Transcript[]
Title text reads, The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. Tim and Moby are eating breakfast at a kitchen table. Moby reads a newspaper.
TIM: Hey, could you pass the milk?
Moby shoots a laser beam from his finger at the milk. It disappears, and then reappears in front of Tim.
TIM: Whoa! I didn't know you could teleport stuff!
Moby zaps Tim. He disappears, and then reappears, floating parallel to the ground.
TIM: What happened?
Moby beeps.
TIM: Well, we'd better figure it out; Mom's gonna be really sore if I'm all… you know, sideways when she comes home.
On-screen, Tim (floating sideways) fiddles with wires in Moby's back panel.
TIM: Aha! Just as I suspected; your transformation circuit's all out of whack.
Moby beeps.
TIM: Transformation is the movement of shapes in 2 and 3 dimensional space.
On-screen, a square moves on a 2 dimensional coordinate plane, while a cube moves in a 3 dimensional coordinate plane. A label reads, transformation.
TIM: There are three basic transformations: translation, rotation, and reflection.
On-screen, text reads, translation, rotation, and reflection.
TIM: All of them create symmetry: a repetition of shapes on a plane or in space.
A label appears, reading, symmetry. Moby beeps.
TIM: Well, you can see symmetry all over the place. The natural world is ordered in symmetric patterns.
On-screen, a series of images appear: a spiral galaxy, a gemstone, a butterfly, and a honeycomb.
TIM: And people imitate those patterns in everything from artwork to household items.
On-screen, an artist admires a painting of rectangular shapes. Next, a rug with a diamond pattern appears. Moby beeps.
TIM: Well, when you teleported the milk carton, that was translation. That’s when you just move a shape from one place to another.
On-screen, a milk carton appears on a piece of graph paper. The milk carton starts at point a, and moves to point b. An arrow appears, going from point A, to point B. A label reads, translation.
TIM: Translations can be described by two things: direction and distance.
On-screen, two labels appear, reading, direction, and distance. The arrow is labeled, 1.1 meters east.
TIM: But from the look of things, what you did to me was a rotation. That’s when you turn a shape around a single point, like the hands on a clock.
On-screen, a triangle appears on graph paper. One of its corners is fixed in place, and the triangle rotates around that point. A label reads, rotation.
TIM: Why don't you zap me once more just to make sure?
Moby zaps Tim several more times. With each zap, Tim rotates into a different position.
TIM: Whoa! Stop! Ugh.
On-screen, Tim is now standing upright, but slightly tilted. His face has turned green.
TIM: I think I'm gonna be sick.
Moby beeps.
TIM: Anyway, it looks like I was right; you rotated me around a point in my belly!
On-screen, a 2 dimensional cutout of Tim appears on graph paper. A finger moves the paper doll around its point of rotation, which is his bellybutton.
TIM: Any rotation can be described by its center point and its rotation angle.
On-screen, the term, center point, appears near the cutout's belly button. The term, rotation angle, appears near an arc showing how much the paper doll has rotated.
TIM: Maybe you can just rotate me a smidge just to get me right side up.
Moby beeps and zaps Tim. Tim becomes a mirror image of himself.
TIM: You made a reflection of me! That’s a kind of transformation where you basically flip a shape over a line.
On-screen, the Tim cutout appears on the right side of a vertical line. A mirror image of the cutout appears to the left of the line. A label reads, reflection.
TIM: A reflection is described by its mirror line or axis.
Two labels label appear, reading, mirror line, and axis.
TIM: See, my hair's all backwards, and suddenly I'm right handed!
On-screen, Tim waves his right hand. Moby beeps.
TIM: Right, okay, listen to me carefully: reflect me back to where I was.
Moby closes his eyes, points his finger, and zaps Tim. Tim is reflected back to his previous position, still tilted to the right.
TIM: Hey, you did it! Okay, now just rotate me a little to the left.
Moby points his finger and zaps Tim again.
TIM: All right!
On-screen, Tim looks around and sees that he's the only thing that's right side up. Moby, the kitchen, and everything else, are slightly tilted.
TIM: Wait. You…you tilted the whole world. Well, this is bad.
Moby sheepishly looks at his finger. It's black now, with smoke pouring out of it.