This is a mind-blowing demonstration of viscosity and Stokes flow from a physics professor at the University of New Mexico:
If you think it’s ludicrous to suggest that you can un-mix a liquid, then watch the entirety of this 2-minute video!
Appreciation Resources
Pendulum Waves
This week’s entry in the “Wow, the Internet is Awesome!” file:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVkdfJ9PkRQ
These pendula of staggered lengths are set swinging, and the result is fascinating. At first, the weights seem to trace out sine waves, but they quickly start to cycle through a wide range of behaviors.
At times the pendula appear highly organized, and at times almost chaotic, as they cycle through various patterns. Amazingly, the weights eventually return to their initial state!
A really beautiful mathematical demonstration.
Geometry Resources
Folding Website
This is great website from Joseph O’Rourke, author of “How to Fold It: The Mathematics of Linkages, Origami,and Polyhedra” .
The website has several videosand cool animations that demonstrate some of the basic ideas in mathematical folding, like the one-cut problem, the map puzzle, and folding polygons into convex polyhedra.
There are also a few folding patterns available for download, just in case you’d like to produce a turtle with one cut!
And for more resources on math and origami, check out my fun with folding page!
History Resources
BBC Podcasts: A Brief History of Mathematics
This is a set of ten podcasts from the BBC titled “A Brief History of Mathematics“:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/maths
Narrated by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, these podcasts begin with Newton, Leibniz, and Calculus, and cover other great personalities in mathematics like Euler, Fourier, Ramanujan, Poincare, and, of course, Gauss.
Each podcast is about 15 minutes in length, and all 10 are freely available for download.
Resources
More Math Careers
This is a useful website on math careers from the Brigham Young University Math department:
About 40 or so careers are profiled here, like Mathematical Biophysicist, Foregin Exchange Trader, and Psychometrician. Each profile includes a salary range, educational requirements, job description, and potential employers.
Another nice potential answer to “When am I ever going to use this?”