Adam's plantarium visit

I loved the observatory/planetarium. The information I got was amazing. One thing I didn't like though was the fact the astronomers are assuming what is going on with other planets and stars. Even though we can see the color doesn't mean we can know what it is made of since no one has been there we don't know, but the scientific community takes these things as facts. Barely anything good, in my experience, comes out of assuming.

History of Science Museum (Ghent)- Kjerstin

   Many aspects of the History of Science museum were very interesting to me yesterday.  Right at the beginning, the scientist that worked with visual effects sparked my interest.  It is very apparent that in science, the inventers and fathers of scientific things can be very controvercial.  Still to this day, it can be like this with giving credit to people and scientific authors.  The transition electron microscopes [TEM/SEM] were very interesting as well!  I loved looking at them because of using simmilar [yet much newer] ones in my undergraduate research.  Lastly, the discussion on the chemistry professors were super cool!

Leo Baekeland and Bake-O-Lite from the Ghent Museum.

So, about Leo Baekeland who was a Belgian scientist specifically he loved photochemistry and invented Velox. But upon selling his share of the rights to Velox to Kodak company in 1899 for $250,000 as part of his parting agreement he couldn't do photochemistry experiments again. So he invented Bake-O-Lite. The first fully synthetic hardening resin like compound. Used to make all sorts of household and industrial stuff. His children and grandchildren needless to say don't have to work for a living, but they do anyways to keep busy. There is apparently a kind of bake-o-lite that is used to coat electrical wires in old buildings which is drippy looking that we (my family and I) found in a home we were remodelling. I made that connection and just sat there for a while as my brain put itself back together.

Liz's Waffle Experiences: #s 2 & 3

Oh, Waffles 2 and 3. I will never forget you. As Adam said, after these waffles, what we got previously in Rotterdam may not even deserve to be called a waffle.

I got these waffles in Brussels, at a place called TradiNatura. Adam and I got different types, and then went halvsies on them so we could try both kinds. Liege Waffles are chewier. Brussels Waffles are crispier. Both are AMAZING.

Liege Waffle

Brussels Waffle

Liz (right) and Liege Waffle

We had both with chocolate syrup and whipped cream.  The Brussels waffle was crispy and light, easy to break apart with your fork, with nice big squares to hold chocolate. The Liege waffle had bits on it that were almost carmelized, and it was chewy but not at all tough. 

They were AMAZING. If you eat a waffle and don't feel like "OMG! This waffle is the best thing that's ever happened to me!" then you aren't eating the right waffle.

Kyle - Observatory

Yesterday we visited an Observatory in Brugges, while there we got to see a video about how exo planets are discovered and some types of them that exist out in the universe. For example super earths that are planets that are not gas based but rather are more similar to our planet and are larger than the earth. We also got to see some of the telescopes that they had on their Observatory. While these were older it was still cool to see them. It also introduced me to several new types of telescopes that are being used nowadays. The ability for the telescope to be aimed at any star through the computer was pretty fascinating too. I would have liked the roof to move along with the telescope too but that may be asking to much.

The history of science museum in Ghent 30/5/13

Bright and early in the morning we made our way into the history of science museum. I found the display discussing the discovery of the molecular structure of benzene to be pretty interesting. I also found it inspirational that a student newspaper printed a monkey based diagram of the structure after hearing benzene referenced in such a manner.

Brent's observatory thoughts

On may 30th we went to the observatory in Brugg. This observatory seemed much more modern and adavanced equipped with new technologies such as a computerized telescope, than the one in Utrecht. While both places had there own cool little perks I especially liked how our tour guide explained all the different aspects of space as we know it today. The ability to discover other planets, or hot Jupiter's, without actually being able to see them is really quite impressive. The ability to use the fluctuation in light output from other suns to detect the orbit time of the other planets is another very impressive feat. I had no idea that some of these discoveries had been made. Im very curious to see how much more we will discover over the next 20-30 years, since we have made such massive leaps just recently.