20100414

Archetypal Self-organized Systems

I want to see something like Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi, or Powaanisqatsi but with science. I imagine the title would be something like "Biological Cybernetics" but in a language not English. The gist : take high resolution footage of biological and technological processes, and group systems with common underlying dynamics into chapters.



Example chapters might include

  • swarms : birds, fish, ants, bees, locusts, robots, simulations, people, herds
  • dendritic growth : trees, neurons, cities, vasculature, coral, slime mold, fractures in pavement, erosion
  • vascular transport : dendritic growth, but zoom in on the things that move around inside
  • dividing systems : mostly just cellular life here, maybe some crystal growth, time-lapse industrial development
  • decay processes : oxidization, rot, death
  • pattern formation : animal coat patterns, chemical reaction diffusion systems, genetic patterning in embryos, cortical patterns
  • burning systems : fires, slowed down explosions, disease propagation in plant tissue, disease propagation in bacterial culture, disease propagation in society, certain brain waves
  • waves : water, air, brains, dunes, traffic, light, electrons, sound
  • oscillatory systems : planetary orbits, shifting seasons, tides, cycles of reproduction, day/night wake/sleep, breathing, heartbeat, cellular oscillations


5 comments:

  1. It's been 30 years since Cosmos. I think the time is right for a new "science is awesome!" show, a la Planet Earth or Life. Call it Universe.

    Finding the right narrator might be tricky. The only person I can think of off-hand is Leonard Nimoy, but that's too stereotypical. Maybe a woman, maybe with a vaguely exotic accent.

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  2. I hear there was some show that might have involved

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson

    but I seem to have missed it. perhaps too young or too old or no cable television

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  3. With a mix of stock footage, good writing, and James Cameron tech, Feynman could easily be resurrected for tv to get people interested.

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  4. Biffmotron: Dr. Olivia Judson (of "Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation"), perhaps? I think she's done voice work before. Of course this would be for values of "vaguely exotic" that include "English", but.

    I'll boost this signal and see if anyone's interested.

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  5. Thank you octopod; ( when I think British and Science, I think of "Look Around You" )

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