We decided, as a group, that we wanted to do something in Boston, separate from CPW on Friday. We decided on the Science Museum because it was cheap and close, not to mention that it was science-y. We hopped the T, Michelle’s first time riding it.
and arrived shortly at the Science Museum. Before we even got in the door we knew it was gonna be good, and you know why?! THEY HAD AN R2D2 MAILBOX OUT FRONT!!!!!!!
This was a big time photo opp. Enjoy!
Here’s Yuki “mailing something” (it was actually his CPW schedule)
And Sauza seems to have fallen in love
But I consider it more of a best friend
So we get into the museum and wander over to the ticket-buying place to see how much it’s going to cost. $16.00 a person. Not good. We start deliberating and rethinking our decision to come here, when Alie suggests just going up and asking if we can get some kind of student discount or group discount. We go up and deliver our case.
“Hi, we’re here for MIT’s Campus Preview Weekend. We were accepted and will be students next year but aren’t quite students yet, can we get some kind of a discount?”
“Do you have ID?”
“Um, we have meal cards and schedules and (at this point we just start pulling all this MIT crap out of our pockets and backpacks) stuff, but none of it has our pictures on it.”
The ticket guy stares at us for a little bit.
“OK, you guys are fine, go on in.”
“THANKS!”
So we got our hands stamped (after we shoved all our MIT crap back where it belonged) and garnered access to the Museum of Science for free! It felt kind of good to flex some MIT muscles, it was the first time we had. Guilty pleasure I guess.
So the first stop in the museum is Mathematica, the room about math. Michelle and I were in love, it had the same name as our favorite computer program of all time!
Inside were tons of exhibits demonstrating various mathematical models. One of my favorites was the normal distribution machine. Basically, balls fall from a hole centered above a pegboard. The bounce around like in plinko (Price is Right) and eventually fall into a glass tank, which has a normal distribution painted on it. Since the balls start at the center and bounce around randomly before hitting the bottom, they should lie in a normal distribution, very cool concept.
Also in there was a graphic display of, can you guess? The Four Color Theorem! Group photo!
Out in the main area, hanging from the ceiling, was a Naboo Fighter (Star Wars).
An awesome 3D model of Mt. Everest that was printed by layer, and the layers were stacked.
A giant grasshopper
And the nail game. Now, the nail game was quite the experience. Basically, it was a nail that had been driven part way into a board, and then there was a small container full of nails sitting next to it. A sign challenged visitors to balance as many nails as you can on the head of a single nail. It said that you could balance up to six nails on it and challenged you to figure out how. Well, psh, 6 is too easy. As Sara and an old lady nearby watched, I proceeded to pwn the nail game and balance 14 nails on the head of a single nail. w00t! The lady was so impressed, she kept complimenting me and telling me I was some sort of a genius. That’s right ladies, I can balance nails. Just leave your phone number in the comments!
Next was a giant wall of mirrors, very cool.
and the border between Boston and Cambridge, which Alie straddled like a champ
There was also an exhibit that dealt with some type of physics law that I can’t remember, but here’s the concept. Stand on a turnstile and hold a spinning bicycle wheel. The inertia from the spinning wheel will spin your entire body. I’m immune to the laws of physics, so it didn’t work for me, but here’s a picture of me trying to figure it out.
Next was the sex exhibit, a hometown favorite. Unfortunately, the video that talks about giving birth was broken, so we just sat in the birthing area and talked for a while. Not awkward at all, nope. Just chillin in the little dark room in the sex section of the Science Museum, surrounded by pictures of fetuses in various stages of development.
Soon we stumbled upon the beaver exhibit, which was another photo opp. It’s a beaver, of course we have to take a picture!
We found a contest that looked intriguing. Close your eyes and see who can balance on one foot the longest. I won. People said I cheated. I won. That’s why I’m smiling in this picture and the other people are losing their balance.
I’d like to take this opportunity to point out the injury Yuki has on his left arm. He was hit by a car a couple of days before coming to CPW. Like I said, he’s a ninja. Not even cars can kill him!
I was antsy at this point. I knew there was a dinosaur in the museum and I wanted to see it! We finally made our way towards the dinosaur!
Thus concluded our trip to the science museum, but we needed to take one last chance for pictures in the lobby before we left. The girls spelled out MIT and we took their picture.
The guys decided to spell out IHTFP, but needed some help, so Sara helped us out.
Right after the pictures we started gathering all of our stuff to leave, but somebody noticed on the digital clock in the distance that it was 3:15.
“Aw, too bad, we missed pi you guys!”
“Wait, didn’t we just take a picture?!”
[mad scramble for cameras]
*zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom*
Result:
And boy did we cheer! People started to look at us funny again, seems to happen a lot. It was good luck, we’re just an amazing group of people, numbers love us. We left the museum and headed back to Cambridge in very high spirits.
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