Day 332 - Denver Museum

Thought of the day: We visited Denver Museum of Nature and Science today. One of the most interesting exhibitions was Expedition Health which gave us the opportunity to learn some amazing facts about human body through creatively designed activities and games. My favorite game was the brain wave game where two players sat at the opposite ends of a table trying to push a marble towards the opponent using brain waves. When you are more relaxed, the brain generates alpha waves which will put the marble in motion. Both David and I did a competition with Jasmine and we both lost spectacularly. The result was not too surprising as children are mentally more relaxed than adults. Their minds are not as cluttered and confused as ours. That partly explains why children are capable of learning fast and effortlessly as a relaxed brain is also more open, alert and focused, all of which are good traits for learning. That may also explain why they tend to be more creative as a relaxed brain also tend to be more creative. I learn something new of children all the time and my experience today have certainly increased my respect for them even more. 

Photo of the day:

Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  The "T-Rex Encounter" exhibit is very cool - it looks so real that we had to carry Lila out of the exhibit screaming because she got so scared by one of the mean-looking dinosaurs! I guess they are too much for a toddler brain to handle.

Day 313 - Happy Face

Thought of the day: Tonight we went to a small event in Boulder where Nancy Pelosi gave a speech.  It was the first time we heard her speak in person.  The first part of her speech really surprised me as I was not expecting her to say what she said, at least not in tonight’s event.  She said that science is going to drive the future of this country and that “Science is the answer to our prayers!” How true, and how refreshing to hear it from a sitting politician. Beyond the muddy water of partisan politics, beyond the cycles of boom and bust, beyond everything, it’s science that will drive our future and it’s science that will save our world from the brink of a collapse. This morning, I read that only 35% of Iowa Republicans believe in evolution and only 21% in the same demographics believe that there is a man-made global warming. Over the general population, recent Gallup polls show that fewer than 40% of all Americans believe in evolution and fewer than 50% of Americans believe that global warming has a human cause. According to the same Gallup polls, the belief in global warming is becoming increasingly partisan. In the meantime, 99% of US earth and life scientists believe in evolution and 97% of climate scientists believe in man-made climate change. These dismaying disconnect between the public and the science is not only ludicrous, it’s outright dangerous as when we lose sight of science, we lose sight of our means of improving or even maintaining our collective standard of living and we lose sight of our future. As a nation, we are walking on a treacherous path. Pelosi’s speech tonight gave me hope that there are still people in our law-making chamber with a clear head. Only the future will tell whether they will prevail and whether we will prevail as a nation.

Photo of the day:

Izzy and Lila took the Tebo Mini Train on Pearl St this morning.  The train had been there all summer offering free rides to kiddos and their parents.  This is the last week for the train to be running.  Yes, summer is ending as the campaign season is  heating up.