Sunday Movie Night With Good Old Fashioned NOVA

After all our work today. Sorting through lectures, research presentations and glossaries. Even wrapping our head around mitochondria, we need to give our minds a vacation. NOVA? yes Nova, sweet entertaining Nova. Imagine that old 1980's "brought to you by the public broadcasting corporation" and go get yourself some warm milk and a blanket.


Fractal Basics

"They're odd-looking shapes you may never have heard of, but they're everywhere around you—the jagged repeating forms called fractals. If you know what to look for, you can find them in the clouds, in mountains, even inside the human body." watch chapter 1 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low running time 11:36

Fractals in the Body

Fractal patterns turn up everywhere in biology, from the irregular rhythm of the heart to basic eye function. The fractal nature of such physiological processes, which obey simple mathematical rules, offers hope of better diagnosis and treatment of problems as well as new insights into how such processes work. Watch chapter 4 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low
running time 10:15

See the whole program here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fractals/program.html

Other Nova VIDEOs:

Stem Cells Breakthrough (July 2008) Three separate teams overcome a biomedical hurdle—creating stem cells without the use of human embryos. Watch now (13 mins.)

Aging (Jan. 2007) Will research into "longevity genes" help us live longer and healthier lives? Watch now (13 mins.)

Stem Cells (Apr. 2005)A new technique for creating stem cells may ease ethical concerns. Watch now (8 mins.)

Artificial Life (Oct. 2005) Are scientists on the verge of making living things from little more than dust? Watch now (15 mins.)

Lab Meat (Jan. 2006) Scientists can grow edible meat in culture from a few animal cells. Bon appétit? Watch now (2 mins.)