Brady and Catie (Brady's girlfriend) visited Chicago a couple weeks ago and wanted to crash at my place (separately, of course) so they could see more of Chicago the following day. We took them to Gino's for a pizza feast on Friday night, humiliated each other with some Wii-ing, and went back downtown on Saturday morning for a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry.Brady and Catie had never visited the museum and Jack and I hadn't been there since childhood. Yes, many of the exhibits are geared toward children, but it was fun to play and explore like kids.
The weather exhibit was really neat and they create a 40-foot tornado. Brady and I have always had irrational tornado fears and we were both transfixed by the tsunami exhibit on the other side of the tornado. I think Catie was a little bored by the weather, but she perked up in the nutrition exhibit. Did you know that several chemicals used to refine petroleum are also used as preservatives in Twinkies?
No, that doesn't ruin my taste for Twinkies, either!
The human body exhibit was great; it separated all the major systems. The nervous system made me feel nervous as I realized that the spinal cord is really just a highway of nerves that doesn't have all that much protection from the outside world. There's no "cord," only a mass of nerves that really should be bundled up with those little zip ties that computer technicians use to bundle computer cords!
The neatest exhibit was Mind Ball. Mind Ball is a Race to Relax. That's my kind of sport! Competition to relax! There is a 3x5 foot table and two contestants sit at opposite ends of the table. Each person dons a headband that measures the electromagnetic waves created by your brain. It transfers the brain waves, as electricity, to the ball in the center of the table. The more relaxed you are, the more you "repel" the ball. Whoever relaxes most (and decreases their brain waves), pushes the ball to the opponent's side and the opponent loses.
Relaxation slows your brain waves. Worry and concern make them faster. High-level critical thinking and problem-solving apparently make them super-sonic. I thought laughter would engage the brain and make brain waves faster, but Jack argues that laughter would slow the brain waves.
I think he was just trying to trick me...by making me laugh, he would have made me lose!
We couldn't try the Mind Ball game because (ahem!) of all the kids milling around, but it's definitely a concept I like...competing to do the best at relaxation!
The neatest exhibit was Mind Ball. Mind Ball is a Race to Relax. That's my kind of sport! Competition to relax! There is a 3x5 foot table and two contestants sit at opposite ends of the table. Each person dons a headband that measures the electromagnetic waves created by your brain. It transfers the brain waves, as electricity, to the ball in the center of the table. The more relaxed you are, the more you "repel" the ball. Whoever relaxes most (and decreases their brain waves), pushes the ball to the opponent's side and the opponent loses.
Relaxation slows your brain waves. Worry and concern make them faster. High-level critical thinking and problem-solving apparently make them super-sonic. I thought laughter would engage the brain and make brain waves faster, but Jack argues that laughter would slow the brain waves.
I think he was just trying to trick me...by making me laugh, he would have made me lose!
We couldn't try the Mind Ball game because (ahem!) of all the kids milling around, but it's definitely a concept I like...competing to do the best at relaxation!
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