The cat walked through the world, with its wiskers, ears, and paws...In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, we see the many lives of one cat, and how perspective s
Learn about how a pair of Red-Billed Hornbills work together as a team in this video from the NATURE mini-series Spy in the Wild. Part of the episode “Love,” this video shows the unique way these birds keep their nest safe. Support materials include a review worksheet and a fun hands-on activity which challenges students to think like a Red-Billed Hornbill and design a way to protect the mother bird and her nest.
Learn about the engineering features of the Tortuga with the Wild Kratts gang. As the guys describe the cool camouflage features of the Tortuga, Aviva becomes frustrated that the Tortuga is missing some cool underwater features.
Learn about the creature powers of mosquitoes with the Wild Kratts. Zach gets his Mosquitobot Army ready to track down the Tortuga HQ so that they can suck out all of the Tortuga's inventions!
Watch how birds navigate in a series of experiments in this video from NOVA. They use a technique known as optic flow to determine distance and speed. This helps them keep a safe distance from other objects and land gracefully at their destination. Understanding optic flow may help us build better navigation systems for our own flying machines or help us design better structures to deter birds from flying into them.
Each year, thousands of rhinos are killed by poachers seeking their horns for illegal medicinal products; but in South Africa, a unique solution to the poaching crisis may hold the key to saving the species. Veterinarians are attempting an experimental technique that stains the rhino's horn with an indelible red dye and should make it a worthless target to poachers. Vet Will Fowlds has seen for himself the dye's impact on the population, and foresees it as a valuable method in the fight to save these endangered animals from poaching.
Learn how veterinarians use human medicine to treat animals. Chimpanzees are our closest relatives and they share 98% of our DNA, so it's no surprise that they share many of the same health problems we have as well. Dr. Kathryn Gamble at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is studying heart disease in chimps by inserting human heart monitors into animals. She wants to understand what about the chimps' lifestyle may cause them to suffer from heart problems, with the hope of trying to prevent the diseases in the future. The chimps at the zoo are fitted with wireless heart monitors and trained to present their chests to zookeepers, making their data easy to collect and analyze.
The stuff that oozes out of you when you’re sick? Turns out, it’s a pretty awesome material. Elizabeth, a graduate of Biological Engineering at MIT, explains what it does and just how important it is!
Ever have an argument with someone, and no matter how many facts you provide, you just can’t get that person to see it your way? One big reason for this is cognitive bias, which is a limitation in our thinking that can cause flaws in our judgement. Confirmation bias is a specific type of cognitive bias that motivates us to seek out information we already believe and ignore or minimize facts that threaten what we believe. Studies show that when people are presented with facts that contradict what they believe, the parts of the brain that control reason and rationality go inactive. But, the parts of the brain that process emotion light up like the Fourth of July. In this video, host Myles Bess dives into the research and offers some tips to combat confirmation bias. This resource is part of the News and Media Literacy Collection.
How do robots perform on personality tests? In this episode, we look at what a robot personality might look like and how tests like the Turing Test seek to distinguish between human and machine.
