Comments on: Charlie talks stars

By: Christopher

Christopher — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:50:54 +0000

Am I the only one who was thrown a bit when he said “miles?

By: TheBeef

TheBeef — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:14:53 +0000

I used his video on sound in a class a couple of days ago and the kids loved it. I think he is great.

By: MoMan

MoMan — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:11:52 +0000

Tyson, Plait, Nye….look out! Your replacement is in the wings. Awesome young bloke and teacher.

By: BigBadSis

BigBadSis — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:10:29 +0000

Silly me. My daughter’s been watching his videos for over 3 years! We both love him!

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:54:08 +0000

You’re right, that is a great educational video for the young…but, did he have to say “ore-inspiring”??

Stupid intrusive R!

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:47:28 +0000

Sturgeons Law (or Revelation) for those who don’t already know :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_Law

WARNING some possibly (very mild expletives) NSFW language there.

One example of wonderful stuff on Youtube to support my case is here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqzpasV3nvg

Another rather quirky one I stumbled onto recently which was also done by some more youthful budding scientists is here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzvcZgdjElo&feature=related

Keep watching for the odd but well-produced & amusing segue into something completely different!

There is, natch, loads more of such great stuff and (nearly) the usual full human range of material.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:37:36 +0000

Great clip, thanks. Well done Charlie McDonnell – excellent.

Question : How many times can the Earth really go into the Sun?

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Answer : Once. After that, there’s no more Earths left!

Of course, if you did have an endless supply of Earths to go round it’d be another story entirely.

Also [nitpick mode on] the Sun isn’t an average star – it’s actually in the top 5% of stars mass-&-luminosity~wise given 70% of stars are red dwarfs, 15 % are orange dwarfs and 10% of stars are white dwarf ex-stars.* [/nitpick mode off]

Still those are only very minor quibbles & I’m most impressed by & really enjoyed this clip.

@8. Zucchi : There’s so much mindless, negative crap on YouTube. So nice to see this.

Yes that’s true although as with so much in life and online especially Sturgeons law applies and there’s also an awful lot on Youtube which is very good and intelligent and wonderful too. As I’m sure y’all know.

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* Source : Croswell, Ken, “Is there Life around Alpha Centauri?” article in ‘Astronomy’ magazine, April 1991, Kalmbach publishing Co.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:57:30 +0000

@ 12 tracer
It’s fission of heavier elements when they get struck by cosmic rays. Those elements burn up too quickly in stellar interiors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray_spallation
If you look at the abundances of Li, Be and B, you can see a giant dip (10^-5 times as carbon, nitrogen or oxygen) It’s a rare process, nowhere near as efficient s nucleosynthesis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SolarSystemAbundances.png

By: tracer

tracer — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:47:47 +0000

@ Chris (post # 2):

I hadn’t heard of cosmic-ray spallation nucleosynthesis before. Are the lithium, beryllium, and boron formed via the fusion of lighter elements, or are they instead formed from the fission of heavier elements that are not normally fissile?

By: MaryB

MaryB — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:13:47 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing this, Phil. I have been lookiong for videos suitable for my young grandchildren.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:47:03 +0000

Cute kid and excellent video! Keep up the good work!

@Chris #2 – You’re a nerd!

By: Wayne on the Plains

Wayne on the Plains — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:39:29 +0000

I’m with Zucchi, it’s just not fair to have such a cool accent, but the video was great.

By: Zucchi

Zucchi — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:09:41 +0000

For Americans, just having a British accent gives a kid a big head-start for being adorable.

There’s so much mindless, negative crap on YouTube. So nice to see this.

By: BigBadSis

BigBadSis — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:43:01 +0000

Oh please, please, please let my 16-year old daughter fall in love with him! Great son-in-law material.

By: Ken B

Ken B — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:24:47 +0000

Even though I already knew everything he talked about in this video, it’s great to see someone that can make science more “fun” for more kids. (I don’t know why people think it isn’t “fun”, unless their schools turned it into something dull and boring. You know, some monotone-speaking teacher who doesn’t get the kids involved, and never has any hands-on lessons.)

I heartily support anyone who gets more kids interested in science. Two thumbs up.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:08:51 +0000

Thanks for introducing me to Charlie, Phil! His video is awesome – and not in the “Glee” sense.

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:22:09 +0000

I can’t wait to get home and show this to my daughter.

By: Bee

Bee — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:47:19 +0000

Upon first sight I thought he’s Brian Cox’ son ;o)

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:35:06 +0000

There should be some clarification there because not all the elements in you and me were made in stars. Hydrogen was just produced in the big bang, and lithium beryllium and boron were made by cosmic ray spallation events.

By: Alex Hall

Alex Hall — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:08:57 +0000

This is amazing! I was absolutely hooked for all 4 minutes of that, and most of it I already knew anyway. Keep doing what you do Charlie If it’s good enough for Stephen Fry, it’s plenty good enough for me!