ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 724

A Brief History Of Everything, With Neil deGrasse Tyson

Space





Photo credit:

Quintuplet Cluster. NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image.

Most of us have been exposed to the concepts of astrophysics, the Big Bang theory, and evolution. Some may be very well versed, others may have a rudimentary understanding

Either way - I can promise you will never have heard them explained so eloquently, clearly and simplistically as you will in the following video.

One of the worlds favourite science communicators takes us on a journey from before the beginning of the universe, all the way through to the evolution of our own species on our very own little floating rock.

 

Plant Defense Hormones Build Healthy Microbiomes for Roots

Plants and Animals





Photo credit:

An intricately structured soil bacterium, less than a micron in size, makes its home on the root surface of an Arabidopsis plant. Alice Dohnalkova/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Defensive plant hormones that protect leaves up in the air also help to build a community of helpful microbes for the roots below the ground, a new Science study shows. 

This Exoskeleton Allows Paralyzed People To Walk

Technology





Photo credit:

New ReWalk Personal 6.0/ReWalk

The world watched in awe last year when a paraplegic man strode onto the pitch at the football World Cup and took the first kick. With the assistance of an incredibly hefty, Iron Man-style bodysuit, the man was able to control his movements with his thoughts and even experience the sensation of the strike.

Scientists Discover How This Beautiful Shimmering Creature Turns Invisible

Plants and Animals





Photo credit:

Screenshot from YouTube/American Chemical Society.

Comic books and movies have us dreaming of invisibility, and scientists are even working really hard to bring us real life invisibility cloaks (but they will probably never be as good as Harry Potter’s). But did you know that there’s a truly awesome little animal out there that has pipped us to the invisibility post?

Researchers Increase Efficiency Of Novel “Solar Fuel Cell”

Technology





Photo credit:

Gallium phosphide nanowires seen through an electron microscope. Eindhoven University of Technology.

Solar cells used to produce electricity are now commonplace. But a solar cell used to produce fuel? Researchers have developed a new prototype “solar fuel cell”, using gallium phosphide nanowires, that turns sunlight into an electrical charge and splits water to produce hydrogen all in one. They say that the novel use of the nanowires increases the efficiency of gallium phosphide cells by up to ten times, while at the same time using ten thousand times less of the precious metal.

Returning To The Moon Is Ten Times Cheaper Than Thought, And It Could Lead To Mars

Space





Photo credit:

Colonizing the Moon might not be so difficult after all. NASA.

Traveling to the Moon just got a whole lot cheaper. A NASA-funded study (PDF) has found that the cost of lunar missions could be reduced by a factor of 10 using a number of techniques – and it could also have implications for getting humans to Mars.

Hubble Snaps Incredible Image Of A Super Bright Star Cluster At The Milky Way’s Heart

Space





Photo credit:

This infrared image is our clearest view of the Quintuplet Cluster yet. NASA.

NASA and ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope has peered into a fascinating cluster of stars located towards the center of our Milky Way. Known as the Quintuplet Cluster, this region had been hard to observe until now, owing to its position just 100 light-years from the center of the galaxy, 25,000 light-years from Earth.

The Most Advanced Robots in the World

The most advanced robots in the world might not be exactly what you’re expecting. But they’re shaping humanity’s future.

Hosted by: Michael Aranda

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Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters — we couldn’t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Justin Ove, Chris Peters, John Szymakowski, Peso255, Fatima Iqbal, Justin Lentz, and David Campos.

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Sources:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/new-da-vinci-xi-surgical-robot

http://investor.intuitivesurgical.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=122359&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1914477

http://www.medgadget.com/2013/09/intuitive-surgicals-firefly-fluorescence-imaging-vision-system-fda-cleared-for-gallbladder-surgery.html

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/july/nasa-announces-mars-2020-rover-payload-to-explore-the-red-planet-as-never-before

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120928-controlling-curiosity

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/nasa-mars-curiosity-rover-autonomous-driving-mode

http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/

http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/8/8745143/darpa-robotics-challenge-winner-pictures

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/how-kaist-drc-hubo-won-darpa-robotics-challenge

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/darpa-robotics-challenge-amazing-moments-lessons-learned-whats-next

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/selfdrivingcar/files/reports/report-0615.pdf

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/08/the-1000-robot-swarm/

Atheist Experience #927 with Matt Dillahunty and Jen Peeples

The Atheist Experience #927 for July 19, 2015, with Matt Dillahunty and Jen Peeples.

We welcome your comments on the open blog thread for this show.

► http://freethoughtblogs.com/axp/2015/07/20/open-thread-for-episode-927-matt-and-jen/

VISIT THE ACA’S OFFICIAL WEB SITES

► http://www.atheist-community.org (The Atheist Community of Austin)

► http://www.atheist-experience.com (The Atheist Experience TV Show)

More shows and video clips can be found in the archive:

► http://www.atheist-experience.com/archive

DVDs of the Atheist Experience can be purchased via:

► http://www.atheist-community.org/products

NOTES

TheAtheistExperience is the official channel of The Atheist Experience. “The Atheist Experience” is a trademark of the ACA.

Copyright © 2015 Atheist Community of Austin. All rights reserved.

Drone Captures Amazing Footage Of A Tornado

Technology





Photo credit:

Drone's-eye view of a twister in Hutchinson, Kansas. Justin Watkins/YouTube.

Tornados can be a terrifying natural disaster, ripping apart homes and businesses and leaving destruction in their wake.

But if you had a view of a tornado from a safe distance, you could marvel at the spectacle.

That’s what YouTube user Justin Watkins did with his drone, flying up and around a tornado in Hutchinson, Kansas, and capturing the phenomenal footage below.