Cosmic Collisions and Dinosaur Bones

Yesterday the husband and I took a trip to the Museum of Natural History. It was nearly tourist-free, which was nice. Actually, it was nearly empty. Which was really nice. Not that I mind tourists, I just like an empty museum experience a lot more.

We said hello the dinosaurs, stood in front of models of Pangea, and weighed ourselves on the moon. (I weigh about 20 pounds on the moon.) We sat in one of those huge dome theatres and watched an interective film about star collisions in the universe, and it blew our minds. Well, the film didn't blow our minds, but the general idea of the universe blew our minds. Trying to understand the enormity of it all blew my mind. The we had heated discussions about how awesome and wonderful science is and how people who don't believe in it or trust it must be delusional. I wish I had become a scientist instead of an actor sometimes.

We poked around in the gems and rocks and I (as I often am) was bewildered by the fact that so many people demand diamonds to wear when there are so many very beautiful and amazing stones in the world. We explored the Earth science section and watxched earthquakes happen all over the world (Hello, Central Valley!) and we jumped on a special spot that recorded our shockwaves like a little quake. We stared in awe at a slice of a tree that began growning in 1444 and didn't die until the mid-twentieth century. (!) We decided that we should take a vacation to Yellowstone someday.

We saw the big, blue whale that hangs from the ceiling of the sea life room. Nicole tells me that every child growing up in New York remembers this huge, life-sized whale from field trips. We saw a crab-spider that was about the size of Jack (ew) and learned that there are many species of sea-dwelling things that light up on their own. Which I think is pretty darn cool.

So, that was our day. Good times.

I heart science, and I heart NY.