In 1970, the crew of Apollo 13 made it to the moon but never completed their mission to land on the surface because of an explosion that damaged their craft. To get the astronauts safely home, NASA routed them around the dark side of the moon for a slingshot trajectory back to Earth. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 13, NASA has used video data captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft during this ill-fated trip to recreate spectacular views (at 4K) of the lunar surface.
Category Archives: Reviews of Science Videos
The Chemistry of Color in Birds
Another nice video by the American Chemical Society focuses on what’s behind the diversity of colors in birds. It illustrates how to make an eye-catching video that gives the viewer something beautiful to look at while explaining the science behind the dramatic images:
Women in Chemistry and the Periodic Table
The American Chemical Society has produced a video celebrating Women’s History Month and the International Year of the Periodic Table. The video, which is part of their series called Reactions, features two pioneering women in chemistry: Marie Curie (of course) and Ida Noddack.
See how they contributed to the periodic table:
Predatory Science Journals Adopt a New Tactic: Video
I suppose it was just a matter of time before predatory science publishers latched onto the idea that adding video to their offerings would bring in more money.
Predatory journals, in case you are unfamiliar with the term, are journals, typically lacking in legitimate editorial services or rigorous standards, that will publish your paper—for a fee. If you are a scientist who has published in reputable journals, you’ve likely received one or more invitations from a predatory journal. Some researchers have responded by conducting sting operations—submitting papers containing scientific gobbledygook and fictitious authors—to expose their shady practices.
Now, predatory publishers are offering to post a video for fees ranging from $1,500 to $4,200, according to reporter Tom Spears of the Ottawa Citizen. Spears, known for his hilarious spoofs of predatory publishing, has now produced a video featuring “Dr. Yosemite Sam” that has been submitted to several journals. Despite its suspicious title (Re-Examining the Genetic Bottleneck: Atavistic Regression in Acquired Traits Affects the Outcome for Many Subspecies at the Allelic Level) and cartoon-character author, several journals are apparently considering it for publication or have already posted it. Two have accepted Dr. Yosemite Sam as an editor.
You can read Spear’s article in the Ottawa Citizen here and watch his video below.
Fishing by Wolves
A group of scientists just published a paper in the journal Mammalian Biology that describes wolves catching and eating freshwater fish. The researchers had put tracking collars on wolves, which showed that one group of wolves was spending an unusual amount of time in one spot. They set up cameras to see why the wolves were staying in one location and not moving as much as other groups. The cameras showed that the wolves were catching fish in a particular spot along a stream. That video was included in the online article. You can see it here.
I’ve talked before about using video to document wildlife, which could be used to augment a journal article. In this case, the video showed the reader exactly how the wolves were catching fish and supported the authors’ verbal description of this behavior.