Tag Archives: YouTube

Education Gets an ‘A’ on YouTube

August 29, 2012UCTV, UCTV PrimeEducation, uctv prime, YouTubeUCTV

Expanding your educational horizons might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of YouTube. Since 2005, the online video provider has been entertaining us with videos about our beloved pets, fierce passion for our favorite celebrities, and mischievous kids. Today’s most popular YouTube video is a parody of Korean pop star Psy’s hit “Gangnam Style” that- with its “invisible horse dance,” sexualization of the cat cow yoga pose, and fake snow scene- seems like a parody itself.

Well, move over Psy, because there’s a new trend on YouTube. According to NPR, educational videos have been viewed 70% more this summer than last. Perhaps the rising cost of education has something to do with it, or simply the greater availability of education content. Whatever the reason, UCTV, which has partnered with YouTube since 2006, is glad to be at the forefront of this exciting, growing demand for knowledge.

Want to learn how to garden? Get up to speed on climate change? Hear from the U.S. Supreme Court Justices? Whatever your interests may be, we have over 5,000 videos and 70 subject playlists on our UCTV YouTube Channel, as well as our website and iTunesU.

This past March we were honored to become the first university to partner with YouTube on their original channels initiative. Earlier this year we launched UCTV Prime, which features collections of short mini-series on topics like obesity, the 2012 election, public art, and science fiction.

Will UCTV videos ever surpass the 3 million hits per day that Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video gets? We can hope (and our viral video hit “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” is at 2.7 million and growing)! In the meantime, we’ll be busy fulfilling our mission of providing in-depth content that informs, educates and enriches the lives of people around the globe — and we thank you for being there right along with us!

Beyond the Blockbuster: Motion Capture Technology and Our Digital Self

June 22, 2012UC Merced, UCTV Prime, UCTV Prime: Our Digital Life3-D, animation, cognition, digital technology, motion capture, uc merced, uctv prime, YouTubeUCTV

Hollywood blockbusters like “Avatar” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” have shown us how cutting-edge motion capture technology can be used to create dazzling special effects on the big screen. But where does this technology fit into real life?

The second episode in UCTV Prime’s series “Our Digital Life” shows how cognitive scientists and computer engineers at UC Merced are collaborating and using real time, 3-D motion capture technology to understand our complex behavior and how we use it to record and analyze the way we live. Check it out here, then get ready for next’s weeks third and final installment, which shows how this revolutionary technology could be applied to teaching and health care in the future.

Our Digital Life (Ep. 2): The Present – Cognitive and Computer Science, Our Digital Self

Our Digital Life (Ep. 3 Trailer): The Future – Teaching and Life-Saving Tools

It’s Sugary Sweet in the Spotlight for UCSF’s Robert Lustig

March 30, 2012Health and Medicine, In the News, Obesity, UCTV Primefructose, health, Obesity, Robert Lustig, sugar, ucsf, uctv prime, YouTubeUCTV

UCSF's Dr. Robert Lustig — UCSF's Robert Lustig in his viral video "Sugar: The Bitter Truth"

If universities had “rock stars,” we’d definitely have one on our hands with Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco. He may not carry a guitar or have flocks of cheering fans, but Dr. Lustig has earned himself a lot attention since his 90-minute talk, “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” went live on UCTV’s YouTube channel in 2009.

In the video, Dr. Lustig urgently explains how his research points to sugar as a toxin that’s fueling the global obesity epidemic. To date, his message has been watched more than 2.1 million times on YouTube and downloaded another 1 million times through iTunes. It also inspired a much talked about New York Times Magazine article by Gary Taubes and sparked a national conversation. The spotlight will get even hotter this Sunday night, April 1, when Dr. Lustig appears on CBS’ “60 Minutes” to discuss his alarming research.

If you haven’t already been brought to attention by Dr. Lustig’s message, the “60 Minutes” report will undoubtedly do the trick — and will leave you hungry for more information. That’s why you’ll want to tune in to UCTV Prime’s “The Skinny on Obesity,” an original series featuring Dr. Lustig and his colleagues at UCSF’s Center for Obesity Assessment, Study & Treatment, who are opening new avenues in obesity research that will impact all of our lives. The exclusive, seven-part series premieres April 13 on UCTV Prime, a YouTube original channel, with new installments posted every Friday, along with additional material, blog posts, poll questions and more at the website. Here’s a preview of what’s in store:

Stay tuned!

“Naked Art” Concludes, But It’s Just the Beginning

March 23, 2012Arts and Music, UCTV Primeart, election, Naked Art, Obesity, stuart collection, uc san diego, ucla, ucsf, uctv prime, YouTubeUCTV

Today’s premiere of “Naked Art: Museums without Walls” concludes the inaugural documentary mini-series for our new YouTube original channel, UCTV Prime. After traveling to three different UC campuses and talking with artists, curators, faculty, students and others who helped make each of the campus’ public art collections a reality, we like to think we’ve shown our growing YouTube audience the range of personalities, sensibilities and landscapes contained within this distinctive research university that spans ten campuses across the state.

The final installment refelects upon the diverse definitions, purposes and modes of public art from UC campuses and elsewhere, and includes comments by artists, curators, students and other participants in the “Naked Art” series. Taken together, the four-part series just might open your eyes to the works of art that cross your path nearly every day.

More importantly, “Naked Art” offers just a taste of what we’ve got in store for you this year on UCTV Prime, starting with “Prime: Vote,” a series about issues in the public debate during this important election year. The series launched last week with three thoughtful commentaries by UC faculty.

Then stay tuned in April for the seven-part miniseries “The Skinny on Obesity.” If you’re a fan of UCTV, then you’ve probably seen or at least heard of UCTV’s popular video lecture “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” featuring UCSF’s Dr. Robert Lustig on the damage caused by sugary foods. With over 2 million YouTube views to date, the video has become a viral sensation, sparking TV news stories, newspaper articles, even spin-off books by YouTube fans. UCTV Prime decided it’s time to dig deeper into not only the dangers of sugar and its substitutes, but what the latest research is telling us and why it’s changing everything we thought we knew. You won’t want to miss it when it premieres April 13.

And there’s plenty more to come, so if you haven’t subscribed to the UCTV Prime YouTube channel yet, do it today! In the meantime, enjoy these final thoughts on what it means to leave pieces of art out in the wild.

Monthly Highlights: March 2012

March 1, 2012Monthly Highlights, UCTV, UCTV Primeart, business, environment, uc san diego, ucla, ucsd, ucsf, YouTubeUCTV

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UCTV Launches YouTube’s First University-Run Original Channel

It’s official! UCTV has made history with today’s launch of UCTV Prime, YouTube’s first university-run original channel. Each week, UCTV Prime presents 15 minutes of fresh content — ranging from in-depth documentary mini-series to election analysis, commentary and reports on the latest research developments from throughout the UC system. New programs are uploaded Tuesdays and Fridays at www.youtube.com/uctvprime, with bonus material, blog posts and more available at the UCTV Prime website. Make sure to subscribe to UCTV Prime today and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for upcoming interactive features.

UCTV Prime makes its YouTube debut with “Naked Art,” a four-part mini-series exploring the preeminent art collections at UC San Diego, UCLA and UC San Francisco. The premiere episode explores UC San Diego’s Stuart Collection, a unique collection of site-specific works by leading artists of our time, including Do Ho Suh, whose latest piece, “Fallen Star,” features a small house that’s been picked up by a mysterious force and “landed” on a building, seven stories up.

Also coming soon, UCTV Prime: Vote, a recurring, 5-minute series offering election analysis and commentary by UC faculty and experts (premieres March 13), and UCTV Prime: Cuts, another regular 5-minute segment reporting on research developments, entertaining events and interesting personalities on the campuses and beyond (debuts March 6). Stay tuned in April for our next mini-series, “The Skinny on Obesity,” examining the obesity epidemic and how UC San Francisco researchers are working to combat it.

Advocating for the Environment

From the international response to climate change to innovations in Green Chemistry, researchers are working hard to protect our planet on many fronts. Get the latest here.

Climate Change: Human Causes and Responses

Green Chemistry: Innovations for an Environmental and Economic Prosperity

A Thirst for Power: The Global Nexus of Energy and Water

America’s Climate Choices with Albert Carnesale

Marine Protected Areas: A Success Story

Nuclear Power: Ethical and Policy Implications