Accidental Discoveries

This segment from Swift: Eyes through Time traces the history military officers and engineers discovering a strange phenomenon in the sky that astronomers now know are gamma-ray bursts.

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Airborne Wind Energy

The strongest and most consistent winds are found in the jet stream as high as 30,000 feet above the earth. In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, learn about the benefits and challenges of wind energy.

Astronomy Theories

This video segment from Swift: Eyes through Time deals with the advancement of science through changing existing ideas, refuting outdated theories, and incorporating new findings.

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Beyond Einstein

NASA scientists describe some of the ways current science is addressing several of Einstein's fundamental questions and theories in this video adapted from NASA.

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Blacker Than Black

In this video adapted from NASA, two members of a NASA research team working to produce carbon nanotubes share some background behind this new technology, show examples of how it will be useful, and explain the various tests being performed to ensure readiness for spaceflight.

Booming Sands

This video segment, adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, presents basic concepts of physics behind "booming" sand dunes. See how surface tension affects potential and kinetic energy and how it all works together to create sound.

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Building Curiosity: Rover Rocks Rocker-Bogie

NASA engineers test Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, and demonstrate its material properties, its handling and mobility, and its design features in this NASA video.

Building Simple Machines: A Glass of Milk, Please

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, the cast shows how the 34 steps in their Rube Goldberg invention use everything from gravity to carbon dioxide gas in order to accomplish one simple task: pouring a glass of milk.

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Building Simple Machines: Plant Quencher

In this video segment from ZOOM, Jillian explains how her simple machine uses marbles, levers, flowing sand, and a spinning wheel to water a plant.

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Calorimetry

Do you know how many calories are in a macadamia nut? This video segment highlighting a Calorimetry experiment will give you the answer.

Clean Coal?

Explore the challenges facing the deployment of clean coal technology in this video segment adapted from FRONTLINE: "Heat."

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Climate Watch: Unlocking the Grid

Today we rely on electricity more than ever. In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, explore the challenges of harnessing renewable energy.

Colliding Neutron Stars Create Black Hole and Gamma-ray Burst

This video from NASA describes the detailed computer modeling used to predict that colliding neutron stars can produce gamma-ray bursts similar to those associated with black holes.

Converting to Biodiesel

Meet a college student whose class project to turn cooking grease into diesel fuel resulted in converting bus fleets to biodiesel, in this video from Earth Island Institute's New Leaders Initiative.

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Cooking Cookies with Solar Power

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, two solar cookers are tested against a control to see which can cook a "s'more" faster.

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Cosmic Origin Spectrograph

This video from NASA features the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph (COS), which allows scientists to use spectrographic analysis to assess the composition of intergalactic material.

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Counting Neutrons on the Moon

Find out how scientists are using a neutron detector onboard a satellite to try to find water on the Moon in this video adapted from NASA.

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Density and Buoyancy: Mixing Hot and Cold Water

Watch warm water float on top of cold water in this video segment adapted from ZOOM.

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Designing Future Cities: Alternative Energy

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, visit a class as they design a city of the future that will use solar, wind, and water power to fuel its economy.

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Design Squad: Sound

In this video segment adapted from Design Squad—a PBS TV series featuring high school contestants tackling engineering challenges—learn about the fundamentals of sound as student teams create percussive and stringed instruments for a local band.

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