Clangers TV Show

Clangers is a BAFTA-winning British stop-motion children’s series about “small creatures living in peace and harmony on – and inside – a small, hollow planet, far, far away.” It first-aired in 1969 and returned to television in 2015. In this 50th anniversary celebration episode, which aired in 2019, renowned space scientist Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock plays an astronaut that visits the Clangers.


Note: The clip, narrated by Sir Michael Palin, seems to include a few more ads than are usually found in a ten-minute clip for kids, but it’s still a sweet celebration of the series. Follow it with this Clangers clip of Aderin-Pocock talking about the astronaut puppet created in her likeness.

And for those not yet familiar, an introduction to the Clangers from the video description:

The Clangers are an inquisitive family of creatures who live on a Little Blue Planet in outer space. The pink, space mouse-like creatures, who communicate with high-pitched whistles, are supportive of one another as they embark on surreal adventures, meet peculiar new friends, and explore curiosities they experience in the world. The stop-motion animated series aims to teach kids such qualities as inventiveness and kindness.

The Story of Physics - Dara O'Briain

Balls, pendulums, apples and magnets all played their part in the story of modern physics, but then things got weird. And when Albert Einstein combined time and space, things got even weirder – step forward quantum uncertainty, black holes and the Big Bang.

This short animation, The Story of Physics, is one in a series of simplified historical summaries from the BBC2’s Science Club series hosted by Dara O Briain. Learn how 300 years of physics was mostly about observing and measuring, until x-rays, radioactivity, and other new discoveries stopped fitting neatly into initial observations.

And then “a Swiss patent clerk started a full-on storm.” That, of course, was 26-year-old Albert Einstein, who, along with other scientists, changed the story of physics and pushed our understanding of how the universe works.

Quilting in Space - Karen Nyberg

NASA Astronaut Karen Nyberg, a lifelong lover of sewing, is inviting fellow crafters to join her in stitching together a global community space quilt. Nyberg, in the final weeks of her mission, recently shared a star-themed quilt square she was able to complete inside the International Space Station. Now, she's inviting quilters from the public to create their own star-themed quilt squares to help celebrate her mission and passion for the quilting arts. The International Quilt Festival and Nyberg will work together to have the squares stitched together for display at the 40th annual International Quilt Festival in 2014 and other public displays. Nyberg's complete biography.

 For more information about Nyberg's personal sewing hobbies