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For the ABC Science series Phenomena, the Australian artist and filmmaker Josef Gatti collaborated with the Australian composer Kim Moyes for an amalgamation of art and science exploring ‘naturally occurring patterns, and the fundamental forces of nature that create them’. In this entry exploring magnetism, the filmmaking team experiments with ferrofluid, a metallic liquid invented by NASA, by harnessing its responses to magnetic force to draw out spectacular three-dimensional patterns. Captured with powerful cameras, the ferrofluid seems to defy gravity, looking as if it must be a creation of CGI. It’s exquisite eye-candy, to be sure, but also reveals an oft-hidden force that is still mysterious to scientists, even as we harness its power to make the modern world possible.
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Consciousness and altered states
You need to make friends with pain to run through the Grand Canyon and back
5 minutes
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Art
Grotesque imagery meets religious conservatism in Hieronymus Bosch’s art
51 minutes
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Architecture
Why a sculptor pivoted from gallery installations to big-box stores design
9 minutes
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Physics
Spectacular fractal patterns emerge when electricity meets a wooden surface
4 minutes
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Mathematics
How a verbal paradox shattered the notion of total certainty in mathematics
5 minutes
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Art
A mindbending trip that summons the forgotten women of surrealism
17 minutes
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Metaphysics
To see the Universe more clearly, think in terms of processes, not objects
6 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
How machine learning can help historians decode ancient inscriptions
7 minutes
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Animals and humans
What the ancient city of Kars looks like from the perspective of its stray dogs
9 minutes