What're you streaming today?

I was sitting in my underwear checking what's "popular on N*tflix" (and other streaming services) and I couldn't help but feel that most of it is dark and/or dangerous. Rife with violence and angst. So, I thought I'd start this thread to share more uplifting titles.

What I'm watching tonight is Demetri Martin's Our Fascinating Planet on Prime. It's a satire of natural history documentaries like those made by David Attenborough. I am proudly a science/physics geek, so maybe I'm only one that belly laughs at some of the humor. But if you don't like this one, then tell us about something you've streamed lately that you do like.

Star Wars: Rebels. My daughter and I watched all six seasons of The Clone Wars and are now on to Rebels.

We like Star Wars.

Well, since you've asked, although it's tough and gritty and violent and has language galore, I got lucky. Made friends with this waiter at Panevino who found out I was a Trekkie, and so he's telling me all about cbsallaccesss and Picard and Star Trek: Discovery and he keeps telling me and telling me, then the DAY BEFORE they closed the restaurant, he came to the bar with a piece of paper and said, "This is my log on for cbsallaccess!! Enjoy!!" The next day they closed and I don't have his number but every night I watch an episode or two of "Picard' and it's AMAZING!! Just had my night snack and now I'm gonna fire it up.

I love science. Amazon Prime you say, for Fascinating Planet? I'll check it out..... thanks!!

I took a free four month trial of Apple Music through Shazam, and while I'm not really a fan of the streaming fidelity, it's nice to have such a vast music collection at you disposal when you're stuck in the house. I might just keep it!

davismanLV said:

...I love science....

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DThomasC said:

...I am proudly a science/physics geek...

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Man, we ought to start a thread about that. I've seriously been into cosmology for many years. I guess it started when I read James Gleick's Chaos. I have a modest degree in mathematics and really wanted to learn more about that - chaos theory, sensitivity to initial conditions and all that. Well, there weren't that many books about it, but there were a lot of books about quantum physics and astrophysics and cosmology, so I read everything in the library about those things, probably 150 books over the years. Most amazing is what has been found out about the big bang. It's not just presumption that someone could write a book called The First Three Minutes, A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe [1977 by Steven Weinberg]. The observed abundance of hydrogen and helium in the universe confirms how the first three minutes played out. Just amazing! And that's just a start. The cosmic microwave background is almost like a Rosetta Stone for the universe. Like I said, it is just amazing what scientists have found out these days!

Last night was Black lightening. I watched just about very thing sci-fi I have access to which kind ticks me off because plainly there are not enough shows/movies to go around .

I don't want the Disney channel but they star wars for ransom and I don't want CBS but they holding Star Trek for ransom .

Twelve Monkeys.

So we have these things called "DVD"s and a box that "streams" them to our TV so we have been rediscovering some old favorites and questioning why we spent the money on others.

I finished the Mandalorian early last month and I kind of wished I waited until now. May have re-binge it.

Cougar said:

... Most amazing is what has been found out about the big bang. It's not just presumption that someone could write a book called The First Three Minutes, A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe [1977 by Steven Weinberg]. The observed abundance of hydrogen and helium in the universe confirms how the first three minutes played out. Just amazing! And that's just a start. The cosmic microwave background is almost like a Rosetta Stone for the universe. Like I said, it is just amazing what scientists have found out these days!

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I was taught that science needs to be predictive, not just descriptive. It's easy to look at something and guess how it got there and why it behaves the way it does, but to be legitimate science your theory needs to predict unobserved phenomenon. If you find those phenomenon when you go looking for them, then that is support for your theory.

Rayk said:

Last night was Black lightening. I watched just about very thing sci-fi I have access to which kind ticks me off because plainly there are not enough shows/movies to go around .

I don't want the Disney channel but they star wars for ransom and I don't want CBS but they holding Star Trek for ransom .

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Hulu and Prime have quite a bit of older Star Trek, but not the newer stuff.
Black Lightening. I'll check it out, thanks!

FNG" said:

Twelve Monkeys.

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The movie is one of my favorite of all time. I tried watching the series, but I guess I was looking for something with less conflict at the time, so I stopped. Maybe I'll try again when I'm in a different frame of mind.

That is sort of the point of this thread. So much of what's available to watch involves conflict and struggle, pain, fear, suffering. Why is that so popular?

DThomasC said:

That is sort of the point of this thread. So much of what's available to watch involves conflict and struggle, pain, fear, suffering. Why is that so popular?

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Possibly because there's still much of it evident in the world today and people with aspects of these things in their lives can maybe not feel so bad when presented with situations that are much worse than theirs or what's bothering them. It's kind of like when I know I need to clean the house and organize things but I really hate doing it. So I watch an episode or two of Hoarders, and then I don't feel so bad about things around me......... it's not really THAT dirty or messy! Is it?

Porn

Making the Cut. Yes, I'm a fashionista.

No time for streaming. I'll play guitar when I get time, but I'm workng harder than I ever did moving my courses on-line - I am a college professor for a small college. Classes start Monday, and it will be crazy. But in the overall scheme of things I am very lucky.

walrus

I don't watch a whole lotta TV. Baseball season is postponed so that's out. I missed the most recent season of Doctor Who but it's available On Demand. I do sometimes watch YouTube vloggers—mostly physics, photography & music related stuff—and even the occasional film now that YT streams 'em. That Pedal Show on YT is a must-watch. I've got season 2 of Mindhunter on Netflix in the queue, great stuff but a real dark drama so I'm not much in the mood for it right now. Also have some Blu-rays stacked up & ready to go.

-Dave-

DThomasC said:

I was taught that science needs to be predictive, not just descriptive. It's easy to look at something and guess how it got there and why it behaves the way it does, but to be legitimate science your theory needs to predict unobserved phenomenon. If you find those phenomenon when you go looking for them, then that is support for your theory.

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As written, this sounds overly restrictive, but I don't think you mean that. You say "to be legitimate science your theory needs to predict unobserved phenomenon." Yeah, but that does not mean that you cannot develop your theory based on observed phenomena. As this site explains:

The first question any theorist must ask is whether this theory can account for the masses of data that have been taken through history... Prediction of the past is the vital first step of science.... The next step asks whether your new theory continues to explain the world as new data comes in....

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Obviously, as new data comes in -- that's the so-far "unobserved phenomenon" that you mention. Newton observed past motions due to gravity and somehow figured out an extremely good estimate that described those motions. That estimate also predicted how future motions due to gravity would take place.

AFAIK, it's only Einstein whose theories predicted phenomena that no one had ever observed before. Warped spacetime? Gravitational waves? (Only recently observed!) Gravitational lenses? Time dilation of distant receding objects? Well, the precession of Mercury's orbit was observed, but no one could explain it... until Einstein.

Normally though, scientists first observe phenomena, then develop a theory, not simply to describe the phenomenon, but to explain how it and any future such observations play out. Any theory really has to be able to be tested. If the theory doesn't pass the test, it's got to be discarded. An interesting quote regarding quantum theory:

"...quantum theory boldly exposes itself to potential falsification on a thousand different fronts. Its record is impressive: quantum theory passes every test we can devise. After sixty years of play, this theory is still batting a thousand."

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richardp69 said:

Porn

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Hence the 69 part of your name . Lmao you rock !

DThomasC said:

I was taught that science needs to be predictive, not just descriptive. It's easy to look at something and guess how it got there and why it behaves the way it does, but to be legitimate science your theory needs to predict unobserved phenomenon. If you find those phenomenon when you go looking for them, then that is support for your theory.




Hulu and Prime have quite a bit of older Star Trek, but not the newer stuff.
Black Lightening. I'll check it out, thanks!



The movie is one of my favorite of all time. I tried watching the series, but I guess I was looking for something with less conflict at the time, so I stopped. Maybe I'll try again when I'm in a different frame of mind.

That is sort of the point of this thread. So much of what's available to watch involves conflict and struggle, pain, fear, suffering. Why is that so popular?

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Yeah I've seen all the trek stuff a few times over . Lol
I watched a few movies most B sci-fi with popcorn . Lol
There's one on Hulu or Amazon I don't have the whole name but it's something Colors . Which was fairly good .
Some series which I liked , my number one is The Expanse.
Netflix lost in space is really good .
Altered Carbon is good there's 2 seasons .
Fantasy side The Witcher is pretty good .
Can't leave out Stranger Things . Lol
A new one called Lock and key is good .
I toss in some Anima as well . Lol

Cougar said:

Normally though, scientists first observe phenomena, then develop a theory, not simply to describe the phenomenon, but to explain how it and any future such observations play out. Any theory really has to be able to be tested. If the theory doesn't pass the test, it's got to be discarded. An interesting quote regarding quantum theory:

"...quantum theory boldly exposes itself to potential falsification on a thousand different fronts. Its record is impressive: quantum theory passes every test we can devise. After sixty years of play, this theory is still batting a thousand."

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I don't think we disagree about that, but really it goes farther. It's a matter of being useful as a theory.

I will disagree that relativity is the only theory that predicts unobserved and unexpected phenomenon. As an obvious example, most of what we know as particle physics today started with some theoreticians predicting the existence of some specific particle, and experimentalists responding by going and looking for that particle. Bosons, quarks, etc were mostly predicted before they were observed. But that's an extreme example (and arguably not all that valuable. ) The same sort of thing takes place on a more subtle scale all the time. Advancements in technology are often (though not always) suggested by theories, not just discovered by accident.

That's why a legitimate theory needs to have predictive power. Without that, it has no real value. It's of no practical use beyond idle discussion.

DThomasC said:

What're you streaming today?

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Ozark is back on Netflix! The start of season 3!