DAY THREE, PART TWO (21 September 2015):
Part of the plan we had this week was to get to a location
right when it opened, so we could potentially visit other locations of interest
in the area in the afternoon. Leaving Yorba Linda , it was a quick drive over to Santa Ana for our second item of the
day: Discovery Cube.
I first noticed this during one of my drives between
dealerships, as it was rather difficult to miss a giant cube sandwiched between
two sets of highways. Research showed
this to be a hands-on science museum, which for me are always fun to check out
(especially because of my connection with TXMOST, as we like to see what works
for other places so we can adapt it).
The initial view of the venue made it appear this was
targeted towards younger kids, and may not have much towards things to keep
adults (even “kids-at-heart adults”) interested. Still, it was worth the investigation. The ground floor was filled with some
hands-on science displays, although not all worked well or were that
impressive. The geyser had a sign saying
that every 10 minutes it would go off, but it took closer to fifteen (yes, I
timed it) and the results were rather anti-climatic.
There were three seats with different pulleys in order to
demonstrate the variations of lifting weights.
I liked the idea of this, but the gloves provided to guests (to keep
from getting rope burn, and to provide better grip on the rope) were rather
worn down. I still succeeding in getting
some burn on my hands due to the thinness of the material. The smoke signal generator was a little more
interesting.
Upstairs was a mock mission control room to use computers to
launch satellites, and a replica of the Mars rover Curiosity.
This lead to an outdoor section, which was actually modeled
within the actual cube this place was named after. There were a few displays which allowed you
to see how high you could fire weights on a wire, which were very neat. One thing we had a lot of fun with was a mock
rocket engine you’d stand under and get engulfed in smoke in a blast-off
simulation. Some of the younger kids in
the area seemed to be unsure about trying it until they saw how much fun Mum
was having with it.
Back inside the upper level was a room with a sphere-shaped
projector, very similar to the Magic Planet we use at TXMOST. This projector was much larger, and set in
the room on a higher level. The clarity
on this image of Jupiter was good, but the Great Red Spot was eye-level to me
as I stood there. As it rotated through
various images of the Earth, it was difficult to see what was trying to be
represented in the northern hemisphere.
In addition to a wind tunnel, and a machine to recreate
seismic activity, I really enjoyed the section which was three mirrors in a
triangle pattern facing each other. Can
you count how many times you can see my reflection here? I took a short video of me spinning around
singing a particular tune by 1980’s New Wave band Flock of Seagulls in an
attempt (admittedly a poor one) to recreate one of the few hits songs they had.
One thing I found very interesting in the Discovery Cube was
the section devoted to the “Science of Hockey.”
I guess the vicinity to Anaheim
might’ve been a factor. In addition to
shooting pucks at a net to gauge how fast you could hit them, you do a skating
simulation, and even try on the protective gear. All of that was old hat to me, but it was
still nice. Mum liked being able to
climb up and pretend she was driving the Zamboni.
Nestled next to the exhibit were signed jerseys and
memorabilia from when the hometown team (Anaheim Ducks) won the Stanley Cup in
2007. That was a welcome surprise to me.
Other indoor exhibits included a market to push your
shopping cart around to find the “healthy” foods or the correct items on the
list, and a special exhibit on Hot Wheels cars.
Outside on the ground level area (at the base of the actual cube) was
the dinosaur-themed section.
In addition to some skeletons and dirt pile to dig up bones,
there was a correct-scale Apatosaurus which you could enter the chest cavity to
see how its circulatory system worked.
I had to take a picture with both the dino and the cube in
it (as much as I could, given available locations) without any other “man-made”
objects in it. I texted this to a couple
of my nerd friends with a caption that my stolen Borg ship had crash-landed in
the Jurassic.
Discovery Cube was a fun museum, but not worth the price we
paid for it. Yes, there were some
interesting things, but not as many as the things which didn’t work
properly. It had just finished a major
expansion back in June (as evident by patchwork design of the parking lot), and
it felt like other exhibits had been rotated back in yet. It was good for an afternoon diversion, and
something to check out in the area, but in the end it was still aimed for a
younger audience.
More Information on Places Visited or Mentioned:
Santa
Ana (CA): http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/
Curiosity (Mars rover): http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/
Flock of Seagulls (“Ran So Far Away”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpfWORQWhU
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