I'm Ready For My Closeup...
A number of science-related organizations are using sites like YouTube to post science videos that have access to a huge number of people who might not be looking for science videos, but might find them entertaining anyway. Celia Henry Arnaud of C&EN News writes about the pros and cons of communicating in this way. Among the topics available are a way to use a minicooper and stuffed cheerleaders to demonstrate how large a nanometer is and chemistry demonstrations that are impractical (or less than safe) to do in the average classroom. ScienceHack is a newer website that localizes science-related videos and pitches itself as a place for teachers to organize video content for their classes. Although the site advertises that the videos are screened by scientists to verify accuracy and correctness, some scientists have expressed skepticism about the lack of supporting documentation on this site. The Popular Science website popsci.com has regular features trying to explain the science behind popular videos on the web.