Photo by Chris Linder (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Erica Carmel was unimpressed in her physics class at MIT when a professor demonstrated that by swinging a bucket full of water around on a rope, he could invert the bucket above him without it dumping all over him. After all, she had made the same discovery when she was five, playing with her Easter egg basket.
When a scientist makes a discovery, is it their brilliant work, the product of a beautiful mind, or is it just out there in the world, waiting for whomever happens to get there first? For Alan Lightman, an author and theoretical physicist, this issue became a profoundly distressing quandary, one that ultimately made him leave science behind.
Discovery doesn't always come so easily. Geologist Rob Reves-Sohn spent a decade at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute planning an arctic expedition to one of the ocean's least accessible frontiers. Reporter Erica Lloyd hitched a ride on the ice breaker only to find out that the unknown frontiers don't give up their mysteries without a fight.
Paul Davies, physicist and director of The Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University takes on one of the greatest mysteries of all time as the basis of his work. What he wants to know is: Why are we here? It seems so improbable, the more we learn about it. But he theorizes that perhaps our conscious observation of the universe is a part of the grand scheme of the universe and its laws---that our inquiry is fundamental.
What a sad, sad story. All for an experiment? Poor Lucy.
I nearly cried when I heard how they sedated Lucy's mother and made off with the newborn chimp. Knowing what ...
While shooting someone in the midst of an attempted robbery isn't necessarily sensible, it is far from senseless. What I ...
As humans, we do have a strong desire to “make sense” of things — that's how we ended up with ...
Comments [17]
same!!! where is that episode about the girl with the easter basket?!! I wanted to play it for my students -- it's a great "life lesson" for the last day I will have them with me in class. Please help . . . .
Sincerely,
obsessed teacher who has spent way too much time searching for this broadcast!!!!!!
I remember hearing this episode on the radio, but there was a segment about a girl learning about swinging a bucket upside down and learning that the stuff didn't fall out. Also, its above in the description. But it doesn't seem to be in the podcast when i download it.
?
IMG]http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k187/pngconcepts/YellowFluffyStuff.jpg[/IMG]
I would like to take a stab at the topic of discovery being a brilliant mind or just blink luck to be the first to find it. While the phenomenon is lurking out there ready for someone to find it, it still takes a brilliant mind to not only observer the phenomenon, but also to model it in a working theory.
Let’s take celestial mechanics. After Copernicus, et al. figured out the sun was at the center, Newton “discovered” gravity not just the reason the planets orbited the sun, but also why the apple fell.
After Newton, Einstein “discovered” relativity, which explained gravity as the bending a time-space.
Does gravity really exist? Did Newton discover something that was already there, or did he invent a model that explained observable behaviors until Einstein?
Does relativity really exist, or is it just the most accurate invention of Dr. Einstein’s mind that describes what we are able to observe?
Who knows what future theories will unfold? Will these theories discover what’s really going on, or does it just peel one more layer off of the onion for another brilliant mind?
I've got it.
Here's the video of the Yellow Fluffy Stuff from the sub:
http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu/expedition2/video-camper2.html
You can see a photo of the fluff in the collection jar here:
http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu/expedition2/journal-day27.html
Where in God's name is the GD Yellow Fluffy Stuff?? GD it I quit smoking today and I want to see the f-g Yellow Fluffy Stuff!!!!!!!!!!
I want to be the one who eats the yellow fluffy stuff, but first I must see it!
I came for the fluffy stuff. Bummer.
PICS OF FLUFFY STUFF
OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
grgghhh.
I came to this site to see some yellow fluffy stuff. They must have taken some photos!
My dreams are plagued by Yellow Fluffy Stuff. Please satisfy my desires!
We're working on getting fluff photos! Last we heard there were some very busy biologists who needed to be harassed to provide images. Pls consider them suitably harassed.
Yours,
Amanda
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
YELLOW FLUFFY STUFF
it's not so much a "miraculous accident" that 'we are here,' that the universe which bore us did so even despite conceivable (ha! words!) alternative outcomes.
we are here, therefore the universe led to us. other universes, other sets of initial conditions might not have led to life, and in those universes, no one will be wondering why.
p.s. I too would like to see the yellow fluffy stuff!
show us the yellow fluffy stuff!
I wanna see a picture of the "ski slopes of yellow fluffy stuff!"
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.