Wingtip Vortices
A very well-explained description of the theory of lift and of how the energy-sapping wingtip vortices are created in aircraft flight. This talk was the runner-up in the 2016 Kroto Prize for Innovative Use of Technology in Science Learning.
More details | Watch nowQuantum Spin Hall effect in graphene
The quantum spin Hall effect is a topological state of matter characterized by sustaining gapless chiral edge states together with an insulating bulk. This phase can be triggered out by applying strong magnetic fields in a graphene sample
More details | Watch nowA Random Walk in Science
I will discuss my random walk in science, from my graduate student on postdoctoral years testing the Weinberg-Salam-Glashow theory of electro-weak forces, and then to energy transfer in condensed matter systems, the spectroscopy of positronium, laser....
More details | Watch nowDiscovery of the Higgs Particle
Recently the Higgs particle has been discovered at CERN. This particle was theoretically predicted. The historical development of field theory, leading to this prediction will be discussed.
More details | Watch nowLight Quanta and Their Idiosyncrasies
Maxwell's electromagnetic theory (now 150 years old) seemed in its comprehensive way to be capable of answering all of the questions one might ever pose about the theory of light. But that spell was broken in 1900 by Planck's discovery that light bea....
More details | Watch nowThe Origin of Elementary Particle Masses
In the beginning of the 60s, the laws of classical general relativity, Einstein's generalisation of Newtonian gravity, and of quantum electrodynamics, the quantum version of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory, were known. These laws describe long range....
More details | Watch nowElectron Transfer Theory in Single Molecule Studies of Intermittent Fluorescence of Quantum Dots and in Initial Steps in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells
Intermittently fluorescing single molecule systems are found in many materials, including semiconductor quantum dots (QD), dyes on crystalline or nanoparticle film surfaces, and biological systems. The QD's show a ~ -3/2 power law for the distributio....
More details | Watch nowWhat goes up must come down
A fascinating discussion between two humanoids about the mystery force of gravity.
More details | Watch nowDensity Functional Theory: three non-technical explanations
What do six brides have to do with Density-Functional Theory? Discover it in this lecture, in which the essential ideas behind DFT are explained in three different non-technical ways. After this practical lecture, you will be able to understand the m....
More details | Watch nowMolecular Bilateral Symmetry of Natural Products: Prediction of Selectivity of Dimeric Molecules by Density Functional Theory and Semiempirical Calculations
Radiation in Your Kitchen: Basic Microwave Oven Physics
They're awesome to have in the kitchen, but did you ever wonder how your microwave actually works? This is a quick introduction to the theory that makes our home microwave ovens possible. Here, Daniel covers the differences between microwave heati....
More details | Watch nowPart 3: Selective Microwave Heating of a Polar Reaction Substrate
In part three of this three part series, FSU chemist Dr. Gregory Dudley, summarizes the conclusions of ongoing FSU microwave chemistry research. He discusses the implications and future prospects of microwave research, addressing how other labs could....
More details | Watch nowPart 2: Selective Microwave Heating of an Ionic Reagent
In part two of this three part series, FSU chemist Dr. Gregory Dudley, discusses in depth the microwave chemistry research he's conducted in collaboration with FSU colleague Dr. Al Stiegman. The research outlines Friedel-Crafts substitutions, Aryl-Cl....
More details | Watch nowPart 1: Selective Microwave Heating Design and Theory
In part one of this three part series, FSU chemist Dr. Gregory Dudley, puts forth the controversy that surrounds microwave chemistry research, he outlines physical theory of microwave chemistry, and discusses the research teams central design hypothe....
More details | Watch nowMicrowave Chemistry Introduction: Your dial goes up to 11
This is the introduction to a three part research presentation on microwave chemistry given by FSU chemist Dr. Gregory Dudley. Dudley reports on joint FSU research surrounding microwave chemistry and its previously unknown potential in lab applicatio....
More details | Watch nowNatural Selection and the Future of Life
In his lecture Professor Christian Rene de DuvŽ gives a rough overview on the history of life starting about 3.5 billion years ago with the first cells up to the appearance of the first primates 70 million years ago, and he states that all organisms....
More details | Watch nowOn the Genetic Basis of Morphological Evolution
Darwin's theory of evolution states that variation of the shape and pattern of the adults rather than the embryos are the basis for natural selection. In order to understand how morphological variation arises, it is important to identify the genes th....
More details | Watch nowDNA between Physics and Biology
The association of DNA with water is known since the deciphering of its double helical structure by X-Ray diffraction in 1953 (Watson, Crick, Wilkins and Franklin). However the power of DNA for organizing water seems to go far beyond the direct fill....
More details | Watch nowUpdated Notions on Darwinian Evolution
Charles Darwin had based his theory of biological evolution on the observation that phenotypic variants of a given species can sometimes over-grow their parental population, and he attributed this to selective advantage, i.e., to the impact of natura....
More details | Watch nowThe Individuality of Light Quanta
Light quanta are the fundamental units of radiant energy. When propagating freely they travel at the fastest attainable speed and live forever. These properties recommend them as the ideal messengers for communication of all sorts. Ordinary light ....
More details | Watch nowThe Large Hadron Collider and the Super World
In the period 1990 to 2001 many powerful new astronomical observational facilities have become operational. Hubble Space telescope was launched in 1990; it was followed by the construction of Keck I in 1992 and Keck II in 1996, by the completion of....
More details | Watch nowThe Development of Particle Physics
Particle physics mainly developed after World War II. It has its roots in the first half of the previous century, when it became clear that all matter is made up from atoms, and the atoms in turn were found to contain a nucleus surrounded by electro....
More details | Watch nowWhat is Quantum Optics?
The image of light waves as oscillating electromagnetic fields explains virtually all the phenomena of traditional optics. An awareness that these waves are somehow subdivided into quanta has however been with us since the early 20th century. The....
More details | Watch nowThe Development of Particle Physics
Particle physics mainly developed after World War II. It has its roots in the first half of the previous century, when it became clear that all matter is made up from atoms, and the atoms in turn were found to contain a nucleus surrounded by electro....
More details | Watch nowThe Revolutionary Impact of the GOOYouWiki World (GYWW) on Education and Student Success
Prof. Kroto starts his lecture with remarks on his boyhood and his passions at school and University, especially graphic art and drawing. He mentions his 4/5 rule and shows the connection between theory and experiments, and he is sold on scientific....
More details | Watch nowDarwinian evolution as understood by scientists of the 21st century
After a short reminder of the historical development of evolutionary biology, elements to a molecular theory of Darwinian evolution will be presented. Biological evolution is driven by the availability of genetic variants in populations. The occasi....
More details | Watch nowThe cell cycle and cancer
It was in 1882 that Walther Flemming published drawings of chromosomes lining up in mitosis and parting equally to the daughters of cell division, and 20 years later that Theodor Boveri explained the significance of the chromosome dance in terms of t....
More details | Watch nowScience, Society & Sustainability
The fact that our modern world is so completely and precariously balanced on Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) makes an understanding of these disciplines by all in positions of significant responsibility vital. lthough wise decision-making ....
More details | Watch nowFrom ‘On Water’ and Enzyme Catalysis to Single Molecules and Quantum Dots, Theory and Experiment
Much of theoretical chemistry has involved equations and their application to experiments, Debye, Debye-Hueckel, Transition State Theory, Kramers, LCAO, RRKM, among others. In fortunate circumstances one can, as in a theory of electron transfer reac....
More details | Watch nowSingle Molecule Studies of Initial Steps in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells and of Quantum Dots – Examples of Electron Transfers and Relation to Ensemble Studies
We consider two fields of single molecule studies of intermittently fluorescing systems. In both fields the intermittency is assumed to involve diffusion controlled electron transfer. One of these studies involves the initial steps in dye-sensiti....
More details | Watch nowSuperposition, Entanglement, and Raising Schrödinger’s Cat
In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger, one of the inventors of quantum mechanics, illustrated his discomfort with the theory by pointing out that its extension to the macroscopic world could lead to bizarre situations such as a cat being simultaneously alive a....
More details | Watch nowControlling Photons in a Box and Exploring the Quantum to Classical Boundary
The founders of quantum theory assumed in 'thought experiments' that they were manipulating isolated quantum systems, obeying the counterintuitive laws which they had just discovered. Technological advances have recently turned these virtual experi....
More details | Watch nowThe Quantum Mechanics of Light: Interference, Entanglement – and Ghosts
The early days of the quantum theory presented many dilemmas connected with interference phenomena and what we have come to call the entanglement of states. We are much better able to deal with these problems now, both in theory and experiment, but t....
More details | Watch nowFive Decades of Lasers, Six Decades of Progress, and a Proposed Space Experiment to test Einstein’s Assumptions
Even though this is the 51st year of the Laser, progress in its control and application in precision measurements is still accelerating. The Optical Frequency Comb technology exploded in 1999-2000 from the synthesis of advances in independent field....
More details | Watch nowA Century of Quantum Mechanics
In October 2011 we celebrated the centenary of the Solvay conferences that played a unique and important role in the development of twentieth century physics, most notably in the quantum revolution whose birth overlapped the initiation of these meeti....
More details | Watch nowThe Real M-Theory
How can one advance a working hypothesis that will not be wrong tomorrow and ridiculous the day after? Beyond the Standard Model we find uncertainty and confusion, with both unclarity as to which might be the correct theory, as well as little in the ....
More details | Watch nowCreating Artificial Magnetic Fields to Act on Neutral Atoms
Cold, quantum degenerate gases of neutral atoms have proved to be useful in simulating the behavior of quantum systems like electrons in solids. For example, cold atoms moving in optical lattices (periodic potentials created by interfering laser be....
More details | Watch nowThe LHC at CERN and the Higgs
The strong interactions, the forces responsible for the interactions between quarks and notably supposedly responsible for quark confinement, profited from the development of gauge theories. In the wake of the gauge theory of weak interactions also....
More details | Watch nowMaterial Characterization: It Takes A Lot of Tools to Solve the Problem
Jonathan Christian discusses what it means to be a material/physical chemist. He shows how a physical chemist characterizes materials using his research into Chromium 3+ polyoxometalates.
More details | Watch nowWhat is Color?
FSU undergrad, Daniel Stribling, investigates the intimate relationship between light and color. Daniel discusses the history, physics, and theory of light to engage young learners and encourage them to be excited about science.
More details | Watch nowResearch in Action: Evaluation of a Prison-Based Domestic Violence Program
A doctoral student at FSU's College of Social Work, Annelise Mennicke, presents her research investigating intimate partner violence or "IPV". Annelise's research focuses on the context of IPV perpetration as opposed to a victim based approach, resea....
More details | Watch nowHelix – Episode 1 – Genetics
Helix is an educational series covering genetic disorders, brought to you by Patricia Martin and powered by GEOSET Studios. In this first episode, Patricia primes young learners on modern genetic theory before diving into the exciting field of geneti....
More details | Watch nowThe asymmetric Universe
Modern scientific theory describes a perfectly symmetrical Universe. A Universe in which matter is destroyed within an instant of its appearance and where nothing we now know could ever have happened. Human life itself seems to be lopsided, as the sp....
More details | Watch nowThe popular reception of relativity in Britain
How did it feel to open a newspaper in November 1919 to be greeted by headlines about 'Light Caught Bending' and a 'Revolution in Space and Time'? Einstein's relativity reached a wide public audience in the context of social change. The theory's inte....
More details | Watch nowIron from the sky: the potential influence of meteorites on ancient Egyptian culture.
Ancient Egyptian belief was frequently derived from observations of the natural world, where the gods were considered to control the forces of nature; and as a society, ancient Egyptians placed great value upon order and balance. So how would the app....
More details | Watch nowThe Information. A History, A Theory, A Flood.
James Gleick shows how information has become the modern era’s defining quality - the blood, the fuel, the vital principle of our world. The story of information begins in a time profoundly unlike our own, when every thought and utterance vanished ....
More details | Watch nowLooking for patterns in the prime numbers
The prime numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17... are those whole numbers with no factors, numbers that divide evenly into larger numbers, other than themselves and 1. They are the building blocks of arithmetic and have fascinated mathematicians for millen....
More details | Watch nowNatural History and the Rights of Woman
During the two-year period of the composition and publication of her Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of Mary Shelley and early advocate of women’s rights, read and reviewed a number of important works of n....
More details | Watch nowThe edges of the universe: black holes, horizons and strings
The visible universe has edges, known as event horizons, which surround a black hole or a region of space speeding away faster than light. Event horizons are governed by a strikingly simple set of quantum laws which imply that black holes are at on....
More details | Watch now‘How should a chemist understand brewing?’ Beer and theory around 1800
Eighteenth-century chemists could gain useful income and patronage as advisors to industry – and some of the wealthiest and most influential industrialists were brewers. Making chemical knowledge credible to this audience, however, was not always e....
More details | Watch nowHuman Sound
Sound is produced in the larynx; filtering it in the vocal tract produces formants and phonemes. The acoustics, mechanics and some neurobiology of hearing. Pitch perception.
More details | Watch nowQueueing theory
Bill introduces queueing theory and uses it to design the most efficient check out line
More details | Watch nowSocial networks in the internet.
The Web has become the fabric of our lives. However, its understanding in terms of social practice is obscured by ideology and media sensationalism, in spite of the fact that social sciences have gathered over the last decade a solid record of empiri....
More details | Watch nowInformation theory meets writing
Professor MacKay talks about Dasher, and other communication systems designed using information theory; especially communication systems aimed at disabled people.
More details | Watch nowOrigin of Life on Earth: Abiogenesis
This presentation portrays a general overview of the theory of abiogenesis and its conceptual history. From the theory of spontaneous generation to biogenesis to the modern-day abiogenesis, the changing perception of the origin of life is discussed.....
More details | Watch nowColor Theory
For my project I am giving a brief history of color theory with emphasis on how science and color theory have interacted. I focus on aspects like primary colors, how color is perceived, and the artists who were at the forefront of color and design. I....
More details | Watch nowPhantom Leg Syndrome
Phantom Limb Syndrome occurs in amputees who describe being able to feel their missing limb, sometimes experiencing painful sensations in their phantom limb. Originally, painkillers or psychotherapy were used to try and combat phantom pain, but with ....
More details | Watch nowMagnetism and Electricity
This presentation reviews how magnets work and their uses in the world today. It also explains how magnets and electricity are related and what future inventions could come from using magnets.
More details | Watch nowThe great ideas of biology
Three of the ideas of biology are the gene theory, the theory of evolution by natural selection and the proposal that the cell is the fundamental unit of all life. A fourth idea is that the organization of chemistry within the cell provides explanati....
More details | Watch nowThe mesoscopic world – from plastic bags to brain disease.
Structures looking broadly the same in the optical microscope are found in starch granules within plants, in polythene bags and in sections of diseased brain tissue. Athene Donald explores structural similarities between different assemblies of polym....
More details | Watch nowThe quandary of the quark
99.9% of the visible material in the universe is made of quarks and yet we know surprisingly little about them. Professor Davies describes how the properties of the quark are now being revealed, and the implications that this will have for our unders....
More details | Watch nowWhat is quantum non-locality?
In his talk Sandu will explain this quantum non-locality and present some of the uses of non-locality for quantum information and communication - strange effects such as teleportation - and will discuss the implications of non-locality for understand....
More details | Watch nowComplex Quantum Systems and Number Theory
The last few years have seen the emergence of remarkable connections between fluctuation statistics in complex quantum systems and some long-standing and important problems in number theory, such as the distribution of the primes. They are still myst....
More details | Watch nowTaming the Quanta
Devices are now reaching the realm where individual structures are made up of only a few atoms so that quantum mechanics, the theory of the very small, is playing a crucial role. The inevitable quantum fluctuations produce noise which was initially e....
More details | Watch nowThe uses of infinity: a philosopher looks at emergent phenomena in physics
Emergence, and its contrary, reduction, are buzz-words in both physics and philosophy. Both physicists and philosophers disagree about the extent to which we can understand large-scale or complex phenomena in terms of their microscopic parts.
More details | Watch nowJames Lovelock – A Final Warning
James Lovelock is best known as the father of Gaia theory; the idea that all parts of our planet form a complex interacting system, like a single organism. His new book depicts Gaia in trouble. In this interview Lovelock sounds a final warning for pl....
More details | Watch nowThe Quantum Lattice
Awarded a Nobel Prize for using lasers to control and cool atoms, producing the Bose-Einstein condensation, Bill Phillips is eager to hear about new theories from young scientists like Hannah Venzl. An exciting dialogue develops between them on a boa....
More details | Watch nowAbolishing Time?
David Gross's Nobel Prize was for work on the 'strong' force which acts between quarks inside the atom. Now he works on string theory, hoping to understand how all the forces of nature could be united. He believes the next steps may involve throwing ....
More details | Watch nowMolecular Fingerprinting and Symmetry
Brian Gold presents on the geometry, mathematics, and applications of group theory in chemical fingerprinting.
More details | Watch nowMasers and Lasers
Charles Hard Townes received the Nobel Prize for Phyiscs in 1964 'for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle' He was award half of the P....
More details | Watch nowExtremely Fast Chemical Reactions
This interview starts with Eigen (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1967) talking about his early work for his PhD thesis on fast reactions and measuring the specific heat of heavy water. He says that light water had already been measured in classical chemis....
More details | Watch nowThe Physics of Light
When asked how does he think about the problems of the physics of light, Glauber says that it is an off-shoot of particle physics. He says that he has mainly worked in nuclear physics, quantum electro-dynamics and the quantum theoretical version of M....
More details | Watch nowThe Theory of Everything
Are we on the verge of that holy grail of science, a single theory that explains everything from planets to atomic particles, and if we ever get there, will it be the end, or the beginning of physics? Physicists have theories covering everything fr....
More details | Watch nowWalter Kohn
Walter Kohn is a condensed matter theorist who has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the electronic structure of materials. He played the leading role in the development of density functional theory, which has revolutionized scientis....
More details | Watch nowGerardus ‘t Hooft
Gerardus 't Hooft, the Netherlands shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999 with Martinus J.F. Veltman, the Netherlands 'for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics'. He came from a family of intellectuals. His great....
More details | Watch nowMartinus J.F. Veltman
Martinus J.F. Veltman, the Netherlands shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999 with Gerardus 't Hooft the Netherlands 'for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics'. Not all areas of Holland were very advanced when V....
More details | Watch nowRudolph A. Marcus
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1992 'for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions in chemical systems'. We ask Marcus to explain how he works and he replies that he draws pictures in order to visualize problems. On relig....
More details | Watch nowRichard Feynman – The Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures – Part 1
A gentle lead-in to the subject, Feynman starts by discussing photons and their properties.
More details | Watch nowQuantum Chemist
Dr. Keith Hughes left school at 16 with no science qualifications to become a Paratrooper in the British Army. After qualifying and spending four years serving his country, he decided to leave the army to pursue a chemistry degree and now is now an a....
More details | Watch nowThe Man Who Loved Only Numbers – Paul Erdös
An introduction to the life and style of the amazing Paul Erdös. Paul Hoffman describes the life of Erdös in an intimate and entertaining glimpse into the global world of mathematics. Erdös was unusual not only intellectually but also in the way....
More details | Watch nowBlack holes, Wormholes and Time Travel
The idea of time travel makes great science fiction, but can it really be achieved? Paul Davies, Visiting Professor of Physics at Imperial College, describes wormholes in space and other ways that might allow travel into the past or future.
More details | Watch nowMaking Irrational Numbers Visible
A novel way of showing how root 2 can shown to be irrational, using a paper triangle.
More details | Watch nowThe Magical Story
A story about a genie, a monkey, an ape and an infinite number of coconuts. Who gets the coconuts?
More details | Watch nowThe Use of Optics in Art – David Hockney and Charles Falco
Charles Falco describes his and David Hockney's theory of the use of optical devices by mediaeval artists.
More details | Watch nowIsaac Newton and Gravitation
A look at what was known when Newton started to develop his theory of gravitation and how he used these ideas and data to make his great forward step
More details | Watch nowThe Klein Paradox 2
Standard analysis of the relativistic dynamics of scattering on a step potential leads to a paradox that contradicts the standard interpretation of a wave function in nonrelativistic theory. It is shown how is this result obtained by not being carefu....
More details | Watch nowThe Klein Paradox 1
Standard analysis of the relativistic dynamics of scattering on a step potential leads to a paradox that contradicts the standard interpretation of a wave function in nonrelativistic theory. It is shown how is this result obtained by not being carefu....
More details | Watch nowWhat are we made of?
Development of the ideas which persuaded us to accept the theory of atoms and molecules as constituents of matter.
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