Archive for the ‘Videos’ Category

Happy Thanksgiving! Celebrate by eating a Dinosaur!

We love Thanksgiving!  The stuffing, green beans and pumpkin pie… mmmmm.  But the traditional main course is of course… dinosaur.

“What!?!?” you say!  Well watch this video from Nat Geo that describes how the turkey on your dinner table evolved from theropod dinosaurs.

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They Might Be Giants cover Paleontology and Evolution

One of my favorite bands of all time, They Might Be Giants, has just come out with a new album dedicated to covering science called Here comes Science. It is a great album and the first rock album that I have ever heard of that required fact checking.

The album features two songs for those who love dinosaurs and are into evolution:

  • “I am a Paleontologist”
  • “My Brother the Ape”

I say this is a must buy for kids and adults who love Science and fun music.

Below is the video for “I am a Paleontologist.” Enjoy!

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The evolution of whales at the “Explore Evolution” Exhibit

Evolutionary Biologist, Richard Dawkins, gives us a quick explanation of whale evolution at the Explore Evolution exhibit at the University of Nebraska State Museum.

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Blast from my Past – Denver the Last Dinosaur

Over at the Smithsonian Dinosaur Tracking Blog, writer Brian Switek, totally blew my mind by reminding me of a cartoon I watched when I was a kid.

Denver the Last Dinosaur was pretty bad and pretty 80′s, but I definitely remember watching episodes of this.  I can’t say this show is responsible in any way for my current love of science but it is still fun to look back.

Here is a Brian’s blog post…

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Sneak Peek at Molecules to the Max

At Evolvems we love teaching kids about evolution and paleontology, but there are others out there who are creating cool content to teach kids about all sorts of cool science.

I had the pleasure this Memorial Day weekend of seeing a special premier veiwing of the new kids IMAX science movie called Molecularium: Molecules to the Max at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I was invited by Kurt Przybilla who is a toy inventor and writer on the film, and who I met at the Toy Fair in February.

It was a crazy ride into the heart of matter, zooming in and out to show us common objects and their inner atomic and molecular structures as only computer animation (and some cute characters) can show us.   I saw this in regular 2D on a small movie screen, but can’t wait to see it in its full glory as an IMAX 3D production.

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Amazing deep-sea fish with tubular eyes and transparent head

At Evolvems we are always looking for the strangest of the strange creatures on Earth.  The types of adaptations that natural selection has produced are remarkable.  The barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) is possibly one of the weirdest we have run across.

This fish has super sensitive tubular eyes that are embedded inside a clear fluid filled shell that resembles a jet fighter’s cockpit cover.  The barreleye lives deep in the ocean and points it’s eyes upward looking for small fish and jellyfish passing above.  When prey is spotted, the barreleye is able to swivel it eyes forward to track food, helping guide food towards its small mouth.

Read more about the barreleye and the Monterey Bay Aquarium researchers who are studying it here.

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The Seed

A two-minute animated voyage through nature’s life cycle, following the trials and tribulations of a humble apple seed.


The Seed from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

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Giant Stingrays Found Near Thai City

Zeb Hogan, of the University of Nevada in Reno, is documenting the rays as part of the Megafishes Project, an effort to document Earth’s 20 or so freshwater giants.  watch as he searches for a Giant Stingray in Thailand and gets more than he could even imagine.

Go to the full National Geographic story…

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The Science of Cute

Popular Science has a channel on YouTube where they do a series on “The Science of YouTube”.  This video explains the evolutionary basis for our love of cute animals like the ones that seem to be in popular videos online.

Click here to see what else the Popular Science YouTube channel has to offer.

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    Microbe Finds Arsenic Tasty; Redefines Life


    New Microbe Samples

    NASA scientists have discovered an amazing new life-form that redefines what we consider to be the basic building blocks of life.

    A microbe found at the bottom of Mono Lake in California seems able to live in a solution of arsenic which is poisonous to most other life.  Phosphorus, which used to be considered one of the essential building blocks of life, is replaced by arsenic in this organism.

    Dr. Sasselov, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and director of an institute on the origins of life there said, “I would like to know, when designing experiments and instruments to look for life [on other planets], whether I should be looking for same stuff as here on Earth, or whether there are other options.  Are we going to look for same molecules we love and know here, or broaden our search?”

    Seems like we have aliens right here on earth!!!

    Original NYTimes article…

    Dec 10