2010 Festival Events Sunday, May 2 Check regularly for event updates

Sort today's events:

  • 10:00am - 4:00pm
    Live Science Presentations
    Museum of Science Exhibit Halls
    Take in the Museum of Science's live programs on such topics as live animals, optical illusions, and current science.
    More details...
    Cost: Included with museum admission
  • 10:00am - 5:00pm
    Design for the Ideal Polling Booth
    MIT Museum, 265 Mass. Ave.
    View work by Joseph Choma, a computation based researcher focused on emerging architectural design. Choma is a grad student in Design and Computation at the MIT School of Architecture + Planning.
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    Cost: Free with museum admission
  • 10:00am - 2:00pm
    Science of the Eye
    MIT Museum, 265 Mass. Ave.
    Which works better, the human eye or a $40,000 digital camera? It's amazing that the human eye has better resolution than the best camera on the market. How does this beautiful, remarkable organ work? Come get your hands on a cow's eye and see how it's put together. Also, learn how to find your blind spot, create a "hot dog finger", find out about common eye diseases and have fun with illusions. Presented by MIT's Science of the Eye program.
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    Cost: Free with museum admission
  • 10:00am - 4:00pm
    Rocket Day
    Danehy Park, 99 Sherman Street
    Machine Science will host a day of building and launching rockets. Attendees will have the opportunity to build their own rockets, using two-liter drink bottles. The rockets, powered only by water and compressed gas, can reach altitudes of over 300 feet and accelerate to speeds approaching 200 miles per hour! Participants must bring two 2-liter drink bottles and a tennis ball.
    More details...
    Cost: Suggested donation of $5.00 to Machine Science
  • 10:00am - 5:00pm
    Electronic Quilting
    MIT Museum, 265 Mass. Ave.
    Join us for a day of electronic quilting. Learn how to integrate light and sound into needlework by using beads, conductive thread, beautiful fabrics, and decorative stitching techniques. Create a small sample before moving on to a collaborative interactive quilt. For adults only, seniors particularly welcome. No prior experience with quilting or sewing necessary. Lunch included with registration fee. Limited enrollment. Pre-registration required at http://museum.mit.edu/forms/csf10
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    Cost: $10 (includes lunch)
  • 10:00am - 2:00pm
    Topics in Optics
    MIT Museum, 265 Mass. Ave.
    Optics is fun, and we'll show you why! With a series of 'science tricks' (it's not magic, it's science), the MIT student chapter of the Optical Society of America (OSA) will teach you the fundamentals of optical science. We'll have water light guides, disappearing diamonds, jello lenses and a 3D webcam, plus a whole room full of fluorescent glowing stuff, color illusions and more.
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    Cost: Free with museum admission
  • 12:00pm - 1:00pm
    Solar Lunch
    On the plaza in front of the Museum of Science
    Observe the sun and possibly sunspots and solar flares through the Museum's safe solar telescope. Weather Permitting
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    Cost: Free
  • 1:00pm - 3:00pm
    Charles River Solar System
    Along the bank of the Charles River near the Museum of Science, between the Sonesta Hotel and the Longfellow Bridge
    View a solar eclipse from a god-like perspective! Travel to Mars and Venus! Our huge (1800 feet long!) scale model will forever change how you see the solar system. Special presentation at 2:00 pm. Note: the exhibit will be closed if weather conditions warrant. Check our website for updates: www.crsolsys.org
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    Cost: Free
  • 2:00pm
    From Orchids to Octopi: An Evolutionary Love Story
    Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
    Catalyst Collaborative@MIT - Underground Railway Theater's science theater initiative with MIT - presents this World Premiere by award-winning playwright Melinda Lopez, commissioned by the National Institutes of Health to celebrate the 150th anniversary of "On the Origin of Species." Surprises erupt as a muralist's work is derailed by hallucinations, pregnancy, and dinosaurs in this witty take on how we understand - or do not - the theory of evolution. Charles Darwin comments on it all.
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    Cost: $15-35
  • 2:30pm - 4:30pm
    Look Up - Songs About Astronomy
    Peabody School, 70 Rindge Ave., Cambridge
    Come learn about all sorts of amazing objects in the sky from noctilucent clouds and auroras to stars and galaxies! Look Up is a collection of songs by several contemporary composers accompanied by a slide show of kids' art illustrating the songs. The songs are written in many different musical styles and are enjoyable for all ages.
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    Cost: Free
  • 4:00pm - 6:00pm
    The Science of Costuming
    MIT Museum, 265 Mass. Ave.
    Join MIT Costume Design Instructor Leslie Held for an active workshop exploring clothes, fabric, and 3D geometry to look at the science of costuming. Using our models and quick-build materials and your creativity and sense of humor, you'll learn how to combine your designer-mind and your engineer-mind to translate 3D clothes to 2D patterns and back again. Limited enrollment. Pre-registration required at http://museum.mit.edu/forms/csf10
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    Cost: free
  • 6:00pm - 7:00pm
    Cellular Automata Music
    The Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center
    An hour long presentation by Katarina Miljkovic and Nathan Wethsell of music generated by cellular automata of various complexities. All of the processes are generated in Mathematica and then sent to Max/Msp. Sound presentations are through installations and live performance. Each of the sound processes will also be represented by visuals generated in Mathematica, Wolfram Inc.
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    Cost: Suggested donation $10, $5 for students
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