Tag Archives: Lawrence Hall of Science
Fly me to the moon, or at least show me a total eclipse
Did you see this morning’s total lunar eclipse? Ira Serkes did and shot the beautiful photo above from the Berkeley hills at 6:00 am today. “Kudos to the inspired person in the parking area playing Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me To The Moon’,” he writes.
Meanwhile, Aaron Glimme was pointing his camera downwards to take the picture below of lunar eclipse viewers at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
The total lunar eclipse lasted 51 minutes, and, as the earth’s shadow blocked the moon, it took … Continue reading »
Is this a Death Cap? Mushrooms: the good, bad, and ugly
This weekend saw a veritable mushroom extravaganza in Berkeley, as the Lawrence Hall of Science hosted the 42nd Annual Fungus Fair. Over two days, no stone, log or root was left unturned in order to bring to the public’s attention the fascinating and abundant life of beautiful, tasty, inedible, and downright poisonous fungi.
In the marketplace, visitors were offered the chance to buy chanterelles and tree oysters; there were educational displays and talks on urban foraging and fungimental mycophagy — as well as a lecture entitled “Spores Illustrated”; cooking demonstrations; and make-your-own mushroom kits.
Kids painted cardboard mushrooms in the family center, while in an adjacent room, a booth showcased psilocybin varieties, otherwise known as magic mushrooms, or shrooms.
At the Mushroom Identification table, Erin Page Blanchard was on hand as part of a team of experts willing to identify fungi brought in by members of the public.
… Continue reading »
Dinosaurs return to Berkeley, this time with new roars
By Robert A. Mills
Dinosaurs rule at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. And the roaring, slashing, chomping monsters of the “Dinosaurs Unearthed” exhibit have undergone major renovation.
In addition to sensor-activated roars, the animatronic models received some cosmetic makeovers.
Designers developed the new models based on recent discoveries by paleontologists, said Lawrence Hall Communications Director Janet Noe.
“There are a few that have feathers and fur which is sort of a recent finding – that not all dinosaurs were necessarily cold-blooded,” Noe said. “They didn’t all just have scales.” … Continue reading »
How to keep toddlers (and you) happy over the holidays
By Belinda Lyons-Newman
This time of year presents the opportunity and challenge of finding fun creative things to do with little ones who may be home from preschool or other childcare during the holidays. What better place to be for the holidays than right here in our wonderful city? If you are looking for some fun Berkeley activities with your toddler between now and the end of the year read on for my top picks:
A day in the life of Berkeley’s weather
Those clever folks at the Lawrence Hall of Science know just how mesmerizing time-lapse films can be, and they have exploited both their technical expertise, as well as their hill-top location, to capture a day in the life of Berkeley’s weather.
“The View” aims to help children understand the weather by correlating the view from the Lawrence Hall of Science with weather data and satellite imagery. The project is part of the museum’s weather exhibit and the … Continue reading »
Race and the Berkeley public schools
Race has been a vexing question in the U.S.’s entire history, and continues to influence public policy and private interactions.
Berkeley was one of the first school districts to integrate and it continues to try and break down barriers between different ethnic groups.
To that end, the school district and the Berkeley Public Education Foundation are paying for Berkeley public school families to visit an exhibit on race at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
On April 28 or … Continue reading »
Find your inner geek at LHS’ “Geek Out”
Are you a secret geek? Or a science lover? Then the Lawrence Hall of Science’s “Geek Out”, happening tonight, may be the place for you.
Every few months the Lawrence Hall of Science hosts an adults-only evening posing different scientific questions. The March 10 evening is billed as a “seismic challenge,” where participants can learn what goes into building a structure that can resist earthquakes. People will be able to create their own structures and put them on … Continue reading »
Celebrate the laser
You might wonder why you’d want to celebrate the laser, but the technology Charles Townes and his colleagues invented 50 years ago has brought us high-speed communications, DVDs, a host of medical innovations and barcode scanners.
If that makes your heart beat faster, you can join LaserFest at the Lawrence Hall of Science this weekend, which will climax with a free talk by UC Berkeley emeritus professor Townes, who won the Nobel prize in physics for his work on … Continue reading »
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