A Billion Views

A nerdy, numbery milestone.

Our small family of channels has passed a billion views on YouTube.

Of course, this depends on how you define the group.

For example, the billion includes Computerphile (videos produced by Sean Riley) and Hello Internet (CGP Grey and I post the podcasts on YouTube).

So like the Voyager probes which seem to “leave the solar system” on a semi-regular basis depending on how “the solar system” is defined, we may pass the billion threshold on multiple occasions!

The most watched channels to date are Numberphile and Periodic Videos.

Sixty Symbols and Deep Sky Videos and Objectivity are among other ongoing projects.

But shout-out to some of the “hibernating” channels that we still have affection for, including Bibledex and Words of the World.

And for the record, we’re obviously using the standard short scale billion (1,000,000,000), not the long-scale (1,000,000,000,000).

A Missing Dog (statue)

I’ve written here before about my dad’s tracker dog Caesar.

Dad was teamed with Caesar during the Vietnam War.

They developed a special bond and Caesar save dad’s life - twice!

So I owe that dog bit of a debt, I guess.

This statue of Caesar - a symbol for all dogs that served during the Vietnam War - was erected in Sydney three years ago.

It was placed near the railway station at Edmondson Park.

Well, I’ve just learned that in December it was stolen. (A Channel 7 report on the theft via Facebook and here’s another report.)

The unveiling

The likely thieves (link)

Maybe it was melted down - maybe it’s intact?

If you can help in any way, do let me know. It would mean a lot.

To quote an email from my dad:

“It wasn't all about Caesar but has stolen the memory of 10 other dogs that saved many Australian lives - and mine (twice) and then were abandoned after the war. To think that the sculpture has been melted down for quick cash or placed in someone's front yard as a garden gnome breaks my heart.”

Here’s a video I made about Caesar with my dad… I have another one unedited which I’ll try to get back into production.

Vietnam War veteran (and my dad) Peter Haran on how tracking dog Caesar saved his life. Film by Brady Haran. Trackers (the best-selling book by Peter): http:...

POST SCRIPT: Some great news

A Holy Trinity

Here are three videos we filmed at The Vatican with “The Pope’s Astronomer” - Brother Guy Consolmagno.

First, a tour of four telescopes at the Papal residence and gardens at Castel Gandalfo, outside Rome.

Telescopes were once stationed on the walls of The Vatican itself, but they were moved out of Rome due to light pollution.

We tour four enormous telescopes at The Vatican. See two other videos in this "trinity" - Papal Space Rocks at https://youtu.be/5OI4wb2XIZc and The Pope's As...

Second, a look at some space rocks and other treasures in the Vatican Observatory collection.

Mars and Moon rocks are just some of the treasures at the Vatican Observatory. Papal Telescopes at https://youtu.be/ccoGKAL6Qas and a longer interview with B...

And finally, a longer sit down interview with Brother Guy. Talking about religion, space, and other stuff.

Speaking with Brother Guy Consolmagno - director of The Vatican Observatory. See two other videos in this "trinity" - space rocks at LINK and The Pope's Tele...

These videos were posted across three of my channels - Deep Sky Videos, Objectivity and Sixty Symbols.

If you are unfamiliar with any of them, please do have a look.

Here are more telescope tours on Deep Sky Videos. And here are more space-themed videos from Objectivity.

Pictured below is James Hennessy filming one of the telescopes during our trip.

Our thanks to Brother Guy for hosting us at The Vatican Observatory.

Ptolemy's Theorem

The latest Numberphile video is a beautiful proof of Ptolemy’s Theorem, presented by Zvezdelina Stankova.

Featuring Zvezdelina Stankova... Want more? Part 2 (bringing in Pentagons and the Golden Ratio) is at: https://youtu.be/o3QBgkQi_HA More links & stuff in full description below ↓↓↓ Zvezda's Numberphile playlist: http://bit.ly/zvezda_videos Zvezda's webpage: https://math.berkeley.edu/~stankova/ Epic Circles: https://youtu.be/sG_6nlMZ8f4 Triangle Magic Highway: https://youtu.be/wVH4MS6v23U Numberphile is supported by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI): http://bit.ly/MSRINumberphile We are also supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.

Zvezda’s proof was followed by a second video, which utilises Ptolemy’s Theorem to show two remarkable things about equilateral triangles and pentagons - well worth a look and a much shorter video.

Continuing on from Zvezda's previous video about Ptolemey's Theorem (see: https://youtu.be/bJOuzqu3MUQ) now we use it to prove some cool stuff with pentagons and equilateral triangles.

There is a third video, posted to the Numberphile2 extra channel, which shows a little bit more about the method of inversion.

Main video: https://youtu.be/bJOuzqu3MUQ See also: https://youtu.be/o3QBgkQi_HA Zvezda's Numberphile playlist: http://bit.ly/zvezda_videos Zvezda's webpage: https://math.berkeley.edu/~stankova/ Epic Circles: https://youtu.be/sG_6nlMZ8f4 Triangle Magic Highway: https://youtu.be/wVH4MS6v23U NUMBERPHILE Website: http://www.numberphile.com/ Numberphile on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/numberphile Numberphile tweets: https://twitter.com/numberphile Numberphile is supported by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI): http://bit.ly/MSRINumberphile Videos by Brady Haran Additional editing and animation by Pete McPartlan Support us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/numberphile Brady's videos subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/BradyHaran/ A run-down of Brady's channels: http://www.bradyharan.com Sign up for (occasional) emails: http://eepurl.com/YdjL9

PS: The first video’s length and “epic-ness” is perhaps matched only by our “Epic CIrcles” from 2014, which funnily enough also heavily featured the use of inversion. That video was presented by Simon Pampena.

The man who loved circles (Objectivity): https://youtu.be/AzmUCL1OHhs More links & stuff in full description below ↓↓↓ Pappus chains, circle inversion and a whole lot more in this EPIC video with Simon Pampena.

The Mummy Returns

A little while back we made an Objectivity video about a mummy called Tahemaa, which is being conserved at the Bournemouth Natural Science Society & Museum.

Well Tahemaa is back - and this time we got to open the coffin.

We return to Bournemouth Natural Science Society to lift the lid on Taheema the mummy... More links below ↓↓↓ Featuring Conservator Bethany Palumbo speaking with Brady.

Like many people, I’ve had a lifelong fascination with Egyptology and the notion of discovering ancient tombs and mummies.

Making this kind of video is likely as close as I’ll ever get.

Thanks to the society and conservator Bethany Palumbo for making it possible.

You can help the society with the Tahemaa preservation project at this link.

If you’d like to see more Objectivity videos like this, you can help us get out and about by supporting Objectivity on Patreon.

Here is the first video we made:

Get 10% off your first Hover purchase: https://www.hover.com/objectivity - We join conservator Bethany Palumbo to see how she's conserving a mummy.

China Trip

Some pictures from my China trip to accompany discussion on Hello Internet.

#TeamTrees

Today starts a big fundraising campaign to plant 20 million trees.

Various YouTubers and other “web people” are posting material related to the campaign.

FIND OUT MORE (AND CONTRIBUTE) HERE

I’ve posted this Numberphile with Tony Padilla, which combines two epic numbers we’ve discussed previously - TREE(3) and Graham’s Number.

We’ve combined them to create TREE(Graham’s Number).

The biggest number we've ever tackled - TREE of Graham's Number.

The brown papers from this video are being auctioned for #TeamTrees.

For extra footage from the TREE(g64) video, see here.

For even more tree-related comment, see our Guide to Trees playlist created with Markus Eichhorn.

Discussing trees and plants with Markus Eichhorn

And here’s a video with Smarter Every Day about Moon Trees.

Brady and Destin go in search of Moon Trees. Space Wood via Objectivity: https://youtu.be/Z58ULnlRjXE Destin's channel: https://www.youtube.com/smartereveryday More tree videos by Brady: http://bit.ly/TreesPlants More on Moon Trees from Nasa: http://bit.ly/Moon_Trees (includes locations) Cheers Mike Merrifield for suggesting the topic. Thanks to Destin Sandlin and his road crew!