This program covers the important topic of refrigerators in Physics. We begin by discussing how refrigerators are just “heat engines” operated in reverse because they require energy to pump heat away from an object. The entire lesson is taught by working example problems beginning with the easier ones and gradually progressing to the harder problems. Emphasis is placed on giving students confidence in their skills by gradual repetition so that...

Study one of the most complete transformations of reality in history: the new picture of life that emerged from the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Close by tracing their influence on William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and on television reality shows..

Today’s networked culture is a dream come true for researchers in fields from marketing to sociology to epidemiology. Learn how big data puts potentially everyone and everything under the microscope of analysis, creating a comprehensive view of the intricate reality in which we are all mere atoms..

Begin the first of three lectures on tropical cyclones, known as hurricanes, typhoons, or cyclones depending on where they occur. Plot the historical tracks of these gigantic storms, sharpen your understanding of how they are named, and focus on tropical cyclones that were so notorious that their names have been retired.

This program covers the important topic of traveling sound waves (part 1) in Physics. We begin by discussing how sound waves propagate through the air and other mediums. We discuss the mathematical form of the compression wave and discuss the speed of sound, frequency, and more. The entire lesson is taught by working example problems beginning with the easier ones and gradually progressing to the harder problems. Emphasis is placed on giving students...

Prosthetics, eyeglasses, and other aids were once seen as less-than-ideal substitutes for normal human abilities. But now technology can enhance us well beyond what’s considered normal. Examine the superhuman traits currently available and those on the drawing board. Has the era of the cyborg arrived?.

This program covers the important topic of the speed of sound waves in Physics. We begin by discussing how sound waves propagate through the air and how the speed of sound depends on the material through which the sound is propagating. The entire lesson is taught by working example problems beginning with the easier ones and gradually progressing to the harder problems. Emphasis is placed on giving students confidence in their skills by gradual repetition...

Wind shear is the ingredient that turns an ordinary thunderstorm into a monster. Study the mechanisms that underlie this transformation. Then evaluate the crucial difference between a severe weather watch versus a warning, and put yourself in the shoes of a forecaster calling the shots.

The most secure science, mathematics, hit the rocks of uncertainty in the 19th and 20th centuries. Trace the shocking discoveries of non-Euclidean geometries, Cantor’s paradoxes of infinite sets, and the incompleteness theorem of Kurt Godel. See how Alice in Wonderland sheds intriguing light on this new view of reality..

This program covers the important topic of heat transfer by conduction, convection, and radiation in Physics. We begin by discussing the how energy is transferred from an object using these three primary mechanisms and how they might be observed in everyday life. The entire lesson is taught by working example problems beginning with the easier ones and gradually progressing to the harder problems. Emphasis is placed on giving students confidence in...