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Glass sponge gardens, bioluminescent octopus squid and a 150-foot siphonophore – the longest animal ever recorded – were just a few of the discoveries made aboard the research vessel Falkor off the coast of Western Australia earlier this year. Led by Nerida Wilson, senior research scientist at the Western Australian Museum, the expedition explored never-before-seen ocean canyons and coral reefs using a remotely controlled robotic vehicle capable of descending to depths of 4,500 metres. Accompanied by words of insight and wonder from the expedition’s scientists, this video offers both a rare look at bioluminescent deep-sea life and a glimpse into how the human impulse for exploration helps to drive scientific discovery.
Video by the Schmidt Ocean Institute
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Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
6 minutes
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Design and fashion
Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’
11 minutes
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Music
As a pianist strikes a chord, visualisations of his notes appear in real time
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Quantum theory
Why aren’t our everyday lives as ‘spooky’ as the quantum world?
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Space exploration
Burning ice, metal clouds, gemstone rain – tour the strangest known exoplanets
31 minutes
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Logic and probability
Chew over the prisoner’s dilemma and see if you can find the rational path out
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Biology
The idea that life on Earth originated elsewhere is not as far out as it seems
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Biology
Flicker through the eclectic beauty and biological diversity of 2,400 leaves
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Metaphysics
Bertrand Russell wanted to kill off causation. Can contemporary philosophy rescue it?
8 minutes