The Autotuning Talents of John Boswell

Personally, I'm not a big fan of autotuned music for musicians.   It was new and interesting when Cher did it for "Believe" (Yeah, I like Cher's music.  Sorry for the TMI).  I don't think she invented it, but it was the first mainstream song that incorporated it blatantly in a release.  Since then, I get to hear it every time my daughter comes into the car with me and she's within arm's length of the radio tuning dial.

I can certainly forgive it when it's remixed and particularly when it can bring the voices of the dead back to life in ways they most certainly would have approved of!

Here's "Mr. Rogers Remixed".  This was done by John Boswell, who does "Symphony of Science".

What I really like is how he slid science into the tape recorder scenario.  I never really thought about science that way.  You encounter something you don't really understand, and develop a strategy to look deeper.  An unmarked cassette can easily be played ... well, it could back then.  As the years go by, it becomes a little more challenging to decode the information, even with the advent of brand new technologies.  Science is a way to cultivate the gardens of our imaginations.

The "Symphony of Science" series has a bunch of great songs performed - sometimes posthumously - by interesting people.  The latest one is on climate change:

You can see lots more at http://symphonyofscience.com/.

Non-Newtonian Fluids

Perhaps you've fooled with "goo" or "gack" ... a mixture of water and cornstarch which behaves as a solid or a liquid under different conditions.  I've seen demos of people dipping their hands into, or standing upon, buckets of this stuff. 

The technical term for this property is "dilatant" or a non-Newtonian fluid.

Here's what it looks like when you have a big budget and someone else to clean up the mess!

(from freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula)