Snow Videos

The UK has been somewhat obsessed with snow in recent days, so here are a few of my videos with a snow theme!

The last one is from my BBC days.

Subscriber number 300,000

Today Numberphile reached its 300,000th subscriber.

It's always hard figuring out exactly who the milestone subscriber is - but I think number 300,000 may have been Jordan, from London, Ontario.

Jordan told me: "I saw you enigma machine video when someone posted it on Reddit today and am slowly working through your other videos. I really like channels such as yours (or CGPGrey, Minute Physics and the like) with little bite size learning opportunities."

Numberphile reached 200,000 subscribers in November - here is an article about person number 200,000.

 

The Enigma Collection

I've posted three Numberphile videos about the famed Enigma Machine, featuring Dr James Grime.

The first explained how the machine actually works.



It ended with a cliff-hanger, and I intended to upload a short sequel (filmed at the same time) which explained the Enigma's fatal flaw.

However the first video created much interest and there seemed to be great expectations for the sequel.

So I made the three-hour round trip back to Cambridge to film a more elaborate conclusion.



I also uploaded this video of "extra footage" which didn't make the cut.



Some people might not realise that James' "day job" in traveling around the Enigma Machine and giving talks about it... More at this link.

The machine itself is on loan from author Simon Singh.

And to read an excellent article about the maths behind Enigma (written by James) - click here.

High Speed Stuff

I've been horribly lax with this blog in recent weeks, mainly because of the Christmas/New Year break.

However just before Christmas I was visited in Nottingham by Destin from the Smarter Every Day YouTube channel.

Destin brought a high-speed camera with him, so we could film a series of experiments and show them in super slow motion.



The camera he brought was a Phantom Miro.

I've already posted two videos.

This preview:



And this one about hydrogen balloon explosions:



There's plenty more to come.

Chemistry fan Carter

This is nine-year-old Carter, a periodicvideos fan from the US.


Larger version

Carter's Mum told us:

"He has even asked for ferrofluid for his birthday and cesium for Christmas!

"Thank you for such wonderful videos!

"We love to watch your educational videos at bedtime to help 'wind down' after long days.

"Thank you for all of your had work!! You guys are fun and informative and we can't get enough!!!

"We watch and re-watch your wonderful videos almost daily!"

MORE FAN PHOTOS

A sketch of The Profs

On Monday we hosted a Meet The Professors "hang out" on YouTube.

It was our first test with the technology and, as you can see, we used bit of a ropey camera.

However it was great fun and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

Including Irish artist Nicola Russell who was inspired to create this sketch of our foursome - Ed Copeland, Martyn Poliakoff, Mike Merririfled and Phil Moriarty - adding a Christmas theme.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SIZE VERSION

Here's the hang out for anyone who missed it:

We will do more soon with better cameras and microphones.

Two visits from VIVs

An unexpected pleasure of making popular YouTube videos is meeting fans - some of who make great efforts to visit us in person.

Two young lads recently joined this club and received treatment befitting any VIV (very important viewer).

AIDAN THE ADDICT

First, here is Aidan, a 10-year-old from here in the UK diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and described by his dad Stuart as a "Numberphile Addict".

In an introductory email, Stuart explained: "We stumbled across the Numberphile videos and website, and he has started consuming them at a rate of knots. He has even started doing his homework whilst filming himself as a mini-video and 'presenting' what he is doing in the format of your films."

Aidan and his family visited the University of Nottingham and met various people from the videos - Ed Copeland, Phil Moriarty, Ria Symonds, Meghan Gray and Gerardo Adesso.

Here are some pictures:

But perhaps the best picture came after the visit from Stuart:

By way of explanation, Stuart said: "Just wanted to say another HUGE thank you for yesterday; as Aidan himself said, 'to leave with gold nano-particles, his own galaxy, the solution to the Rubik's cube, a good piece of homework from Ed, and of course THE brown paper, it was quite a good day!'

"I'm sure you'll already know this, but 'quite a good day' for a child like Aidan is the utmost of praise!

"I've attached an image of our journey home, which a couple have seen on twitter, but I think it sums up the day perfectly - Aidan is content with Leonard (his pet Lion!), and the only other time we have seen this look of contentment on his face was on the way home from his ASD assessment 6 months ago when he finally had a 'reason' to explain things to others!"

BIG FAN QUARRIE 

Another young Numberphile fan is nine-year-old Quarrie.

His family was visiting London from the US - but made a special trip up to Cambridge to see Quarrie's favourite YouTuber, Dr James Grime.

James showed Quarrie around his workplace and they even spotted Stephen Hawking!

Here are some pics from Quarrie's dad, Tim:

Tim told me in an email:  "James was incredible. I have never seen Quarrie smile so much. You know, James even took him up to see Stephen Hawking, and still, I think he was more impressed with James. That says a lot from a kid like Quarrie."