Instagram Photo Diary: Museum of Science

Photos and text by Alex Hanson

My mom and I took a trip to the Museum of Science in Boston yesterday, and had a total blast interacting with the exhibits and taking photos along the way. Below, find my Instagram photo diary of the trip. 

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Hey folks! Alex here, HERpothesis editor. I'm going to be all over Instagram tonight sharing photos from a trip I took to Boston's @museumofscience with my mom yesterday. We had such a blast checking this place out, and I love how well the museum uses art and interactivity to engage audiences (of all ages!) with science. First off is this snapshot of me hanging out with my own shadow Peter-Pan-take in their permanent exhibit The Light House. This exhibit lets visitors play with light and color separating and reflecting to SEE how light really works. 🌈🔦

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:08pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience part 2: They have a hallway of optical illusions in their Seeing is Deceiving exhibit, including all kinds of spinning and color-changing devices, and paintings like this one from the 19th century called "Vanity" by Anonymous. Do you see a skull or a couple sitting at a table? 💀👫🥂

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:14pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience, part 3: I loved this passage on the wall of the temporary exhibit Many Faces of Our Mental Health. "Despite their apparent differences, artists and scientists share a fundamental goal: to explore the nature of human knowledge and experience." Thank you! 🙌

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:18pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience, part 4: This Yawkey Gallery on the Charles River let's visitors crawl into a model of a sewer, where you can see models of rats living their sewer lives and real life fish swimming in tanks surrounding the crawl space. It felt a little bit Alice in Wonderland, but this part may have been more for the kids too 😂

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:24pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience, part 5: Wearing some of my favorite science jewelry (my friends know me for space and cephalopods) at the museum of course. The background is a ceiling screen that looks like the ocean moving over you. ✨🐙🌊

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:28pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience, part 6: The rest of this photo series is from the POPnology exhibit, which as you can probably infer is an exploration of science fiction and real life innovation inspire and challenge each other (I was SO into this). The exhibit welcomes you with portraits of innovators bringing together science and pop culture— so of course I loved running into Neil deGrasse Tyson there!

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:34pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience, part 7: POPnology had an interactive structure themed around Jurassic Park, where visitors can use joysticks on one side to move dinosaur eggs on the other side, only able to see through a closed circuit camera feed. Oh, and this dinosaur is breaking through a fence and roaring on top of the whole thing. 🚨🚨🚨

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:40pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience, part 8: Hanging out on Mars in the POPnologoy exhibit, a space pirate waiting for my crew just like Mark Watney in The Martian.

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:44pm PDT

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Alex at @museumofscience, part 9: POPnology explored how science fiction robots like Star Wars droids helped inspire a market of actual in-home service robots in the 1980s.

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:47pm PDT

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The last installment of Alex at @museumofscience: Getting creepy with this model inspired by the villain creature of the eponymous Alien! This film is not only a really unique, gritty, imaginative sci-fi horror film, but also stars one of the most iconic women in sci-fi: Sigourney Weaver as Ripley. Conclusion from the Museum of Science and especially the POPnology exhibit: such a fun and inspiring experience, and I highly recommend for anyone in or passing through the Boston area! 👽👌

A post shared by HERpothesis (@herpothesis) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:54pm PDT