Slate Wrangles Small Mammal for Weekly Science Show

I’ve said this before, but Slate V‘s new weekly science news show is making me say it again: screencasting is online video’s new bicycle. The genre’s inherent to the web and one of the most innovative, interesting ways to tell a story or convey information. When the computer screen is your canvas, you can do virtually (pun intended!) anything. 

You may already be familiar with the medium through You Suck at Photoshop, but while Big Fat Institute is the King of Screencast Comedy, the production house of Small Mammal owns the news.

Small Mammal principals John Pavlus and Christopher Mims (and on-screen talent Christie Nicholson) formerly produced shows for Scientific American, but have found a new partner for their excellent, screencast, science roundup. What was once The Monitor is now Slate’s Grand Unified Weekly, “a Batman Begins-esque reboot of the core concept…basically the same idea, just better.”

That “idea” is a “series that harvests the wheat grass of news from the lab and distills into a power-boost shot directly to your desktop.” Check out the premiere episode below: 

The initial reaction from Slate readers has been very positive (“Like Best Week Ever, but for smart people!”). Not that there’s anything wrong with BWE, but I agree. I love this show.

There’s something intriguing about watching the screencast and seeing all the moving parts. All the minimizing, maximizing, and well-timed placement of windows around the screen. It’s like looking at clear watch where you can see all the movements, balance, and escapements in action. 

Plus, there’s a rockin’ intro by Hilotrons that’s like a theme song from Bill Nye updated for adults and an indie generation. Check out a new installment every week at GrandUnifiedWeekly.com.