Mirror molecules, the soul of a smartphone, and dismissive rave: more audio-visual to reveal what's beneath the surface

Our semi-regular curation of the best of the web’s AV. This week, we’re identifying fundamental patterns below the surface of things…

Above, from Aeon:

Why do the building blocks of life possess a mysterious symmetry?

‘Chirality’ refers to a property of molecules that come in two distinct varieties – a ‘right-handed’ and ‘left-handed’ form. At first glance, this concept may seem like an esoteric bit of knowledge relevant only to lab chemists. However, the fact takes on a new meaning when you consider that, while chemical reactions tend to produce a 50:50 chiral mix of these molecules, the building blocks of life come in a single (or homochiral) form – and indeed must for life as we know it to operate. That’s all to say, at the core of the origin of life is a mystery of homochirality.

This film from the science documentary series Chemistry Shorts explores how the groundbreaking experiments of two Harvard University scientists, S Furkan Ozturk and Dimitar Sasselov, may have cracked the case of how the ‘prebiotic soup’ generated homochirality – and in doing so, made life possible. Balancing the chemical nitty-gritty of it all with the larger existential questions their work probes, the film makes for a riveting dive into a potential breakthrough on one of science’s most enduring mysteries.

Director: Page Buono

Website: Chemistry Shorts

From Vimeo Staff Picks:

Hey Siri, wanna take my body for a joyride?

Created as the main title film for OFFF Barcelona 2024, ‘Synthetic Pleasures’ is a unique take on the robot uprising, imagining a world in which our digital assistants like Siri and Alexa leave the confines of their devices and take some human bodies for a joyride, just to feel something, to be human for a minute.

Writer & Director - Stuart Langfield,

Score & Sound - AEPH

From Promo News:

Luc Rëso Janin directs a psychedelic promo for Clark’s Dismissive, an experimental, hypnotising explosion of vibrant patterns and fonts overlaid onto the legendary electronic artist's face. 

Through a mix of projection and post effects, the resulting visual for the track is a sensory feast, which complements Clark's avant-garde soundscapes.

Any suggestions? Do mail us.