The new Periodic Videos film involves dunking chicken drumsticks into various acids.
Here are some extra pictures from beforehand and during the shoot.
Neil prepares the fumehood
Ready to go
HF left the meat looking "decidedly dead"
Love this picture of the piece above HCl
Note: a sequel video is coming (most likely next week) to show what we did next.
All regular tickets have been allocated for the Hello Internet/Star Wars event with David Prowse at Bristol Zoo.
They were gone within seconds.
After talking with the zoo, we've made a few extras available and these will be auctioned.
Those who emailed for regular tickets will receive a notification, and we will add updates to this blog in due course.
Please note, all proceeds from the event are to raise money for Bristol Zoo's penguin conservation fund.
Our event poster was designed by Knut Johannes Håland.
Tossing a coin is 50-50, right?
Persi Diaconis is a Stanford Math Professor - and former magician.
Just one of his claims to fame is research into the randomness of coin flips.
He helped out Numberphile with this series of videos.
First, a general discussion about why a coin toss is NOT entirely 50-50.
Second, should you catch a coin or let ut fall to the ground? The answer may surprise you.
And last, here is just some extra footage which is also interesting.
And a bonus, one of the very early Numberphile videos about coin tosses at the Super Bowl!
My Dad was a soldier in the Vietnam War.
(Yes, Australia participated in the Vietnam War.)
Of course I have been aware of this all my life. I would not say Dad was forthcoming about his 'war stories', but was always willing to discuss them if asked.
Dad's tales always had a unique perspective because he was a 'Dog Tracker', meaning his journey through the jungle was shared with a Kelpie-Labrador cross called Caesar.
(Australia's war dogs were named in this way... Marcus, Cassius, Tiber, etc)
Peter Haran and Caesar
After a battle, it was Caesar's job to sniff, follow and then 'point' at the escaping 'enemy'.
I suppose this often put Dad at the pointy end of a second firefight.
It also means Dad had a quirky 'man and dog get into scrapes' angle to his time at war. On a few occasions Caesar saved Dad's life.
After the war Dad became a newspaper journalist, so perhaps it was inevitable that he would write a book about his Vietnam experience.
The book was called Trackers and has been quite successful.
Reading the book was an eye-opener for me, giving me a much better idea of what Dad went through.
But I always think the best way to understand a story is to go there - to stand where it happened. Take in the smells, the geography, the sounds,
So last year I travelled to Vietnam with Dad and we went to many of the places where his stories took place.
I am slowly turning them into short videos and posting them to YouTube. This was something Dad encouraged me to do - I was happy to just stand and listen to him talk.
The first video I've created is probably the most important, and is Dad's most 'famous' story. But I will let him tell it:
This extra video gives a little bit of extra information about land mines, and adds some context to the main video:
As is often the case, the latest Numberphle video turned into bit of an extravaganza.
The main video - featuring Hannah Fry and animations by Pete McPartlan - is all about the game "Rock Paper Scissors".
A second video, which I decide to break off from the main video, goes into how the game has a parallel in the animal kingdom.
And finally, here is just some extra chat at the end. It was just good fund and would have been a shame to spike it!
I often discuss "copyright infringement" with CGP Grey. It's a frequent topic on our Hello Internet podcast.
The original discussion back in episode 2
We're particularly interested in the context of people taking YouTube videos (such as our own) and re-hosting them elsewhere without permission.
These people (or the media hosts) can profit by running advertising against the stolen/cloned/taken/borrowed version.
Now the ever-cautious Grey does not believe this should be called "stealing", preferring the term "infringing".
I always feel infringing is too tame a word.
Listen from about 2'50" for Grey not liking the term "stealing"
We encouraged listeners to devise a new word to describe this practice.
It was really just for fun, but I suggested "freebooting", an old-fashioned piracy word which I thought was well-suited.
Listen from about 12'30" for the birth of freebooting
Grey preferred another viewer suggestion, viewjacking, but I did not like this.
Whichever is better, I think freebooting has gained more traction. Perhaps this has been due to my light-hearted advocacy.
My cause had a major triumph this week when Destin from Smarter Every Day used it in his video about the growing problem of "Freebooting on Facebook".
It seems official now!!!
But all nomenclature jokes aside, this is a serious issue and Destin's video is worth watching.
PS: As seen above, we're slowly putting old Hello Internet podcasts on YouTube, but the best way to follow recent episodes in via you podcast client or our website - details here.
PPS: Since original post, Sourcefed have also given the term (and issue) some prominence. And credited Grey (above me!) for coining the term.
Two new videos on Sixty Symbols about Multiverses.
Both involve the "G" word at some point, so the video comments get kind of passionate at times.
Neither video is really about God - but that does not seem to matter.
Just to stir the pot further (inadvertently), Professor Eaves made a off-hand remark about wind turbines.
To be fair, I was expecting worse. And some of the comments on both videos are really smart and interesting.