RichardFeynman
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These videos prove that music and science can (usually) mix
Wondering how NASA could make a clever yet groan-inducing music video like "All About That Space?" Really, it's just carrying on a tradition of producing science-themed tunes. A lot of them are cheesy covers -- we've seen scientific riffs on Adele and Psy, among others -- while others remind you why biology, chemistry and physics are such wonderful things. We've rounded up ten noteworthy science music videos to show you how good (or at least, dorky) they can get. And if you've discovered any other cool or kitschy clips, be sure to share them in the comments.
Physics' best-known lectures are now available to everyone on the web
Ask professors about important physics lectures, and they'll probably point you toward Richard Feynman's famous 1964 talks. They led to one of the most popular physics books ever (over 1.5 million English copies sold) and helped generations understand concepts like quantum mechanics. They've been available to the public for a few years now, but there hasn't been an easy, legal way to read them online... until now, that is. The California Institute of Technology has finished publishing Feynman's lectures in a free, HTML5-based viewer that lets you read on any device with a modern web browser. Even the equations and diagrams are visible on small screens. You're sadly not allowed to grab offline copies, but these web versions may be perfect for brushing up on the fundamentals of energy and matter before a big test -- even if you have to study on your smartphone. [Image credit: Associated Press]
Koomey's law heckles Moore's in the post-PC world
Around the same time most years, (2007, 2009, 2010), someone heralds the death of Moore's law. This time it's Stanford University's Dr. Jonathan Koomey, who has found that energy efficiency roughly doubles every two years. With the rise of mobile devices, we care less if our phones and tablets can outpace a desktop and more about if a full charge will last the duration of our commute -- reducing the importance of Moore's law. Historically, efficiency has been a secondary concern as manufacturers built ever faster CPUs, but Koomey believes there is enormous room for improvement. In 1985, Dr. Richard Feynman calculated an efficiency upper limit of Factor 100 Billion -- since then we've only managed to achieve Factor 40,000. Let's just hope Quantum Computing goes mainstream before next autumn so we can get on with more important things.
