Awesome Science

Looks like we can stop worrying about the polar ice caps and water contaminants now that NASA has developed a forward osmosis urine conversion kit. Space Shuttle Atlantis‘s crew will get first drink.

These ordinary women are turned into horrible, disfigured mutants thanks to a visual illusion discovered by a team of researchers, and termed the “Flashed Face Distortion Effect.”

By taking a gigantic electromagnet and a bunch of pit balls loaded with their own electromagnets, Physalia Studio manages to create the greatest plaything ever. Or it could just be CGI. Still cool.

A video showing fire ants making a nigh-unsinkable raft out of their bodies, taken by Georgia Tech graduate student Nathan Mlot. The ants can also make a bubble of air if submerged underwater.

Here’s an old gem from NPR science guy Robert Krulwich, about an experiment conducted by Harald Wolf and Matthias Whittlinger that seems to prove that desert ants can count their steps.

Science is a strange and wondrous thing. In this quirky clip, we get a demo of magnetic levitation caused by superconductors. Of course, the little dude racing around the track is what drew us in.

Historian David Christian provides a captivating TEDtalk on the “Big History” of time and space from the Big Bang to the Internet, and the science (and magic) that created our complex universe.

MIT researcher Deb Roy captured 3 years worth of videos to find out how his son learned to talk, and discovered possible alternative ways of studying language and media along the way.

NPR Science Correspondent Robert Krulwich on the existence of an invisible highway of wind drafts thousands of feet above us, filled with a staggering number of different kinds of insects.

It’s time for you to actually learn something. Don’t worry, the guys at Symphony of Science have jazzed up this montage of scientists explaining the wonders of the human brain with some auto-tuning.

While it looks like something from a science fiction movie, this new technology can be used to literally spray new skin onto the body of a burn victim, using their own stem cells. (Not for the squeamish.)

Yeah, we thought the Mythbusters proved a solar death ray was impossible, but Eric Jacqmain claims his 5,800 mirror-tile-covered satellite dish has the “Power of 5,000 suns.” Um, you be the judge.

Ever wondered just how big other planets are? Take a minute out of your day to watch Brad Goodspeed’s short video, which gives us a sense of scale by placing planets into orbit around Earth.

Molecular gastronomy has certainly made its mark with foodies. Now you can try these techniques in your own kitchen. You’ll be spherifying, gelifying and emulsifying meals in no time with this kit.

It’s hard for us normal folks to wrap our heads around stats that are too high or too low. Take temperature for instance. -30ºC is obviously cold, but how cold exactly? Watch the video to find out.

GE explains the benefits of dynamic braking in trains using an oversimplified demonstration –  dropping objects onto jelly and then shooting them as they bounce or shatter in slow motion.