Are you a Toon Idol?

Dress up as your favorite cartoon character and perform their theme song in MOSI’s Toon Idol Competition. Performers must submit your video through August 15, 2009. Once submitted, people will have a chance to vote for their favorite video on MOSI’s YouTube™ channel.

Visit the MOSI website to download contestant application and rules. Characters of all ages welcome.

Funky Science: Lava lamps

The Science Store at MOSI has a really huge lava lamp on display and lots of smaller lava lamps for sale right now. The large lava lamp is really awesome to watch so I thought perhaps we should talk about the science of lava lamps!

Lava Lamps: Lava lamps, also known as liquid motion lamps, have been around since the 60's. They are very cool to watch but there are some neat principles of science in action.

So how does a liquid motion lamp work? Liquid motion lamps require the use of two insoluble, near equal density liquids and a heat source used for adjusting the density of the liquids. Now lets break that down into bite sized pieces.

Liquids: One liquid forms the slow moving blobs, like in the picture, we will call this Red. The other liquid allows the blobs to float about, we'll call this liquid Purple.

• These liquids must be immiscible, or mutually insoluble. This means that neither liquid will dissolve the other like oil and water and that Red and Purple will remain separate.


• These liquids must be of a nearly equal density.

When turned off, liquid motion lamps appear to have two distinct layers of liquids . One is just slightly more dense than the other and lays on the bottom of the lamp. In our case the Red liquid is slightly more dense than the Purple liquid. Being more dense causes the Red liquid to sink to the bottom.

Heat: The heat source in a liquid motion lamp is generally a light bulb or lamp. As you likely know, light bulbs can get pretty hot when they have been turned on. When the lamp is turned on it heats up the slightly more dense Red liquid at the bottom of the lamp.

Changing the temperature of a compound is an easy way to change density. When a compound is heated the molocules in the compound spread apart making it less dense. As the density decreases, the compond become lighter and will rise above heavier, more dense compounds. For example, think of air: hot air rises and cold air sinks. Heated air becomes less dense and becomes "lighter" which causes it to rise above the more dense, "heavier" cool air.

Much like hot air, the Red liquid at the bottom of the lamp will become less dense as it is heated. This makes the Red liquid "lighter" and it begins to rise in blobs through the Purple liquid.

As they rise through the Purple liquid and away from the heat source, the Red blobs lose heat. This causes the molecules in the Red liquid to move closer together and this increases the density of the Red liquid. The Red blobs are become more dense than the Purple liquid and sink back to the bottom. At the bottom the Red liquid is warmed up again and the process repeats until you turn off the lamp and all the Red liquid cools down.

This really neat Wiki How article shows you how to make a liquid motion lamp with household items and no heat! Be a scientist at home!

Volunteering at MOSI

Smiling volunteer faces on a Monday morning!

MOSI is always looking for a few good volunteers: As the “face of MOSI” volunteers help guide, teach and enlighten museum guests. We are looking for energetic, interested and exciting individuals to help bring MOSI’s exhibits to life. If you are an outgoing individual with a desire to work with people and enjoy a wide range of opportunities, then MOSI is looking for you. Morning and afternoon shifts are available Monday through Sunday. All of MOSI’s volunteers must be 14 years of age or older. Additionally, volunteers must be willing to commit to a minimum number of shifts per week and a minimum number of consecutive weeks of volunteer service.

Follow this link for more information on volunteering at MOSI and for the MOSI volunteer application!

This Rocks! Herkimer Diamonds

Tucked away in a lesser known gallery of MOSI you can find these gems glittering away.

Crystal Diamonds:

Known as Herkimer diamonds, these beauties are double terminated quartz crystals that each have 18 facets. The crystals are known for their clarity and became referred to as "diamonds". The most perfect crystals are usually less that 1/2 inch in length and the crystals are often found in clusters sometimes attached to each other. A Herkimer diamond scores a 7 on the hardness scale whereas a true diamond is a perfect 10. Large pockets of these crystals were discovered in the exposed outcroppings of dolostone in the late 1700's in several areas of up-state New York particularly Little Falls in Herkimer County and also along the Mohawk River Valley.

Making Herkimer Diamonds:

Approximately half a billion years ago the shallow Cambrian Sea lapped against the base of the ancestral Adirondack Mountains in the area now known as Herkimer County, New York. Limey sediments slowly accumulated and became compacted by more and more sediment under the salty waters where they formed into a rock strata of dolostone. Dolostone is a sedimentary carbonate rock rich in mineral domomite and is often known as dolomite rock. Still beneath the ocean, water seeped through this rock and dissolved away pockets known as "vugs". Inside these vugs the tiny crystals began to form, often thousands in one place.

Unusual Crystals:

Although many Herkimer diamonds are perfectly clear and glitter just like their namesake, some of the crystals form with impurities inside. Some contain anthraxolite which is decayed plant matter that appears black and coal-like in color. Some crystals contains tiny pockets of water inside and are known as enhydro crystals.

Other crystals may contain various impurities that give them a smoky color. Some, known as phantom crystals, have one crystal that has grown around another so that both crystals can be seen, one inside the other. Other usual crystals have grown together so that two or more crystals are fused together.

Several of our crystals on display contain anthraxolite and one has a distinctly smoky color.

See them at MOSI:

To see our collection of Herkimer Diamonds head into the Science Library just off of the MOSI Grand Lobby. The Science Alcove collections are located at the back of the library on the right hand side. Minerals, fossils, shells, vintage calculators, bird eggs, shark teeth and mounted butterflies are just some of the collections on display. The Herkimer diamonds are displayed on a black cloth on the bottom shelf of the display cabinets. Look for the sparkle!

Now Blooming: Passionvine

These gorgeous purple flowers are hard to miss in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove at MOSI. Passionvine is growing all over the place including on a large upright trellis near the center of the gardens.

Passionvines (Passiflora spp) are vining plants and several species are native to Florida. Not here just for their gorgeous flowers, these vines are also hosts to the Variegated Fritillary, Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwing and Julia Longwing butterflies. If you plant these vines in your home garden expect to see some caterpillars.

For more on butterflies and the plants in our gardens check out the BioWorks Butterfly Garden blog entitled Tales from the Butterfly Garden.

Something Awesome: Bike on a Wire

What a brave young lady! MOSI volunteer Sarah is riding a bicycle over 30 feet above the ground with only a one inch thick steel cable beneath her and she is smiling while she pedals!

So why does Sarah feel so comfortable on this bicycle so far above the ground? Well the net and the five point harness really help but there is no way for the bike to tip over or fall off that wire! Hanging beneath the bicycle is a 350 pound counter weight which keeps the bike right side up.

Even with the weight of Sarah combined with the bicycle, the counterweight weighs much more and will always be pulling the bike back into the upright position even if Sarah were to get very brave and rock the bike back and forth!

So why is the net there? Two reasons: It makes people feel better and shoes can still fall off or get dropped and those don't feel great when they land on someone standing on the main floor!

MOSI's High Wire Bike is the longest High Wire Bike ride in a US museum with a 98 foot long cable and is truly science in motion!

August Volunteer of the Month

The BioWorks Butterfly Garden's very own Naomi May is the MOSI Volunteer of the Month for August 2009!

Since April of 2007 Naomi May has provided an ASTOUNDING 1459 hours of volunteer service at MOSI. She has a special touch when taking care of our caterpillars and gardens alike and Naomi is great helping to get other volunteers oriented and trained in the gardens.

Naomi volunteers faithfully in the gardens every Monday and Friday and spends great swaths of the rest of her week volunteering at her church in the bell choir and in their gardens.

Without volunteers like Naomi, and especially without Naomi herself, there is no way we could get everything done that is necessary to keep the butterfly garden running smoothly. Thanks Naomi and congratulations!