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26.Painting the mona lisa with genetic algorithm (rogeralsing.com)
Great example of "show, not tell" -- use a genetic algorithm with random mutations to recreate the Mona Lisa, using only 50 overlapping triangles.
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27.
The Exponential Function (www.youtube.com) -
28.The MegaPenny Project (www.kokogiak.com)
A good complement to Kalid's "How to develop a sense of scale" article.
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29.Nice description of the halting problem (www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca)
Much easier to understand than the formal explanation in Wikipedia.
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30.How much information is in a raindrop? (math.ucr.edu)
Interesting analysis of the amount of information stored in a single raindrop (when viewed at a molecular level). Another way to get a sense of scale -- notice how he relates units to things we can wrap our minds around (all email sent in a 2002).
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31.
Abbot & Costello skit on math (www.youtube.com)How many times have you been given an explanation like this? :)
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32.The Mechanical Universe ... and Beyond (www.learner.org)
52 half-hour videos. Watch for free online (with free registration). These were produced by Caltech with Tom M Apostol, David Goodstein, James F. Blinn, and Richard Olenick. The books that support this series are also reissued with the same title.
I like to think of this video series as the Better Explained version on video about physics and calculus.
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33.Dimensions – A walk thru mathematics (www.dimensions-math.org)
A film for a wide audience! (I've shown parts to second graders, but it's not child's play, some of it can get complex, literally, from the complex numbers chapters and beyond.)
Nine chapters, two hours of math, that take you gradually up to the fourth dimension. You can download two quality versions or watch it online. -
34.Möbius Transformations Revealed (www.ima.umn.edu)
A short video by Douglas Arnold and Jonathan Rogness that depicts the beauty of Möbius transformations and shows how moving to a higher dimension reveals their essential unity.
The reason I used this link, instead of YouTube, is that from here you can download very high quality versions that I can recommend.
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35.
Emergence - Complexity from Simplicity, Order from Chaos (www.youtube.com)Emergent complexity can arise from simple interactions between agents following rules. The complexity that arises is suprising and challenges our assumptions about whether order comes from the top or the bottom. Life and consciousness are examples of emergent phenomena.
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36.
TED is so full of "better explained" topics and a-ha moments, but I have a particular fondness for Hans Rosling's visual explanation of world statistics. He has other talks on the TED web site, for anyone interested.
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37.Chemical party: Basic chemistry explained in a social setting (ovablastic.blogspot.com)
I think explaining things with humor really gets attention and helps people retain information.
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38.Mouse party: The effects of various drugs on the brain (learn.genetics.utah.edu)
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39.Feynman on light (5:00 video) (www.youtube.com)
Just a *wonderful* description of light and what's happening when we look around a room. He's one of my explanation heroes -- the ability to speak simply about topics which are considered complicated.
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40.Two logical fallacies to avoid (blogs.psychologytoday.com)
I often see this come up -- we discredit an idea from being used because we don't "like" it, or suggest that existing ideas are "correct" because they're already in use.
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41.Representing math in your mind (blog.hilomath.com)
Interesting way to do mental algebra -- chunk parts into "blobs" that you can track more easily than individual numbers.
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42.Yes, You have to keep rubbing your eyes in disbelief... (www.everythingforever.com)
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43.Exclusive color footage of Einestein (corporate.gettyimages.com)
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44.The Particle Adventure (particleadventure.org)
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45.Track ISS. Shuttle. COBE. CHANDRA (science.nasa.gov)
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46.The Physics Question of the Week (www.physics.umd.edu)
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47.NOVA: String Theory (www.pbs.org)
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48.Creationist Deception Exposed (www.skeptics.com.au)
The etymology of the word "propaganda" is interesting. Now generally used to mean "the organised dissemination of information, allegations, etc to assist or damage the cause of a government, movement, etc" (Collins English Dictionary),
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49.You don't need something more to get something more... (www.youtube.com)
Murray Gell-Mann On Emergence
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50.Growing up in the Universe (www.youtube.com)
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