By the numbers at MOSI

April 28, 3:49 PMTampa By the Numbers ExaminerLee Dury

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Don't hold this against me, but when I was a kid we lived in the suburbs outside Philadelphia.  I am now a full-fledged sun and sand loving Floridian.  Anyhow, one of my memories of being a kid up there is going into center city Philly for a visit to the Franklin Institute (http://www2.fi.edu), where my favorite activity was the Giant heart exhibit.  In this we could walk through a very large replica of the human heart, accurately painted a strange reddish purple color and complete with a constant thumpthump noise to give the idea of really walking through a beating human heart.

So, start at the Franklin Institute (222 North Broad Street) and hop in your car, then drive 1,047.53 miles (this will take about 16 hours 48 minutes, plus a few minutes for restroom stops), and pull your car into the parking lot of 4801 East Fowler Avenue in Tampa.  Get out and stretch your legs, because you are now standing in the parking lot of the 190,000+ square foot, 74 acre campus of a truly great science experience - MOSI (The Museum of Science and Industry, www.mosi.org).    A few bullet points of interest as you walk up to the doors to the museum: the science museum originally opened in 1962 as a youth museum in Sulphur Springs, and was renamed the Hillsborough Museum in 1967.  MOSI became the official name in 1976 (I am doing some research right now to find out what other interesting things may have happened in 1976, but that can be another article....).   Let's flash forward 33 years to now, April 28, 2009.  MOSI is huge - in fact it is the largest science center in the southeastern United States and the 5th largest in the nation.  With the opening of Kids In Charge a few years ago, local residents and tourists can also experience the largest children's science center in the nation.  Kids in Charge is 40,000 sq ft - with a whopping 25,000 sq ft of that space dedicated to unique and educational interactive exhibits.   

We should also take a moment to mention the Saunders Planetarium with its 700,000 visitors last year (were you 1?) and the IMAX Dome Theatre (at 10,500 square feet, IMAX accounts for about 6% of MOSI). 

Couple things to think about - at MOSI, you can ride a bicycle while suspended 30 feet above ground.  That's 360 inches up in the air!  By the way in 1996, Charles Austin successfully completed an Olympic Record on the High Jump - 7ft 10 in, which equals 94 inches.  Sit on this bicycle and you will be more than 3 times higher than he jumped! Many of us do not get to act like high-wire walkers in a circus, but jump on this bicycle and peddle along the 1 inch wire for the full 98 feet (1176 inches) and try not to look down (actually go a head and look down, they have a great strong net to catch you).  This exhibit is confirmed as the longest such exhibit in the United States. 

Let's return to IMAX for a moment.  a unique method of filming, IMAX uses film that is 10x longer than conventional 35mm film, and it produces such amazingly high quality imagery.  According to my research, the IMAX Dome opened at MOSI in 1995, so next should be the 15th anniversary - let's hope the great folks at MOSI have a series of spectacular films scheduled.  Looking further into IMAX, I learned that IMAX debuted in Osaka, Japan in 1970, and the first permanently installed IMAX was in Toronto in 1971.  An IMAX DOME Theatre, the specialized full spectrum viewing experience for IMAX films, was opened in San Diego in 1973.   My family has been to 2 recent IMAX films (Under the Sea and Extreme Sports). On the list for new films is an exploration of van Gogh's inspirational art (Brush with Genius).

There are over 450 exhibits - although, really, exhibit is the wrong word.  It conjures simply viewing in a passive way.  At MOSI you become part of the experience - and not all are inside.  Just outside the doors you can sit in a wind room to experience the increasing intensity of hurricane level winds.  Hold on to your hats when it hits 74 mph!!  Also, check out the BioWorks Butterfly Garden with its serene focus on butterflies native to West Central Florida.  Did you know many butterflies weigh only 500 milligrams? That is a mere 0.02 ounces, or about one half of one gram.  I think that is slightly less than one rice krispie or a cheerio (without the honey). And if you think the hurricane wind room causes a fright, just think about the rain on our butterfly friends. One drop of rain can weigh 70 mg, so just a few drops can seriously soak and damage these wondrous creatures.  Luckily, they can seek shelter under leaves and hide behind flower petals.