| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (26 min. 33 sec.) ; 159617349 bytes |
| Summary |
The least number of moves to solve Rubik's cube; unearthing Vanuatu's past; tracing man's migrations with stomach bacteria!; calculate your wet doggy's wiggle; origins of Sydney's sand; and how to catch giant beachworms.GOD'S ALBORITHMThe mere sight of a Rubik's cube can bring back memories of frustration, desperation and the sad admission of defeat. But fans of the puzzle now have cause to celebrate. Close to the cube's 30th birthday it was also announced that the holy grail of cubing had been found. It's called 'God's Number' the fewest number of moves it takes to solve the cube from any starting point. If you thought solving the cube was hard for your tiny brain, be reassured that it took a network of computers years to find 'God's Number'.LAPITA PEOPLEWe know very little about one of the greatest diasporas in the history of humanity: the movement of people across the Pacific. But, over the last decade excavations at a most remarkable site in Vanuatu are starting to flesh out the stories laid down over thousands of years. Paul Willis finds what is being revealed about the Lapita people through their pottery, burial grounds and the isotopes found in teeth.WET DOGGY WIGGLEWe've all been soaked by water flying off a wet dog but just how fast does your dog need to shake to get maximum dry? Stunning new high speed camera analysis has revealed the spectacular and unexpected physics of the wet dog shake and yielded the mathematical equation for the wet dog wiggle. And it's so simple, you can test it yourself.BEACH WORM WHISPERERThey live in the shore break along the beaches of the east coast of Australia and can grow up to three metres long. These amazing creatures are polychaetes, a segmented worm with jaws and lots of leg like structures. Marine expert Phil Colman takes on willing student, Ruben Meerman, in an attempt to coax some out of the sand.BACTERIAL MIGRATIONAussie scientist Barry Marshall won the Nobel Prize for discovering the bacterial cause of stomach ulcers. But he also proposed that he could tell where you were born and where your family comes from by the DNA of your helicobacter. It could be a useful way of researching human migration, given that half the world's population carry helicobacter.SANDS OF SYDNEYDid you ever wonder where all the lovely golden sand along Sydney's famous beaches comes from? Paul Willis reports that the sands and sediments of Eastern Australia started life in Eastern Antarctica - around a billion years ago! |
| Event |
Broadcast 2011-06-02 at 20:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Computer algorithms.
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Dogs -- Behavior.
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Excavations (Archaeology) -- Research.
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Polychaeta.
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Rubik's Cube.
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Sand -- Analysis.
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New South Wales -- Sydney.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Bedford, Stuart, contributor
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Colman, Phil, contributor
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Dethridge, John, contributor
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Keogh, Daniel, reporter
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Moffat, Ian, contributor
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Newby, Jonica, reporter
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Phillips, Graham, reporter
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Reepmeyer, Christian, contributor
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Rokicki, Tom, contributor
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Shing, Richard, contributor
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Spencer, Adam, contributor
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Spriggs, Matthew, contributor
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Valentin, Frederique, contributor
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Willis, Paul, host
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Zemdegs, Feliks, contributor
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