Tetris with Gelatin

This is so awesome!

Jelly Tetris pic.twitter.com/fVMuMyrHd3

— Universal Curiosity (@UniverCurious) November 22, 2019

J-Pop Cover of Tom Lehrer's "The Elements"

I'm pretty sure that what you need in your life right now is a J-Pop cover of Tom Lehrer's "The Elements".

You're welcome!

(Tip of the cap to Elliott Schiff.)

Emoji and \Latex: Bowser, Peach, Mario, and the Dynamics of Love

Today I was figuring out how to successfully put emoji into equations in \latex (I'll have a cool example in my talk at @CompleNet on Monday), so I decided to take @stevenstrogatz's "dynamics of love affairs" example and make it Mario-themed.

See also: https://t.co/7AlMv4fDdj pic.twitter.com/3sVVAhAYSI

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) March 14, 2019

Update: I should have zoomed in more to show a higher-quality screenshot. Here is one, where you can see that the graphics are rather clear.

The Tennessee Woman Suffrage Memorial

A nice thing to do in Knoxville (say, during a visit to @NIMBioS) is to go to Market Square and take a look at the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Memorial.

Here is a short video, with a full view of the Memorial's historical text: https://t.co/EeWV57Jncyhttps://t.co/UShnfB3Px0

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) February 26, 2019

Scales in the Universe

This website, which illustrates the scales — both large and small — of the universe is wonderful!

It reminds me of the 1977 video called Powers of Ten (of which there are also modern versions), except with new stuff that we now know!

(Tip of the cap to Sara Solla.)

Tales from the ArXiv: Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

If I had done this study, I would make a video submission to the Gallery of Nonlinear Images (may it rest in peace), and I would set it to the tune of the song Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. Just saying...

Trying to Divide by 0 on a Mechanical Calculator

;)

Division by zero is a mathematical challenging concept: see what happens when you try in on a mechanical calculator https://t.co/cfo52jdEGr pic.twitter.com/5jho6XqX7Q

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 18, 2018

A Touching Song about a Matrix Entry that is not Well-Defined

This is a touching song about a matrix entry that is very sad because it is not well-defined.

Video of my Tutorial in Paper-Writing in Applied Mathematics

Here is a video of my recent (4/20) tutorial on paper-writing in applied mathematics.

Here is the video of my tutorial on paper-writing in applied mathematics: https://t.co/uAbUatOpnS

For reasons unbenownst to me, YouTube decided to classify it as a "comedy".

Maybe that's a feature, rather than a bug?

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) May 9, 2018

You can also download the slides.

I hope that people find it helpful!

Video project: "Faces of Women in Mathematics"

Last month, Irina Linke (Director) and Eugénie Hunsicker (Producer) collected videos of women mathematicians, and today they released their compilation video.

Quoting the project page: "In February 2018, women mathematicians from all over the world responded to a call for clips in which they were asked to introduce themselves. The result includes 146 clips of 243 women mathematicians from 36 different countries and speaking 31 different languages. Supported by the Committee for Women in Mathematics of the International Mathematical Union."

Take a look at the video!

I met Eugénie, a fellow Somervillian, at last summer's Somerville mathematics reunion (and informal Erdmann-fest). I just found out that she is also a fellow Project NExTer (i.e., a fellow 'dot').

The Hungry Hungry Hippos Theory of Science Funding

The analogy definitely works...

This game looks like the classic Hungry Hungry Hippos but with different "graphics". (The version I had as a kid was not long after it first came out. I am pretty sure that I know where it is in my parents' house — which is a bit rare for my childhood stuff.)

Teaching the kids about science funding pic.twitter.com/rdwylryNly

— Christophe🔬Leterrier (@christlet) November 25, 2017

(Tip of the cap to Kevin O'Keeffe.)

Mathematician Wins 2017 Dance Your Ph.D. Contest!

That's right: The top overall video in the 2017 Dance Your Ph.D. contest was for an explanation of braid groups! Awesome!

An MRI Scan of Broccoli Looks Like Fireworks

Seriously.

Turns out, scanning a Broccoli looks a lot like fireworks... https://t.co/0GcoI3qQrV pic.twitter.com/m56WQrM2KA

— Tim Kietzmann (@TimKietzmann) October 12, 2017

(You're welcome. Tip of the cap to Ciro Cattuto.)

The Bee Nailed It

Bee removes a nail to make a nest in a wall 🐝 pic.twitter.com/CXSjZAkVLA

— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) September 12, 2017

(I saw this Tweet because Sabine Hossenfelder liked it.)

Popsicle-Stick "Cobra Wave"

This is cool! Here is an explanation.

The cobra wave is a physical phenomenon arising from the explosion of a metastable grillage made of popsicle stickshttps://t.co/ISGSN8GCyY pic.twitter.com/5iFhkGgANC

— Physical Review Lett (@PhysRevLett) August 25, 2017

We got the video from PRL's tweet.

Things Rick Astley Would Never Do: 30-Year Anniversary

I wore my 'Things Rick Astley Would Never Do' shirt two days ago, but had I known that the song was released 30 years ago yesterday, I would have instead worn the shirt yesterday to celebrate in a proper manner.

30 years ago today I said I was Never Gonna Give You Up. I am a man of my word - Rick x pic.twitter.com/VmbMQA6tQB

— Rick Astley (@rickastley) July 27, 2017

The Proper Way to Record 'A-Ha' Moments

We've spent a lot of time this week talking about A-Ha moments for students, and now I know the app that I'm going to use to record them!

(I don't normally care about gratuitous apps, but I am seriously geeking out over this one! I want to try this out.)

P.S. The video for "Take on Me" is the best music video of all time! And this is one of the best songs all time — definitely in my top 5.

Live-Action "Balloon Fight"

Take a look at this cool video.

This reminds me of a game called Balloon Fight that I played many moons ago on my NES. This game was very underrated. (It is an excellent game!)

(Tip of the cap to Guillermo Valle Pérez.)

Hiding and Sneaking in Bushes and in Barrels

It seems that Sean Spicer is trying to take a page out of the book of some video games, as he literally hid amongst bushes and behind a tall hedge to try to avoid reporters. Naturally, the internet has has a field day with this.

Here is a choice quote from the Washington Post article above: "White House press secretary Sean Spicer wrapped up his brief interview with Fox Business from the White House grounds late Tuesday night and then disappeared into the shadows, huddling with his staff near a clump of bushes and then behind a tall hedge. To get back to his office, Spicer would have to pass a swarm of reporters wanting to know why President Trump suddenly decided to fire the FBI director."

Her clearly did not play enough Zelda games as a child. Here is how to properly sneak past people while hiding in a barrel.

We continue to live in a Coen Brothers movie. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion (from a seat on the train, unfortunately).

Update: I just noticed the following tweet.

Spicer on phone to WaPo: 😡

"I was not IN the bushes!

I was AMONG the bushes!"

Editor: 🙄

Social media manager: 😎 pic.twitter.com/o8TJUsEPRy

— Prof Dynarski (@dynarski) May 11, 2017

Update (5/11/17): And then there's this beauty.

found this photo of sean spicer hiding between the bushes pic.twitter.com/YZOMCOvHZC

— David Mack (@davidmackau) May 10, 2017

Update (5/12/17): This Garden Spicer is pretty damn funny. (Tip of the cap to Maria Satterwhite, though I believe she shared a different article about the same item.)

Playing Themes from Super Mario Brothers on an Ancient Chinese Instrument

This performance is awesome!