Science Studio

Finding the best multimedia about science on the internet, so you don't have to.

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Final post from our guest picker is Eva Amsen. She writes about science and scientists on easternblot.net, The Finch and Pea, and other places. She is currently running a survey to find out to what extent music and science play a role in people’s lives.

Short NPR documentary about science rap battles for school kids in NYC, organised by Chris Emdin. The kids are obviously learning science, but the focus of the video is all about the competition, music, culture, and finding a place to belong. In the background, unmentioned, you can spot science fan and Wu-Tang Clan member GZA on the judging panel of the competition.

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Death of the Dragon Worm

It’s two for one Friday! I couldn’t resist adding this second pick this week. And I have a third in my back pocket, that I might be able to resist sharing but I might not only time will tell.

This is an extra special pick because not only is this a great new video from Anna Rothschild, but it’s a whole new video series! Rothschild has been doing one-off Gross Science videos for a while now, and I’m so excited that someone at PBS finally made it an official series. 

I picked this one about the dragon worm because, seriously, DRAGON WORMS, but you should watch them all! Happy Friday! >>Rose

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Where Did The Oil Go?

We're just a few days away from the five year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, and yet here we are. And Perrin Ireland at OnEarth Magazine has made a really fabulous video looking at some of the questions scientists are still trying to answer about the spill. Like: where did the oil go?

I love the animation style here, and the way Ireland uses her paints and canvas in such a fluid, evocative way. >> Rose

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A paper from the Offspring

This week’s guest picker is Eva Amsen. She writes about science and scientists oneasternblot.net, The Finch and Pea, and other places. She is currently running a survey to find out to what extent music and science play a role in people’s lives.

The presenters of KROQ Radio’s Kevin and Bean Show have come across a scientific article by The Offspring’s Dexter Holland. They’ve never seen a molecular biology article before, and they have no idea how science PhD degrees work, so they get Holland on the show to explain it all.

Audio at the bottom of the article here >>

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The Enright Files: The Link Between Science and Music

This week’s guest picker is Eva Amsen. She writes about science and scientists on easternblot.net, The Finch and Pea, and other places. She is currently running a survey to find out to what extent music and science play a role in people’s lives. 

Jazz singer Diane Nalini and opera singers Lauren Segal and Isabel Bayrakdarian all have backgrounds in physics or engineering. On CBC’s The Enright Files they discuss how science and music overlap in their lives and in their musical studies.

(Photo from freestock.ca.)

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I know there are approximately eight zillion videos that explain how solar and lunar eclipses work, but bear with me here. I really like this one. Plus, it’s one of the first videos in Vox’s science series. The animation is nice and clear, and maybe I will finally remember how to explain eclipses this time! Bonus points for answering viewer questions in the comments, too. >> Rose

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Animated Life: Pangea

Animated Life: Pangea

I bet very few people grew up hearing about Alfred Wegener, the man who discovered continental drift. As the son of a geologist, I got to hear the story many times, and he was a huge figure -- the man who came to a surprising conclusion that no one believed. I was delighted, therefore, to see him featured in this new piece by Flora Lichtman and Sharon Shattuck for the New York Times Op-Docs series. >> Ben

We’ve picked Lichtman and Shattuck’s work a couple times before: here and here.

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Mindsuckers

If you like multimedia and visual journalism you should definitely check out the recently announced winners of the 2014 Society For News Design award. One of those winners is this great project from National Geographic called Mindsuckers. You’re used to National Geographic having beautiful visuals, but this is a bit of a departure from their usual photojournalistic style. In a series of little animations and images, along with a narrator, you’re taken along the life cycles of three organisms that hijack their hosts. It’s creepy, beautiful and really engaging. >> Rose

(Warning: this link does play sound automatically)

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Two lands

Robert Sapolsky wrote that "The purpose of science is not to cure us of our sense of mystery and wonder, but to constantly reinvent and reinvigorate it." This time-lapse takes you to what seems like the far corners of the Earth, to reinvigorate a sense of wonder and discovery in some mind-blowing natural landscapes. Our planet is seriously amazing.

This is the second pick from our guest picker Vanessa Hill, host and creator of Brain Craft, a PBS series exploring psychology, neuroscience and human behavior.

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The secret life of passwords

As you enter your next password, consider what's behind that string of characters—perhaps more than your Amazon order history or bank details. This series of short videos explores our relationship with technology, and how our humble passwords unlock our hopes, dreams and memories.

This is from our guest picker Vanessa Hill, host and creator of Brain Craft, a PBS series exploring psychology, neuroscience and human behavior.

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Watch how the measles outbreak spreads when kids get vaccinated – and when they don't

There's no shortage of journalism about the current vaccine debates, but I thought this really simple graphic, from the folks over at The Guardian, did a great job of showing how herd immunity works. (You really have to click on the link for this one to get it, I've posted a screenshot, but the piece is an animation that you'll want to see all of.) You can see how different rates of vaccination protect, or don't protect a community, as well as how measles spreads once someone gets infected. It's simple, elegant, and really clear. >> Rose 

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Cat Eyes for Climate Change

Flora Lichtman is hosting a new podcast on the innovative, risky, and, well, downright weird ways people are trying to actually do something about climate change called The Adaptors. This one is my favorite so far, just because the idea is so out there. Lichtman interviews Matthew Liao about his plan to help us handle the changing climate through engineering humans to have things like fur, or cat eyes, or meat allergies to help us kick the meat habit. It's weird, but Lichtman manages to make it weirdly endearing. I can't wait to hear more from this podcast. >> Rose

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Emily Willoughby -- Paleoartist and Bird Illustrator

The final pick by guest picker Annalee Newitz, the creator of io9 and current Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo.

There are many incredible paleoartists, but Willoughby's careful, beautiful illustrations of small dinosaurs with feathers are among the most arresting I have ever seen. She often works with paleontology researchers to illustrate their papers, and brings her knowledge of the bird world to bear on realistic paintings of four-winged microraptors hunting in the forest and contemplative baby megalosauroids on the beach. In her website gallery, you'll be fully immersed in the ecosystems that time forgot.

See more at emilywilloughby.com >>

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Youreka Science

Our second pick by guest picker Annalee Newitz, the creator of io9 and current Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo.

This video series is one of my favorite places to immerse myself in the life sciences. Created by UC San Francisco student (and elementary school teacher) Florie Mar, each short video uses whiteboard animation to explain a recently-published scientific paper, on topics ranging from how HIV affects the microbiome to how chromosomes age. Somehow, Mar makes even the most complicated scientific research fascinating and easy to follow -- and her drawings are a huge bonus.

See more from Youreka Science >>

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San Francisco Archipelago

Our guest picker this week is Annalee Newitz, the creator of io9 and current Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo.

This poster of the San Francisco Bay Area after 100 feet of sea level rise was the result of a collaboration between San Francisco blogger Burrito Justice, and the map makers at Urban Life Signs. What sets it apart from typical "your world after sea level rise" maps is that Burrito Justice understands San Francisco history and culture so well, and has created new landmarks and cultural icons for this "archipelago city," along with ferry routes (and annoyed commuters, of course).

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What Give the Morpho Butterfly It's Magnificent Blue?

This isn't just a gorgeously shot and wonderfully explained piece from KQED's Deep Look series, it's also a fascinating look into the unexpected ways that biology produces colors.

>> Ben

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Here's a fun fact you might not know: the largest organism in the world isn't the blue whale. It's a fungus. Here, Kew Gardens gives you a peak into their collection of fungi, one that holds about 1.25 million specimens. (Let's pause so you can take that number in). 

I love this video because it's incredibly cinematic. The music, the lighting, the pacing, I feel like I'm watching a movie rather than an explainer or a documentary. Plus, fungi are incredibly cool. (A big thanks to Erin Chapman for pointing this video out to me).   >> Rose