The Mind Museum - Candy for the Brain!

Do you remember the time when science was exciting? It meant digging deep into nature and trying to figure out her secrets. One of the earliest memories I had of science was of my gradeschool teacher explaining to us what a "hypothesis" meant, and how the whole life of a scientist evolves around testing a hypothesis for truth and untruth.

Science started out really fun, but sometime in highschool it transformed into a total pain, i personally had a lot of trouble with Biology. Hehe! It's a sad thing, especially if we want a pool of students to reinforce our growing pool of R & D. Good news is, the Ayala group has found a way to bring the fun back to Science. Say hello to the Mind Museum!

This isn't the country's first science museum, but it sure is the most comprehensive. It is a 1B project originated by the Bonifacio Art Foundation, and funded by individual, family, and corporate donors. Almost all the necessary fields have been covered, from atoms and molecules, parts of the body, to electricity, geology, agriculture, technology, evolution, and even astronomy.  The museum is clustered into 5 main galleries (description per gallery from Mind Museum release)

• The Atom Gallery has exhibit pieces that show the strange world of the very small in terms of forces and particles;

• The Earth Gallery tells of the story of the planet and our archipelago across the breadth of time; it includes a 3D animated film made by an all-Filipino crew that features 4.6 billion years of the planet's natural history and evolution in 12 minutes.

• The Life Gallery is a dive into deeper understanding of how life surrounds and inhabits us – from microbes to large animals (such as a life size ‘butanding’), and from DNA, cells to a giant human brain model.

•  The Universe Gallery features the mysterious vastness of the universe and holds clues to where we came from and where we are going. The gallery also contains a unique planetarium which simulates star-gazing from the point of view of literally laying down on a bed beneath the stars.

•  The Technology Gallery, located above all four galleries, shows how we, with the tools we invent and innovate, are able to express our evolving humanity. It is the story of how we humans have explored ways of being alive!

A lot of the displays were interactive, meaning you can touch and play with them for a more effective learning experience, there are 250 interactive exhibits in all. Some of my favorites were the large dinosaur skeleton replica, the diorama which simulated the effects of an earthquake, the hair-raising static ball, and the huge shell with walls made with different types of rice grains.

The Universe gallery was amaaaazeballs! Words cannot explain! As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I've always had a fascination with space. There was a huge illustration of the moon and its several phases, a listening pod that had kept you from hearing all outside noise and allowed you to hear some "space-noise", and a small replica of the Mars rover. It was a happy place to discover a world that is beyond our reach. There was also a round 'auditorium' that showed tales of space and evolution, where images were shown on the concave ceiling for a "surround" experience, so you had to watch it lying down, it was a fascinating experience for kids and adults alike… others dozed off though hahah.

My nanay enjoyed it too!

I think I have a love affair with moons

A very special treat was the Da Vinci Museum, that was on display from  September 1 until last November 30, 2013. I have always known that Da Vinci was more than a painter but this museum made me truly appreciate his genius. He was a real MASTER of all fields and his breadth of knowledge was just stunning. He liked to work in the field of physics, music, armory, art, and mechanics. For every field, he has designed several mechanisms that made vast improvements in the technology of his time. He has design prototypes of machines that came to life decades after his existence, like the airplane, the elevator, the submarine, and more. 

Collections of a genius

Da Vinci seemed to have a love affair with gears,  and the museum offered life size models of these designs, that you can touch, twist, turn, and play with.

It was fascinating to see replicas of his notebooks, that contained his handwriting and the designs scribbled across the pages. A master doodler he was! One thing he maintained though, was that even if his designs were taken from physical and mathematical concepts, it had to be very simple, as he said, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"

The Da Vinci Doodles

A simple bridge that Da Vinci designed for easy battlefield assembly - you don't need screws for it, but the more you use it, the sturdier it gets (vertical force tightens the joints). Cool eh?

In spite of being self-taught for the most part of his life, Da Vinci had a high regard for theory, which I truly appreciated, as the majority now regards theory as purely 'bookish-business': "He who loves practice without theory, is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass, and never knows where he may cast"

This exhibit was developed by Grande Exhibitions Australia, the Anthropos Association, Italy, under the kind auspices of the Commune di Roma, Commune di Firenze and Citta Di Venezia, and with the assistance of Pascal Cotte of Lumiere Technologies, France. * They tour different parts of the world and we're really lucky to catch their stint here.

Of course, the Mona Lisa

Our trip to the mind museum was an exhilarating experience. It was even capped off by a surprise performance from THE Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a perfect end to the day as everyone was awed by their beautiful music. They played a couple of classics plus a christmas medley. Yeah! 

A trip to the Mind Museum is a must for all educational field trips, it's quite pricey though but it's worth it, and I think the pricing scheme they have is fair enough.

Ticket prices:

Adults - 600

Children up to College Students - 450

Public School Students - 150

Teachers -150

A visit to the whole museum, and watching the short films helps you to see things in a simpler perspective. It is a reminder that there is a thread that unites all of us, from the very small to the very huge, the breathing and the inanimate, the past and the present, and that we all are responsible for it. Profound message in candy colored coating, I'd say.  :)

For more info, visit www.themindmuseum.org .