Sun Dog Pics

by ryan

Check out these awesome pictures of Sun Dogs (or Parahelions) taken in Mendocino.

Does That Make You Crazy?

by ryan

Last week I was hanging out the in learning studio (otherwise known as…cough cough…roam all) and got to check out some of the latest projects by sound artist Ranjit Bhatnagar who just happened to be hanging with the PIEL crew. They showed me some amplifiers made with magnetic wires spun around sewing wheels. Those rocked pretty hard, but not as hard as the robotic theremin that he set up to play Gnarls Barkely song ‘Crazy’.

By the way, as I was surfing around youtube I noticed that the original Gnarls Barkely music video is also tied to an Exploratorium exhibit. It makes some pretty creative use of Rorschach Tests (which I guess is fitting because they are used to see if people are indeed ‘crazy’).

Celebrity Sighting!!!

by akikoakiko

I was watching the 5 o’clock, Channel 2 News, and who did I see?!?!

Our very own Sarah, looking absolutely charming in her orange vest, opening a clear lid for a visitor while Explaining away.  The clip was on the the new Mind exhibition on superstition – which, by the way, Sam and I have very little of.  Today, on Friday the 13th, we went to city hall for our marriage license -  which also happens to expire on September 11.  (Which means that we have to have a ceremony by then, NOT that our marriage will expire.  Snort.)   But I digress. 

Sarah, ya looked good!  :o) 

Iron Explainers

by ryan

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And desperate times calls for desperate measures. Like paper towel tubes and pepper eating. And a desperate competition based on the greatest television show of all time that’s not named American Gladiators.

“Cui-san, what’s in the McBean Auditorium?”

Explainers competing to the death…and the secret ingredient is…

“TUBES!!!!!” (tubes that once perfectly coiled together 2 ply extra quilted paper towels)

So what did the explainers make? irish wristwatches? unique new york? toy boat toy boat?

Obviously not.

In the fifteen minutes allowed in the competition our groups of twos made an EYE-dentification machine,

a listening torture device named after a girl,

musical instruments,

dancing bubble wands, a mirror relay contraption and a kaleidescope!

These were ultimate explainer creations that challenged the boundaries of normalcy!

But at the end of the day the winner was Sylvia who donned the persona of the kitchen stadium’s Chairman Kaga and started the competition with a delicious bite of yellow pepper!

Garden Pt. 3 w/ Avogadro the Avocado

by ryan

Check out these awesome photos of the garden! It’s been about three months since first planting and things have been looking amazing back there. The peas have been tasty treats and the tomatoes and squash finally have flowers and even the beginnings of fruits. I’ve also included a picture of an avocado seed first sprouted in a dark bag in the lounge. It got too big for the office terrarium and is thriving in a pot by my stove. Since starting the garden, it has been really fun to talk to kids about things that they’ve grown and their experiences with fruits and flowers (especially at the dissection table).

The Anti-Rainbow!

by ryan

A little while ago we had a training with Richard Brown about the anti-rainbow (a band of the reverse colors of the usual ROY G. BIV). The main colors on an anti-rainbow are cyan, blue yellow, and magenta which are the opposites of blue, red, and green. Think of it as a blending of the colors that are shadows on the colored shadow wall. On the day of the awards dinner, while half the group was on the field trip, we took advantage of an empty museum and snapped some photos that capture the reflection of a stool in an area that displays the white light from a combination of various rainbows shining down from the polarizing lenses on the Exploratorium windows.

Put a Little Science in Your Life

by Ann Bartkowski

Earlier this year, Ryan and I both happened to start reading different books by Brian Greene, a physicist and professor at Columbia.  Yesterday he wrote an Op-Ed article in the Times about science and education.  His eloquently written thoughts really resonated with me and I wanted to share the article below with you guys-

Put a Little Science in Your Life

“Science is the greatest of all adventure stories, one that’s been unfolding for thousands of years as we have sought to understand ourselves and our surroundings. Science needs to be taught to the young and communicated to the mature in a manner that captures this drama. We must embark on a cultural shift that places science in its rightful place alongside music, art and literature as an indispensable part of what makes life worth living. “