Science

Alva Noë on Consciousness
In Out of Our Heads, philosopher Alva Noë, "restates and reexamines the problem of consciousness, and ... suggests that rather than being something that happens inside us, consciousness is something we do.

Arthur Benjamin's Mathemagic
Many Indians surely remember Shakuntala Devi from their school years, whose books their parents bought in the hope that she would inspire in their progeny a love of mathematics. Here another mathemagician, Arthur Benjamin, does a few tricks.

How Language Shapes Thought
The structure of particular languages affect the way we attend to, encode, represent, remember, and reason about the world—a brilliant lecture by Lera Boroditsky.

The Rock Art of Djulirri
"In central northern Australia, the Aborigines left paintings chronicling 15,000 years of their history. [This video presents] some of the most interesting and unusual paintings—depicting everything from cruise ships to dugong hunts to arrogant Europeans".

The Secret Lives of Ants
Ant colonies have long fascinated humans due to their parallels with human societies: millions of individuals with no central control, spanning many lifetimes and a large territory, solve problems through cooperation and division of labor. How do they do it?

Human Planet
Look out for Human Planet from the BBC, "an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, heart-stopping landmark series that marvels at mankind's incredible relationship with nature in the world today."

Becoming Human
A 3-part NOVA documentary on human evolution, focusing on the last few million years of our story, incorporating some of the latest findings from various fields of anthropology.

You Think, Therefore, You Can
When we think or feel, a host of neurons in our brains fire electrical signals. An inexpensive headset from Emotiv Systems can "read our minds" and issue commands to machines.

A Universe From Nothing
A great primer by physicist Lawrence Krauss on what we have recently learned about the universe, how it is dominated by "nothing", aka dark matter and dark energy, and why the emergent picture is so bizarre.

Who Are We?
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's gripping story of her stroke, caused by hemorrhage to the left hemisphere of her brain, and the unexpected spiritual moment she experienced within that stroke: Nirvana.

The Pale Blue Dot
Carl Sagan on the only home we have ever known (thoughts and images from Cosmos; 3:31 mins)

Lohmann on Carbon Trading
Larry Lohmann on how carbon trading works, why it is an ill-conceived response to Climate Change, and why Bush and Gore are not as far apart in their policy prescriptions as some of us believe.

On Nuclear Energy
A compelling presentation on why nuclear energy must be a significant part of a clean energy solution (by Gwyneth Cravens and Rip Anderson).

Rediscovering Golem
What is life anyway, and how did it really happen upon this world? As a physical phenomenon, is life an accidental and rare occurrence?