Day Four - Museum of Science

The Museum of Science was an interesting experience. I'd been there once before as a kid on a field trip with school. When we got in, we were so tired and hot after walking the distance from the NEAQ, that we just sat on a bench for a while. Inside, there are interesting exhibits to show people about different types of science, such as Physics, Mathematics, Archaeology, and Electricity. Si's favorite exhibit was the lightning demonstration, and my favorite exhibit was the Triceratops Cliffs.

Lightning Demonstration:
Inside of the MOS, there are two giant globes, surrounded by a cage like area to keep patrons away, where they offer lightning demonstrations every two hours. We were able to catch one of the demonstrations, and the presenter was hilarious. He showed us how electricity is produced, how it can be controlled, and even dispelled an interesting myth for us. Most people believe that the safest place during a lighting storm is within your car, and they will name the reason as being the rubber tires, stating that the tires ground out the lightning. This is actually untrue. If you check out the photo below, you can see a blot of lightning go into the tire and out the other side - which means it does not stop it.


The truth is, you are safe in your car, but it's not for the reason you might think. You are safe in your car because of the metal surrounding it. If you are inside of a metal instrument, the lightning will hit the metal, and not hit you. The demonstrator actually proved this by placing himself into a metal bird cage, raising it up to the level of the giant globes, and then striking it with lightning. He even went so far as to touch the metal! It will not go through the metal. The photos below show the true awesomeness of this demonstration.




Triceratops Cliffs Exhibit
The real reason I liked this exhibit is that I like dinosaurs, not for any other reason pertaining to the exhibit. They had some great skeletons of triceratops, as well as full scale interpretation of a T-Rex. Check out the photos below!