Slow Life from Daniel Stoupin on Vimeo

Via Kottke, on Vimeo. As Daniel Stoupin, the creator, states at his blog and his Vimeo description accompanying his video, he required 150,000 "shots" to make this 3 minute and 38 second video, and most of it involves image stacking to give a greater depth of field.  He suggests it be watched in full HD (it has 4K resolution) on a large screen with actual image size selected.  He also asks that it not be used for sales purposes, particularly for the marine aquarium industry (not that he has any antipathy with that industry, he just doesn't want it used for its sales).  The underlying thrust of the video is that much marine life (heck, much life in general) moves at scales humans are not accustomed to appreciate yet it is extremely important to our well being.

"Lap Dance"

Via Colossal via the Awesomer.

Sorting Algorithms with Sound (Because Who Doesn't Love a Good Sorting Algorithm?)

This video shows sped up versions of sorting algorithms with associated sounds from a GNU licensed program called The Sound of Sorting (link to description which contains the program download info).  It was created by Timo Bingmann, a  Ph.D student in the "Institute of Theoretical Informatics, Algorithmics" in Karlsruhe, Germany, to provide much better background (see, e.g.) and more variants than a prior YouTube version created YouTube user andrut.

Andrut is good enough in the about section of his video to describe prior art, and there's even more including an old QBasic sorting program (SLT), as Bingmann points out.  (BTW, on the video above and on Bingmann's program, as well as on the video below, you'll want the sound turned on, way on, since it is integral to the video -- it's called "The Sound of Sorting" for Christssake. On the video of the QBasic program, on the other hand, you'll want the sound off, very, very off, because it will rapidly drive you insane.)

Should you happen to find yourself with a surfeit of time you may also be interested in videos of the "bubble sort" or the "quick sort" treated as a Hungarian folk dances, the "merge sort" as a Transylvanian German folk dance, or the "select sort" as a Gypsy folk dance.

But your time is valuable so here is just andrut's short, very nice video from three years ago:

Nightmares in the Uncanny Valley

parametric expression from mike pelletier on Vimeo;  a study of quantified emotion; music: Colleen - I Was Deep in A Dream and Didn't Know It. (http://colleenplays.org/)  Via Metafilter.

The Beach Boys Shred I Get Around

Via Tim!

The Bead Chain Experiment

Our physical world is simply an amazing world.

Via Tim! from 3 Quarks Daily.

This is the Kind of World I Want to Live In

Via Kottke. And, as Kottke points out, there are plenty of crazy thing happen in Russia videos out there; none, though, betray much hope for the world or respect for others as this one does.

Edwardian England and Ireland Circa 1900

The description at YouTube:

This video has been dramatically enhanced in quality, using modern video editing tools. The film has been motion stabilized and the speed has been slowed down to correct speed (from 18 fps to 24 fps) using special frame interpolation software that re-creates missing frames. Upscaling to HD quality was done using video enhancer software.

I have been told that at least part of this film was shot in Cork (Ireland). The music is "Chanson du Soir" and "Arco Noir" from Harvey's Strings of Sorrow album.

I found the video oddly moving -- must be the sentimental music.  Yes, that's it; it was the music ...

Via Miss Cellania.

The Making and Breaking of Prince Rupert's Drop

Prince Rupert's Drop is a string of glass with a bulb on the end formed by pouring molten glass into cold water. The glass immediately sets on the outside of the stream, which insulates the inside of the stream causing it to cool more slowly. As a result the bulb on the end is very hard to break but any stress farther up the strong will cause the whole thing to instantly explode. Here it is in ultra-slo-mo (which is very cool):

Imagine a World Without Hate

This moving advertisement for the Anti Defamation League has begun to make the rounds. It's only one minute twenty seconds long and does a lot with that:

Will It Blend -- iPhone5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3

The Blendtec blender man calls it a draw, but if you watch I think it is obvious that the iPhone blends a lot easier than the Samsung -- that is, Samsung wins! (My guess is that the Android operating system had no effect on the outcome.)

"Our Story in 2 Minutes"

The "our" in "Our Story" is mostly the US (well, that's the intended audience), but whatever; this is still great:

"Wings" and the Death of Paul Sampleton, Jr.

Yesterday two teens and an adult were arrested for the murder of a 14 year old -- he was killed to steal his shoes.  He apparently had a bunch of high end shoes and just gotten home from school for holiday break when was shot and then strapped to a chair and left to die.

The whole thing as heartbreaking on so many levels, this kind of thing happens so often, much too often. Rather than pontificate or get lost in the heartbreak, just this:

A Beautiful Trombone Solo

This is lovely. Via Stellar.

"The Eagleman Stag" by Mikey Please

This is an extremely well conceived and well executed animated video. Since I am posting a lot of videos lately, I thought I'd toss this one out there.

MetaFilter -- which was the source of this for me -- has a nice short write up with a link to a really good making of video as well as links to many other videos by Mikey Please.

In general, MiFi has been white hot lately with awesome stuff.

Scientists are Using Amusement Park Rides to Increase Intelligence

Scientists at the Institute for Centrifugal Research (here's its Facebook page) have developed a series of fantastic aerodynamic kinetic experiments to defeat some of the mental processing boundaries people face. This is the kind of amazing thing you come upon today -- it's worth watching. Via Colossal.

"Death Valley Dreamlapse"

"Death Valley Dreamlapse" from Sunchaser Pictures on Vimeo.

This follow-up the beautiful video to "Sunchaser Star Trails" was filmed at Eureka Dunes in Death Valley National Park during the Geminid Meteor Shower Peak. It was primarily shot at 25 second interval exposures without special effects. A "UFO" appears at (1:30-1:35) and makes three broad circular sweeps over the desert and according to the filmmaker was too slow to be a helicopter (while it appears fast, due to the timelapse the period it's there is really about 50 minutes). Via Scientific American -- really!

Return of the Sun

A superlative short video:

Return of the Sun from Glen Milner on Vimeo.

Tarsier Facts

From the inestimable Ze Frank, via Miss Cellania, 

As to the tarsier's innocent wide-eyed appearance, well you might watch this short clip (from the BBC's Life and narrated by the wonderful and ubiquitous and also inestimable David Attenborough). To quote, in part: "Tarsiers are the only totally carnivorous primates on Earth." (Okay, Ze Frank says this, too, and sounds like Morgan Freeman, but he probably got it from Attenborough, who sounds like Attenborough.)

Heart Performing Led Zeppelin? Actually ... Yes (no, no, not the band Yes, "yes," as in this is actually really good)

Via Boing Boing: