossible to conceive of the vastness of Earth time: in an attempt to illustrate the planet's lifespan, Michio travels from the West to the East coast of America each millimetre representing one year. But where do we fit in? Our time seems so insignificant, but we're part of perhaps the greatest story ever told - the story of life itself. The programme looks at bacteria that have been brought to life from a time capsule of rock after 250 million years, encounters creatures in which evolution can be seen in action, and explores the ultimate biological clock - DNA. Michio has his own DNA tested to reveal his ancestral journey all the way back to our first human ancestors in Africa. Finally, the episode concludes with a look into the future to ask where we are ultimately going.

PART FOUR - Cosmic Time
Throughout history, one thing has never changed - time. It is something we rely on to plan our lives, and it is consistent, regular and ceaseless. But is it? High in the Alps, Michio encounters a mystery - tiny particles called muons which shouldn't exist. They don't last long enough to be detected on Earth - and yet here they are. The answer to this mystery lies in one of the greatest discoveries of all time - Einstein's theory of relativity. The faster you travel, the slower time ticks. So time is not fixed at all.

Michio goes on a journey to places where time becomes very strange. Inside atoms, time blurs to such an extent that something can be in two places at once. Within extreme places in space, like black holes, time is squeezed to such an extent that, to an observer, it seems to stand still. Time is more variable that it could ever have been thought possible. It can even, theoretically, move backwards. This leads to one of the most extraordinary possibilities - a time machine. This episode shows a graphical representation of what it might look like: the size of a planet and consuming unimaginable amounts of energy but still a possibility.

Finally, Michio tackles the greatest questions of all - did time itself have a beginning, and will it have an end? He explains how the time capsule of the stars revealed the evolution of the Universe - and pointed the way to the ultimate beginning, the Big Bang, 13.6 billion years ago. And the future? Michio discovers that the cosmos of the stars is only a moment in the Universe's history, that we live in the stelliferous age - the age of the stars - the second of the Universe's five ages of time. But Michio explains that it is hardly an age at all: within the entire lifetime of the Universe the stars shine for less than a finger-click of history.

Stupidity, a documentary

2009-02-12T19:02:00.002-05:00

Stupidity by Albert Nerenberg Features Bill Maher, Noam Chomsky, George W. Bush, Mark Crispin Miller and many others. A humorous examination of stupidity in contemporary American culture, covering: the effects of television and mass media on the American intellect; the "dumbing down" of American culture; the popularity of Steve-O and Jackass; role of religion in willful stupidity; the identifaction of many Americans with George W. Bush; the evolution of such concepts as "idiot" and "moron."

The DVD edition contains extra interviews commentaries and readings. The film is not connected to Matthijs van Boxsel's book called Encyclopaedia of Stupidity -- also 2003- but recommended.

What We Still Don't Know Documentary

2009-02-12T18:57:00.000-05:00

Part 1 - Are we alone?

Hear the word ‘alien’ and what might spring to mind is something approaching HG Wells’ vision of a warlike Martian invader from War of the Worlds. His fantastical dreams of dumpy aliens sporting octopod tentacles and camouflage coloured skin have long been inclined to place the topic of alien life well beyond the realm of intelligent discourse and into the world of weird and wacky belief.

But no longer. In this documentary film - Are We Alone?, Martin Rees puts paid to the flights of fantasy and takes us on a journey of unsettling consequence.

Seth Shostak is one of SETI’s (Institute for the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) leading investigators. He is utterly convinced that there is someone out there. The most compelling evidence is simply in the vast scales of space. There are 10,000 billion billion stars visible from Earth’s telescopes alone, and a conservative estimate places orbiting planets around one in ten of them. Would it not then be very strange if Earth were the only planet out of so many boggling billions to have been a cradle for life?

Peter Ward is a paleontologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. He’s an expert biologist and not given to inventing weird alien creatures. But even he has to admit that life elsewhere is more than likely: ‘When you think there are 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, and there are billions of galaxies, we now think that virtually every star has a planet, more than one planet, you’re going to have abodes for life almost everywhere. It’s ridiculous to think it happened on this planet and this planet alone. Life is definitely out there.’

Part 2 - Why are we here?

Philosophers and theologians have long debated our purpose in the universe. We have always assumed that there is some higher purpose for humanity, but the universe it seems may have other ideas.

In Why Are We Here? Martin Rees explains how scientists have had to revise long-held beliefs about the very nature of the universe, and in the process re-evaluate our place here. To do this, Rees presents some of the most fundamental questions about the universe and our own origins: What was the beginning? What is the nature of life? What is the future of the cosmos and the nature of reality?

The answers may not be what you expect. Empty space is not so empty after all. Most of the universe is made up not of atoms, as previously thought, but of a mysterious and elusive substance called ‘dark matter’. Without it the universe simply would not exist.

But working against dark matter is an even more mysterious force that threatens to tear the universe apart – ‘dark energy’.

Part 3 - Are we real?

All life on Earth is nothing more than an elaborate facade created by super-intelligent beings. Humans now exist in a computerized version of the world – a simulation that keeps us happy, while our powers are drained by our creators for use as fuel in their campaign for dominance in the ‘real’ world. This is the premise of the cult sci-fi thriller The Matrix.

‘The simulation hypothesis, that we are currently living in a computer simulation, should be understood literally, it’s not just in a metaphorical sense whereby one could view the universe as a simulation, but literally we would be living in a simulation created by some advanced civilization in a computer they built in their universe. And everything we see and our brains themselves would just be parts of this simulation.’ Oxford University philosopher Dr Nick Bostrom echoes the thoughts of sci-fi writers and scientists alike. The simulation hypothesis is not sci-fi, it’s serious academic thought.

In Are We Real? Martin Rees navigates the extraordinary territory between science fact and science fiction. He reveals the logical steps that have led cosmologists and philosophers to the shocking conclusion that The Matrix scenario cannot be safely relegated to our storybooks. Whether it’s true or not, and it might be, here is a story that is altogether more serious and more deeply disturbing than any sci-fi fantasy could ever be.

Cosmologist Professor Max Tegmark from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology warns us that ‘We humans have undergone a series of demotions, a series of blows to our ego.’ Prepare yourself for another.

Visions of the Future

2009-02-12T18:51:00.001-05:00

In this new three-part documentary, leading theoretical physicist and futurist Dr Michio Kaku explores the cutting edge science of today, tomorrow, and beyond. He argues that humankind is at a turning point in history. In this century, we are going to make the historic transition from the 'Age of Discovery' to the 'Age of Mastery', a period in which we will move from being passive observers of nature to its active choreographers. This will give us not only unparalleled possibilities but also great responsibilities.

PART ONE - THE INTELLIGENCE REVOLUTION

In the opening installment, Kaku explains how artificial intelligence will revolutionise homes, workplaces and lifestyles, and how virtual worlds will become so realistic that they will rival the physical world. Robots with human-level intelligence may finally become a reality, and in the ultimate stage of mastery, we'll even be able to merge our minds with machine intelligence.

For the first time on television, see how a severely depressed patient can be turned into a happy person at the push of a button - all thanks to the cross-pollination of neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

PART TWO - THE BIOTECH REVOLUTION

Genetics and biotechnology promise a future of unprecedented health and longevity: DNA screening could prevent many diseases, gene therapy could cure them and, thanks to lab-grown organs, the human body could be repaired as easily as a car, with spare parts readily available. Ultimately, the ageing process itself could be slowed down or even halted.

But what impact will this have on who we are and how we will live? And, with our mastery of the genome, will the human race end up in a world divided by genetic apartheid?

PART THREE - THE QUANTUM REVOLUTION

The quantum revolution could turn many ideas of science fiction into science fact - from metamaterials with mind-boggling properties like invisibility through limitless quantum energy and room temperature superconductors to Arthur C Clarke's space elevator. Some scientists even forecast that in the latter half of the century everybody will have a personal fabricator that re-arranges molecules to produce everything from almost anything.

Yet how will we ultimately use our mastery of matter? Like Samson, will we use our strength to bring down the temple? Or, like Solomon, will we have the wisdom to match our technology?

Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness

2009-02-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

This six part series on philosophy is presented by popular British philosopher Alain de Botton, featuring six thinkers who have influenced history, and their ideas about the pursuit of the happy life.

Episode 1: Socrates on Self-Confidence - Why do so many people go along with the crowd and fail to stand up for what they truly believe? Partly because they are too easily swayed by other people's opinions and partly because they don't know when to have confidence in their own.

Episode 2: Epicurus on Happiness - British philosopher Alain De Botton discusses the personal implications of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270BCE) who was no epicurean glutton or wanton consumerist,but an advocate of "friends, freedom and thought" as the path to happiness.

Episode 3: Seneca on Anger Roman philosopher Lucious Annaeus Seneca (4BCE-65CE), the most famous and popular philosopher of his day, took the subject of anger seriously enough to dedicate a whole book to the subject. Seneca refused to see anger as an irrational outburst over which we have no control. Instead he saw it as a philosophical problem and amenable to treatment by philosophical argument. He thought anger arose from certain rationally held ideas about the world, and the problem with these ideas is that they are far too optimistic. Certain things are a predictable feature of life, and to get angry about them is to have unrealistic expectations.

Episode 4: Montaigne on Self-Esteem looks at the problem of self-esteem from the perspective of Michel de Montaigne (16th Century), the French philosopher who singled out three main reasons for feeling bad about oneself - sexual inadequecy, failure to live up to social norms, and intellectual inferiority - and then offered practical solutions for overcoming them.

Episode 5: Schopenhauer on Love - Alain De Botton surveys the 19th Century German thinker Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) who believed that love was the most important thing in life because of its powerful impulse towards 'the will-to-life'.

Episode 6: Nietzsche on Hardship - British philosopher Alain De Botton explores Friedrich Nietzsche's (1844-1900) dictum that any worthwhile achievements in life come from the experience of overcoming hardship. For him, any existence that is too comfortable is worthless, as are the twin refugees of drink or religion.

Hubble - 15 Years of Discovery

2009-02-12T18:38:00.000-05:00

Hubble - 15 years of discovery” covers all aspects of the Hubble Space Telescope project – a journey through the history, the troubled early life and the ultimate scientific successes of Hubble. This portrait, directed by Lars Lindberg Christensen, contains large amounts of previously unpublished footage of superb quality. With morethan 500,000 copies distributed, this DVD movie is probably the most widely available science documentary ever.

Hubble's spectacular visual images make a stunning backdrop throughout the film, bringing an immediacy and vitality as the narrative reveals the new insights Hubble has inspired in all fields of astronomy from exoplanets to black holes. Complex though the science behind the telescope’s images often is, Art Director Martin Kornmesser has developed a unique style of elaborate 3D animation that enhances and vividly clarifies the underlying science.

The movie is presented by an ESA scientist, Dr. Robert (Bob) Fosbury, who has himself used Hubble for his own research on many occasions.

BBC Horizon - Are We Alone in the Universe?

2009-02-12T18:36:00.003-05:00

This documentary investigates one of the most controversial questions of the past hundred years...are we alone in the universe? This is not one those films that claims to have conclusive proof, but rather a look at the serious science of the search for extraterrestrial life.

The search for extra-terrestrial life has been going for 50 years - but there's been a recent breakthrough. Astronomers have discovered a new planet called Gliese 581 c. It is the most Earth-like planet ever found. It orbits a star and may have habitats capable of supporting life. NASA hopes to find 50 more Earth-like planets by the end of the decade, all of which increases the chance that alien life has begun elsewhere.

Click here to to find out more about the Drake equation.

Click here to visit the SETI website.

End Day

2009-02-12T18:32:00.000-05:00

Inspired by the predictions of scientists, End Day creates apocalyptic scenarios that go beyond reality. In a single hour, explore five different fictional disasters, from a giant tsunami hitting New York to a deadly meteorite strike on Berlin.

End Day is a 2005 docu-drama produced by the BBC and aired on the National Geographic Channel, on the TV series, National Geographic Channel Presents, that depicts various doomsday scenarios. The documentary follows the fictional scientist Dr. Howell, played by Glenn Conroy, as he travels from his London hotel room to his laboratory in New York City, and shows how each scenario affects his journey as well as those around him, with various experts providing commentary on that specific disaster as it unfolds.

Guns, Germs and Steel - 13.000 years of human history

2009-02-12T18:28:00.001-05:00

Based on Jared Diamond's Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name, Guns, Germs and Steel traces humanity's journey over the last 13,000 years – from the dawn of farming at the end of the last Ice Age to the realities of life in the twenty-first century.

Inspired by a question put to him on the island of Papua New Guinea more than thirty years ago, Diamond embarks on a world-wide quest to understand the roots of global inequality.

Why were Europeans the ones to conquer so much of our planet?

Why didn't the Chinese, or the Inca, become masters of the globe instead?

Why did cities first evolve in the Middle East?

Why did farming never emerge in Australia?

And why are the tropics now the capital of global poverty?

As he peeled back the layers of history to uncover fundamental, environmental factors shaping the destiny of humanity, Diamond found both his theories and his own endurance tested.

The three one-hour programs were filmed across four continents on High Definition digital video, and combinied ambitious dramatic reconstruction with moving documentary footage and computer animation. They also include contributions from Diamond himself and a wealth of international historians, archeologists and scientists.

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a thrilling ride through the elemental forces which have shaped our world – and which continue to shape our future.

PART ONE - Out of Eden

PART TWO - Conquest

PART THREE - Tropics

Einstein's Unfinished Symphony

2009-02-12T18:24:00.001-05:00

"I am not interested in this phenomenon or that phenomenon," Einstein had said earlier in his life. "I want to know God's thoughts – the rest are mere details." But as he lay there dying in Princeton Hospital he must have understood that these were secrets that God was clearly keen to hang on to. The greatest scientist of his age died knowing that he had become isolated from the scientific community; revered on the one hand, ridiculed for this quest on the other.

It was a journey that started 50 years earlier in Berne, Switzerland. Then - in his early 20s - he was a young man struggling to make his mark. His applications to universities throughout Europe had all been rejected. In the end his father had pulled strings to get him a job as a third class clerk evaluating the latest electrical gizmos.

But in his spare time he was formulating the most extraordinary scientific ideas. In a single year - 1905, a year that would become known as his miracle year – he published papers that would redefine how we see our world and universe.

Time is relative
He confirmed that all matter was composed of molecules – an idea that at the time was controversial. And most famously of all, he published the paper 'On the electrodynamics of moving bodies'. It contained his Theory of Special Relativity and suggested that time - something that had always thought to be unchanging and absolute – was relative. It could speed up or slow down depending on the speed you were travelling. From this paper would come an additional three pages, finished in September of the same year, that would contain the derivation of e=mc², the most famous mathematical equation ever written.

Einstein was on a roll. Ten years after his Theory of Special Relativity, he published his Theory of General Relativity – a piece of work widely acknowledged as his masterpiece. The great 17th century scientist Sir Isaac Newton had described the force of gravity very successfully, but what caused gravity remained a mystery. In this Theory of General Relativity, Einstein suggested that gravity was due to the bending of time and space by massive objects. In 1919 astronomers confirmed this by measuring the bending of starlight around the sun during a solar eclipse.

The battle with quantum mechanics
In 1921, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize, not for his theories of relativity, but for another paper published in 1905. In this paper, Einstein proposed that light was not simply made up of waves, it could also be thought of as discrete, individual particles or quanta. This discovery would revolutionise physics and chemistry, because it would become one of the foundations of a new science: quantum mechanics.

But during the 1920s the new science of quantum mechanics began to turn the tide against the way Einstein saw the world. Young pretenders in the field of physics had begun to emerge, such as Heisenberg, Bohr and Schrödinger, who are now some of the most famous figures in science. But at the time they were mavericks. They saw quantum mechanics as a brand new way of interpreting everything.

A core element to their new interpretation of the world was that at a fundamental level, everything was unpredictable. You could, for example, accurately tell the speed of a particle but not – at the same time – its position. Or its position but not its speed. It meant that precise predictions were impossible – the best you could hope for was a science based on probabilities.

God does not play dice
Einstein's work was underpinned by the idea that the laws of physics were an expression of the divine. This belief led him to think that everything could be described by simple, elegant mathematics and moreover, that once you knew these laws you could describe the universe with absolute accuracy. Einstein loathed the implications of quantum mechanics. It was a clash of ideologies.

The conflict reached a crescendo in the late 1920s at the Solvay Conference in Belgium. There Einstein clashed with the great Danish physicist Niels Bohr over the nature of the universe. Einstein constantly challenged Bohr over the implications of quantum mechanics, but never budged from his belief that "God does not play dice", meaning that nothing would be left to chance in the universe. To which the quantum mechanics community replied: "Einstein, stop telling God what to do with his dice."

The theory of everything
But Einstein had a trick up his sleeve. He had already begun a piece of work that he believed would ultimately replace quantum mechanics. It would become later known as his theory of everything – it was his attempt to extend general relativity and unite the known forces in the universe.

By completing this theory of everything Einstein hoped he would rid physics of the unpredictability at the heart of quantum mechanics and show that the world was predictable – described by beautiful, elegant mathematics. Just the way he believed God would make the universe. He would show that the way the quantum mechanics community interpreted the world was just plain wrong. It was a project that he would work on for the next 30 years, until the final day of his life.

But while Einstein's theory of everything may be considered to have been a failure, it is an idea that still fascinates and draws some of the brightest minds in physics. Today many believe that String Theory is our best candidate for a theory of everything. But the ultimate irony is that lurking at the heart of String Theory is the very thing that, because of his beliefs, Einstein had been unable to accept: quantum mechanics.

The Journey of Man - A Genetic Odyssey

2009-02-12T18:23:00.003-05:00

By analyzing DNA from people in all regions of the world, geneticist Spencer Wells has concluded that all humans alive today are descended from a single man who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago.

Modern humans, he contends, didn't start their spread across the globe until after that time. Most archaeologists would say the exodus began 100,000 years ago—a 40,000-year discrepancy. Wells's take on the origins of modern humans and how they came to populate the rest of the planet is bound to be controversial.

His work adds to an already crowded field of opposing hypotheses proposed by those who seek answers in "stones and bones"—archaeologists and paleoanthropologists—and those who seek them in our blood—population geneticists and molecular biologists.

Over the last decade, major debate on whether early humans evolved in Africa or elsewhere, when they began outward migration, where they went, and whether they interbred with or replaced archaic species has moved out of scientific journals and into the public consciousness.

In this documentary, Wells addresses these issues. In a straightforward story, he explains how he traced the exodus of modern humans from Africa by analyzing genetic changes in DNA from the y-chromosome.

"As often happens in science," he said, "technology has opened up a field to new ways of answering old questions—often providing startling answers."

Of course, not everyone agrees with him...what do you think?

Einstein's Equation of Life and Death

2009-02-12T18:17:00.002-05:00

In the summer of 1939 Albert Einstein was on holiday in a small resort town on the tip of Long Island. His peaceful summer, however, was about to be shattered by a visit from an old friend and colleague from his years in Berlin. The visitor was the physicist Leo Szilard. He had come to tell Einstein that he feared the Nazis could soon be in possession of a terrible new weapon and that something had to be done.

Szilard believed that recent scientific breakthroughs meant it was now possible to convert mass into energy. And that this could be used to make a bomb. If this were to happen, it would be a terrible realisation of the law of nature Einstein had discovered some 34 years earlier.

September 1905 was Einstein's 'miracle year'. While working as a patents clerk in the Swiss capital Berne Einstein submitted a three-page supplement to his special theory of relativity, published earlier that year. In those pages he derived the most famous equation of all time; e=mc², energy is equal to mass multiplied by the speed of light squared.

The equation showed that mass and energy were related and that one could, in theory, be transformed into the other. But because the speed of light squared is such a huge number, it meant that even a small amount of mass could potentially be converted into a huge amount of energy. Ever since the discovery of radioactivity in the late 19th century, scientists had realised that the atomic nucleus could contain a large amount of energy. Einstein's revolutionary equation showed them, for the first time, just how much there was.

However, at the time Einstein doubted whether that energy could ever be released. By 1935 he was convinced it would never be practical. At the Winter Session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Pittsburgh, he is quoted as telling journalists: "The likelihood of transforming matter into energy is something akin to shooting birds in the dark in a country where there are only a few birds."

Einstein was so sceptical because attempts to break open the atomic nucleus always required more far energy be put in than was ever released. Nuclear physicists like Ernest Rutherford were exploring the structure of the atom by bombarding atomic nuclei with alpha particles. Even when machines were built to accelerate the alpha particles to ever higher speeds they had only limited success in breaking apart the nucleus. In 1933 Rutherford dismissed talk of atomic power as 'moonshine'.

One morning in September 1933 Szilard read Rutherford's comments in The Times. Leaving his hotel and crossing the street, he had a brainwave. Alpha particles and the other particles that physicists had been using to bombard the nucleus were simply the wrong tool for the job, because he realised that they, like the nucleus, had a positive charge.

Since like charges repel, Szilard thought, no matter how hard you fire them in, the majority would simply be deflected away. That morning he was one of the first to realise that the recently discovered neutron might be what was needed. The neutron, a subatomic particle like a proton but with no electric charge was discovered in 1932. With no charge, Szilard believed the neutron would simply slip into the heart of the atom undeflected.

But he didn't stop there. Szilard thought that if an atom could be found that is split open by neutrons, not only would it release some of its huge store of energy, it might also release further neutrons, which could then go on and split further atoms, setting up a chain reaction leading to a truly vast release of energy. Szilard immediately saw the possible military applications and sought to patent the idea and have it made an official secret. But in 1933, the chain reaction only existed in Szilard's head. No one had yet found an atom that could be split by neutrons.

These developments were happening against a background of extraordinary political turmoil in Europe. Hitler had come to power in Germany in January 1933. In 1938, less than a year before the outbreak of World War II, just such an atom was found, uranium.

Working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, the nuclear chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman found that when bombarded with neutrons, uranium split into two nuclei of roughly half the size. Not only that, but further calculations showed that a large amount of energy was also released - enough from a single nucleus to move a grain of sand. The first stage of Szilard's chain reaction had been achieved.

When he heard the news Szilard, now in New York and working at Columbia University with Enrico Fermi, set about showing whether, as well as energy, further 'secondary' neutrons were released. By July 1939, when he first knocked on Einstein's door, he knew that they were and so the chain reaction was possible. Also, he and Fermi had settled on a design for the first nuclear reactor.

During the course of their conversations in the summer of 1939, Szilard explained these new developments to Einstein and his fear that the Nazis might use them to create a nuclear bomb. Together they drafted a letter, signed by Einstein, to the American President, Franklin Roosevelt. The letter was delivered to the President on the 11 October 1939 and after reading it the President provided funding for research that would pave the way for the Manhattan Project and lead, ultimately to the construction of the first atomic bomb. After signing the letter, Einstein played no further part in the development of the bomb.

With the first atomic explosion over Hiroshima, the power of e=mc² had been graphically demonstrated to the world. Just 0.6 grams of mass, converted into energy, had been enough to destroy an entire city.

Einstein was horrified when he heard that the bomb had been dropped. When they, wrote to the President, Szilard and Einstein advocated the development of an American bomb purely as a deterrent against the threat of a Nazi weapon. They had not conceived of its use as an offensive weapon, especially after the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Einstein always saw e=mc² as a purely theoretical insight and refuted any responsibility for the bomb but he did feel some responsibility for the letter he'd written to Roosevelt. A letter he would come to describe as "the one mistake" of his life. Einstein saw nuclear weapons and the nuclear arms race as a threat to the future of civilisation. In his final years he devoted much of his time and energy to issues dealing with the world's future - advocating pacifism and campaigning for the control of nuclear weapons, not by individual nations, but by a world government. The last document he signed, just a week before he died, was a manifesto drawn up by Bertrand Russell, renouncing war and nuclear weapons. As Russell said: ""Einstein was not only a great scientist he was a great man. He stood for peace in a world drifting towards war..."

But while the bomb proved e=mc² to be the ultimate equation of destruction, only after his death has the role of Einstein's equation in the creation of the universe become clear. Just as mass can be turned into energy in a bomb, the pure energy generated in the Big Bang condensed into the matter that makes up our world. Almost a hundred years ago, with just six short pen stokes Einstein unlocked one of the most powerful truths about the universe. A truth that would change our world, both for good and ill.

Richard Dawkins - The Enemies of Reason

2009-02-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

There are two ways of looking at the world – through faith and superstition or through the rigours of logic, observation and evidence – in other words, through reason. Reason and a respect for evidence are precious commodities, the source of human progress and our safeguard against fundamentalists and those who profit from obscuring the truth.

Yet, today, society appears to be retreating from reason. Apparently harmless but utterly irrational belief systems from astrology to New Age mysticism, clairvoyance to alternative health remedies are booming. Richard Dawkins confronts what he sees as an epidemic of irrational, superstitious thinking... He explains the dangers the pick and mix of knowledge and nonsense poses in the internet age, and passionately re-states the case for reason and science.

The Irrational Health Service
In this episode, Dawkins looks at how health has become a battleground between reason and superstition. A third of us now spend a total of over 1.6 billion a year on superstitious alternative remedies, but 80% of them have never been subjected to properly conducted trials.

Slaves to Superstition
In the episode, Dawkins tackles the epidemic of irrational, superstitious thinking which is blotting the light of logic and evidence. After garnering tips on psychics' entirely earthly trade secrets from the illusionist Derren Brown, Dawkins attends a seance and confronts the medium. Time and again, the interviewees appeal to personal revelation or second-hand anecdote to justify their belief.

Richard Dawkins - The Blind Watchmaker

2009-02-12T17:49:00.001-05:00

One of the earliest efforts from Richard Dawkins in his identification and attack on the rise of creationism with the rising star of the US fundamentalist christian demographic. In the important documentary, Dawkins shows ways to easily refute some of the more common creationist arguments.

Dawkins begins with the question, "Did everything in Creation fall together by chance or was there an intelligent designer like God?" He then looks at the spreading disaffection with Darwinism and argues that it should not be written off as a worn out declaration of scientific faith.

Whilst this is an aging documentary, it was an important key step in the growing assertion of science as the ONLY paradigm worthy of consideration to a highly developed species.

Human, All Too Human

2009-02-12T17:43:00.005-05:00

Human, All Too Human
This three part documentary series looks at the lives and thoughts of three of the most important philosophical thinkers of the contemporary period - Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Nietzsche was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy, and science, using a distinctive German language style and displaying a fondness for metaphor and aphorism. Nietzsche's influence remains substantial within and beyond philosophy, notably in existentialism and postmodernism.

His style and radical questioning of the value and objectivity of truth raise considerable problems of interpretation, generating an extensive secondary literature in both continental and analytic philosophy. Nevertheless, some of his key ideas include interpreting tragedy as an affirmation of life, an eternal recurrence (which numerous commentators have re-interpreted), a rejection of Platonism, and a repudiation of both Christianity and Egalitarianism (especially in the form of Democracy and Socialism).

Nietzsche began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. At the age of 24 he was appointed to the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel (the youngest individual ever to have held this position), but resigned in 1879 because of health problems, which would plague him for most of his life. In 1889 he exhibited symptoms of insanity, living out his remaining years in the care of his mother and sister until his death in 1900.

Martin Heidegger
Heidegger claimed that Western philosophy has, since Plato, misunderstood what it means for something "to be," tending to approach this question in terms of a being, rather than asking about being itself. In other words, Heidegger believed all investigations of being have historically focused on particular entities and their properties, or have treated being itself as an entity, or substance, with properties.

A more authentic analysis of being would, for Heidegger, investigate "that on the basis of which beings are already understood," or that which underlies all particular entities and allows them to show up as entities in the first place. But since philosophers and scientists have overlooked the more basic, pre-theoretical ways of being from which their theories derive, and since they have incorrectly applied those theories universally, they have confused our understanding of being and human existence. To avoid these deep-rooted misconceptions, Heidegger believed philosophical inquiry must be conducted in a new way, through a process of retracing the steps of the history of philosophy.

Heidegger argued that this misunderstanding, commencing from Plato, has left its traces in every stage of Western thought. All that we understand, from the way we speak to our notions of "common sense," is susceptible to error, to fundamental mistakes about the nature of being. These mistakes filter into the terms through which being is articulated in the history of philosophy—reality, logic, God, consciousness, presence, et cetera. In his later philosophy, Heidegger argues that this profoundly affects the way in which human beings relate to modern technology.

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris to Jean-Baptiste Sartre, an officer of the French Navy, and Anne-Marie Schweitzer. His mother was of Alsatian origin, and was a cousin of German Nobel prize laureate Albert Schweitzer.

When Sartre was 15 months old, his father died of a fever. Anne-Marie raised him with help from her father, Charles Schweitzer, a high school professor of German, who taught Sartre mathematics and introduced him to classical literature at a very early age. As a teenager in the 1920s, Sartre became attracted to philosophy upon reading Henri Bergson's Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness.

He studied and earned a doctorate in philosophy in Paris at the elite École Normale Supérieure, an institution of higher education which was the alma mater for several prominent French thinkers and intellectuals. Sartre was influenced by many aspects of Western philosophy, absorbing ideas from Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger among others. In 1929 at the École Normale, he met Simone de Beauvoir, who studied at the Sorbonne and later went on to become a noted philosopher, writer, and feminist. The two, it is documented, became inseparable and lifelong companions, initiating a romantic relationship, though they were not monogamous. Sartre served as a conscript in the French Army from 1929 to 1931 though he later argued in 1959 that each French person was responsible for the collective crimes during the Algerian War of Independence.