Tee hee... Chicago Plot research took a bit of a halt today. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry instead. It was WICKED!!! There was an exibit on the Mythbusters, which Bennett and I both thoughroughly enjoyed, it being the only TV show I will watch, other than Law&Order and CSI, and it being one of Bennett's fave programmes as well. There were some of the stuff they had built for myths that you could see, like the robo-shark from the Jaws episode, the Arrow Machine Gun from the Ancient Weapons episode, the duct tape canoe from the Duct Tape Survivor Special, the tail section from the Shredded Plane episode, the torn remains of the Phone Book myth, and coffin from the Buried Alive episode... complete with fake Jamie Skeleton and dirt. Not to mention that you could retest some of the myths yourself, like sitting on a swing held up by the phone books, recording how many times toast really does land "butter side up", the walking or running gets you wetter in the rain myth, hanging off a tiny ledge like in the movies, dodging a bullet, and can you really do the magic trick of whipping the tablecloth from under a fully set table?
Elsewhere in the museum was an airplane exibit (I took photos, Kris, and even went on a fighter pilot simulator with Bennett, definately against my better judgement! It really did spin upside down, and Bennett likes barrelrolls. Felt like I was gonna be sick!)
And, Miss Chaimberlain, you will be happy to know that I have THE most awesome science experiment for the class to do when I get back! It's very simple, if a little bit messy, and really interesting. If you gargle salt water, then add soap and rubbing alcohol to the salt water-saliva mix, then shake gently, it reacts, and you can see the strands of DNA that were in the particles of dead skin in your mouth. Disgusting, maybe for some, but I was facinated. We got to do it today. Only problem... it will have to be a period 2 or 5 lesson, as you can't have eaten within an hour, or it won't work, as the process of chewing and swallowing means you are swallowing the dead skin cells. I have a sheet of paper with the full method written out.
Another highlight was the human bodies exibiton, where you could see the inner working of the body, and how everything functioned. There was even slices of a real body that had died of natural causes. Unnerving... And, a giant heart on the wall with a handgrip in front of it mirrored your heart rate. Mine is unusually fast, even at a resting pulse. When I had been sitting for five minutes, and breathing deeply with the intention of slowing my heart, it was still 120 beats per minute! If you remember from PE theory, class, normal for a student our age is between 60 and 80 bpm. Not good. Going to have that checked out when I get back.
Another part of the exibit was a... arrghh, can't remember the scientific name, but it measured the electrical signals in your brain. This was wired to a "game" where, under the pressur of competition and people watching you, you had to relax. There were two seats facing each other, with a marble in a clear plastic tube between them. The more relaxed, the less of these waves, and the marble was pushed to the other person. You got it to the other side of the tube, you won. I did very badly. I knew I was under pressure, so the marble went pretty much straight to my side.... Not fair that I was facing Mum as well, who is a psychologist who teaches people dealing with distress, mindfulness, anger management, and controlling emotions. Not fair!!!
In the gift shop, they had t-shirts that had, like, "CHICAgO" spelled out in elements, Carbon, Hyrogen, Iodine, Carbon, Silver, and Oxygen.
It's dinner time now. Famous Chicago deep-dish pizza. Worth a try. ;o)
Your even more mad scientist classmate,
Rachel
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