melissamDESMA9

Hammer Museum I recently went to the Hammer museum in Westwood and there were two exhibits that I felt incorporated science and art in unique ways. First, on the main floor there were about ten chairs that spin like a top. These chairs were designed by Tanya Aguiniga who is involved in architecture and design. These chairs were modeled after the design of a spinning top and allow a person to spin around in the chair while being seated. It may seem like a fairly simple concept but there is a large amount of physics that was required to design these chairs. They needed to be able to centralize the mass of the person in the center of the chair otherwise the chair may tip over or the person could lose balance and fall out. I was a bit doubtful about this at first and definitely felt like I would tip the chair over when I leaned back. However, once I gave it a try and did a couple complete spins, I saw how well the chair was designed to balance a person’s weight. ...

Space + Art Images of the galaxy and stars are designs that are often used as art in countless items, making art and space two topics that are easily combined. The images of galaxies or even just the view of the stars during a clear night sky has fascinated people and made them wonder about everything that exists far beyond the Earth we know. The Powers of Ten video was interesting in the way it compared the size of the galaxy to the size of a person and then took us down to the atomic scale. As it showed the viewer the difference in each power of ten, it was surprising that there would be regions of emptiness followed by crowded regions. This was true for both the large scale with galaxies and planets as well as the atomic scale. I couldn't believe how there could be such similarities between the microscopic and macroscopic world.  The space race really helped advance space technology with the start of the launching of Sputnik. It was the first device to be...