Sunday, December 30, 2007

Visit to the DSC -- part 2

Well, I woke up early to call and find out if the Detroit Science Center was open since the power outage on Thursday. They said they had got their power back just this morning. I got dressed and headed out to see the rest of the exhibit around 10 am. Got downtown with no problems and parked on the same street, but a little closer than on Thursday. The second part of the "Our Body... "exhibit, Microworld, was small compared to the first. It contained more specimens and also had a number of stations that explained cells and cell disease in a microscopic level. I was sort of bored with reading all the text of the mini screens and moved on to continue looking at the preserved specimens.

One that was particularly different was a prostrate body that was sliced into many half-inch thick layers and spaced apart from each other, like an accordion, with just enough room between to view the cross sections of organs and bones in the body. This spacing caused the body to have the appearance of being something like 14-16 feet long in the case. The particular specimen must have had an artificial hand which they included in the display case. It was placed near the last slice of his right wrist with the robotic armature first then below that the padded inner glove and finally the human skin-like (although too pink) latex appliance that would have covered the hand and tucked up under a shirt sleeve. This somehow made me feel like this specimen was more "human" than the others maybe because there was a possession included that lead in my mind to creating a very small piece of a story of who this man was. That must be it.

Overall, I was extremely happy that I was fortunate enough to be able to witness this marvelous show. I'll never forget it.

I spent some time after the exhibit looking at the Center's permanent science displays. All very kid-friendly in size but I enjoyed the tactile experience and the fun of re-learning all those science theories that I'd forgotten and some I hadn't heard of. The tornado creator was a real fun piece, just make sure you call a group of people over to help block the wind around the display, it helps make the tornado appear faster and stronger. Make sure you take hand sanitizer so you won't get a cold after you get back home. Fun stuff!!

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