QR codes - worth trying?

Are many people dabbling with these new QR code things?

Are they worth dabbling with?

Next big thing or flash in the pan?

Real Scientists in Action

The science videos on Sixty Symbols and Periodic Table of Videos often deal with history and past breakthroughs.

However we also like to show you the current research being done by our very own YouTube stars.

Viewers can easily forget that our "presenters" are real working scientists doing day-to-day research.

The most recent example was this video, showcasing a new piece of work by Professor Martyn Polikaoff from PToV.



Not long ago we had this video with Sixty Symbols regular Phil Moriarty, who had been working on an atomic switch.



And below are two videos showcasing the work of PToV regulars Pete Licence and Steve Liddle.





Of course, Test Tube (another of my science video sites) is full of current research, including this project by Seamus Garvey.



And here's more work showcased on Test Tube, this time its Ed Lester.



All the scientists and engineers in these videos work at the University of Nottingham.

Bunsen Birthday

We didn't realise until today that it was Robert Bunsen's birthday.

It was Google's logo, specially adapted for the occasion, that alerted us.

So I rushed off the the university and filmed a quick video with The Professor.

Bunsen of course is best known for his famous burner. But he also discovered two of our favourite elements - caesium and rubidium.



We also posted this video of extra footage to Test Tube.



And here's an old video I'd posted with a Bunsen Burner lighting in slow motion, which was made when I was testing a new camera!

How to build an electron gun

The latest addition to Backstage Science is a video about electron guns.

It is fronted by accelerator physicist Lee Jones, from the STFC's Daresbury Laboratory.

Not only do they have a cool name, electron guns are jam-packed full of cool science and engineering.

They involve insanely high voltages and the examples in this video even include exotic elements like caesium and arsenic!

Here's the video:

Eyes on the Sky

A telescope with 24 eyes.

That's what will be created when work is finished on the KMOS instrument and it's attached to the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.

KMOS stands for K-band Multi-object Spectrometer (I don't write the names, I just report them!)

Basically it sees in infrared. And it has 24 little arms which move around the field of vision and focus in on specific galaxies, taking detailed spectra of each of them.

Only 16 of the arms had been installed when the picture on this blog was taken.

The whole thing has to be kept in a giant metal drum to ensure it is super freezing cold.

For more information, watch the Backstage Science video below:



I think the most amazing thing is that the huge instrument will be flown to Chile on an Antanov plane!

Anyway... Here are some extra questions and answers (about more general stuff) with Michele, the instrument scientist who appears in the video:

The Professor Portrait

Wow, this portrait of The Professor is pretty impressive.

It's by an artist named Laurence who also happens to enjoy our videos.

He has observed some great details, including The Prof's leather jacket and periodic table tie... And the hair of course!

Laurence's original blog entry at
http://wherecrowsfallfromthesky.blogspot.com/2011/03/periodic-table-of-videos.html

Click here for another artist's impression of The Prof.

Alpha Beta and Gamma

I think the latest Sixty Symbols video is really fascinating.

Not only does it delve into some cool space stuff and physics - but it deals with humans, jokes and the academic process.

To me, it shows how a silly joke got out of hand and has cast a shadow over one of the most important papers in cosmology.

The first half of this video deals with the science. The second half deals with the issue of authorship and, more importantly, non-authorship.



And here is some extra footage from Test Tube, which deals with more of the science...