circuit playground · watch along
n is for noise
the whole film. a few things to notice together.
captions · automatic
captions appear here when you play.
a signal is hard to hear
0:00–0:10the next note will appear with the film.
read all the notes
seven selected moments. choose a time to look again, without starting playback. visual descriptions come from sampled frames; dialogue summaries come from the automatic captions.
0:00a signal is hard to hear
look
adabot holds a pink walkie-talkie.
listen
he asks minerva if she can hear him.
think
what do we know, and what still needs checking?
0:38two things are not working
look
two puppets sit with their radios and an open laptop.
listen
the radio is unclear, and the movie will not play.
think
one cause or two?
1:09name the kind of noise
look
minerva and adabot remain beside the laptop.
listen
minerva suggests electrical interference.
think
how could you test that idea?
1:37try one possible source
look
minerva is beside a desk fan; a later frame shows a buffering screen.
listen
the movie still does not load.
think
what changed, and what stayed the same?
2:01notice what changed
look
a metal bowl of popcorn sits in front of adabot.
listen
the dialogue says the microwave stopped and the movie now loads.
think
what changed, and could you repeat the check?
2:25check the explanation
look
both puppets appear close together at the table.
listen
they discuss noise and decide to try the radios again.
think
is everything working now?
3:04watch together
look
minerva holds the radio near her computer.
listen
the reply is clear, and adabot invites her to watch a movie.
think
what evidence says the connection recovered?
see the signal
an illustration tied to the episode, not a measurement or a simulation of radio waves. play or seek the film to follow the idea.
read the timed transcript
automatic captions, checked for structure and key terms; corrections welcome.
- 0:00Hello, Minerva? Do you read me? Over.
- 0:04Hello, Minerva. It's difficult to hear you. Over.
- 0:10[unclear opening audio]
- 0:38Hello, Minerva. Your signal is unclear. [unclear speech] Over.
- 0:43I can't quite hear you, Adabot. There's too much noise.
- 0:47Hello, Minerva.
- 0:53Come in, Minerva.
- 0:55I'm sorry, Adabot.
- 0:57There's too much noise in this signal. I couldn't hear you.
- 1:00I know. I couldn't hear you either.
- 1:03Plus, I was going to watch a movie, but it won't play.
- 1:08Any idea why?
- 1:09Hmm. Something around here might be creating noise and interfering with the Wi-Fi
- 1:14signal.
- 1:15Noise? I don't hear any noise.
- 1:17Well, Adabot, sometimes there's noise that we can't hear.
- 1:21It's not audio noise, it's electrical noise.
- 1:24And it can cause problems for wireless circuits like your laptop's Wi-Fi.
- 1:28Or even our walkie-talkies.
- 1:31Noise that you can't hear?
- 1:34Interesting.
- 1:35But where could it be coming from?
- 1:37Lots of things can create electrical noise.
- 1:40But the most common are devices with motors in them.
- 1:42Like, say, this fan.
- 1:54weird the video still isn't loading noise could also
- 2:00come from devices they
- 2:01use a lot of power or send out radio waves
- 2:04or microwaves
- 2:10so I just hear the
- 2:11microwave oven. Oh good, my popcorn's done.
- 2:21And look, now that the microwave's stopped, the video's loading just fine.
- 2:25Excellent, we are now noise free. But why does electrical noise cause problems
- 2:31like that?
- 2:32Too much electrical noise can confuse or overwhelm a circuit. Engineers often have
- 2:37to work on
- 2:37reducing electrical noise in their circuitry because less electrical noise
- 2:41makes a circuit work better. Oh, just like how it's hard for a person to do work
- 2:47when there's lots of audio noise around. Exactly. Okay, now that the Wi-Fi is
- 2:53working, let's try the walkie-talkies again. Okay, let's do it.
- 3:04hello Minerva do you read me over loud and clear so what was it you wanted to
- 3:10ask me over oh right would you like to come over here and watch a movie with
- 3:16me over
- 3:21hello Minerva