Blog

Depicting Motion Through Images

Have you been hearing more about gene editing in the news lately and wondered what it is? On the face of it, it’s exactly what it sounds like – a technique to cut, paste, or modify DNA like you might do with text on a computer. But how does it work and how is it revolutionizing science? 

One of the most beloved parts of The Franklin Institute is The Giant Heart. While many visitors learn a lot about the heart from this exhibit, few probably know about Vivien Thomas, the Black scientist who developed many techniques for heart surgery, as well as taught future cardiac surgeons.

When visitors enter Jordan Lobby at The Franklin Institute, they see four flags: the United States flag, the state flag of Pennsylvania, the flag of the City of Philadelphia, and a flag with 13 8-pointed stars and red, white, and blue stripes – the Franklin flag.

I love a good roller coaster, and I rode a great one this weekend! So, it’s fresh in my mind as to why we often use roller coasters as one of the best examples to define excitement in everyday life. I could feel my palms getting sweaty in anticipation of the unknown. My heartbeat started to race as I got nervous going up the first steep climb. And then there was the exhilaration of feeling like flying as we plunged and soared along the track.

Since 2006, The Franklin Institute has been the home for Legodelphia: a mini Philly, by local artist, Austin Mosby.  Mosby graciously lent his sculpture to the Institute through our Artifact Loan Program, so that visitors may see a new perspective of our beloved city. I was able to chat with Austin about his process behind creating Legodelphia.

You've likely heard of the 'women computers' working in the space program in the early to mid-1900s through the film Hidden Figures. but did you know that there were 'computers' in other fields?

Curatorial Staff with Lightning Rods on loan from Josh Sapan (IC2012-001)

Can Anger Be a Good Thing?

The summer’s premiere astronomical event, the Perseid meteor shower, runs from late July through late August, peaking around mid-August. Meteors are sand-grained-sized particles of space rock typically “melted” out of the icy nucleus of a comet. The melting occurs when the comet passes near the sun during its orbit around the solar system. The meteors are usually distributed along the orbital path of the comet and fall into the Earth’s atmosphere when we pass through the comet’s path. The comet associated with the Perseids is Comet Swift-Tuttle, first identified in 1862.

In the Beginning

Throughout history, inventors have sought ways to solve problems and make people’s lives better. In the video series Ingenious, hosts Trace Dominguez and Susannah Carroll discuss how innovations build on previous inventions to create things that we all live with and use every day. Often, these innovations improve upon what came before. Other times, they remedy issues that new inventions create. One such invention was time zones. 

An image of a palm utensil holder. The device assists people that have a hard time gripping utensils to eat. It can also potentially be used on a person’s foot if they do not have or have use of their hands.

The world has seen the first breathtaking images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST),offering possibilities for new discoveries that will help to further explain the complexities of the universe.

If you’re looking to up your dose of lunar light, tonight’s the night to get a full charge. This month’s full moon occurs July 13 at 2:38p ET. More importantly, it occurs on the day of this year’s ultimate Supermoon.  Of all the monthly lunar perigees this year, the July 13 perigee is the closest of the whole year. I guess we can call it a super Supermoon!

Image source: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

This first image from James Webb Space Telescope was released July 11. The Webb science and engineering team was recognized for extraordinary work but not much was said about the image itself, except that it shows some of the oldest light ever seen by humans. Let’s go further toward understanding what the image actually shows. Here’s how to interpret this first JWST ultra-deep field image:

What we see at first glance are bright stars, some small spiral galaxies, and lots of smaller blobs ranging in color from tan to red.

NASA’s next expeditions to the Moon took a step closer to reality when the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket passed its final dress rehearsal tests in late June.

In our new video series, Ingenious, Susannah Carroll and Trace Dominguez look at the history of many inventions that have changed our world – including the telephone. Most people know Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, but there is so much more to that story.

As we launch the second season of The Franklin Institute’s podcast, So Curious, we’re excited to take you on a journey through the science of love, sex, and relationships.

Imagine something that’s scary. Exhausting. Maybe overwhelming. Or even incredibly exciting. Any of those might immediately spark a feeling for you about what it means to be “stressed out.” From a scientific perspective, however, stress is a complicated thing. In general, scientists think of stress as your body’s response to being pushed out of balance. But what causes stress, how your body responds to stress, and the long-term impacts of stress all involve many factors: physiological, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive. 

Written in partnership with The Jefferson Health Design Lab.

3D printing has become a hot topic over the last two years as rapid manufacturing has addressed some of the supply shortages experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is more room for 3D printing in healthcare beyond masks, face shields, and ventilator parts.

As we marvel at the incredible athletes at the Winter Olympics, it’s always fascinating to look at the science and technology behind their performances. For me, my interest in the techniques of winter sports ironically started with a computer game—the Winter Games sports simulation that I played as a kid (back in the 1980s on my family’s Apple IIe computer!).

For this second week of December, the northern half of the planet experiences its earliest sunsets for the year. We’re used to the Winter Solstice - December 21 - being thought of as the “shortest day of the year” but it’s just one of a trio of days that work together to set the astronomical framework for the winter season.  

The World Health Organization declared the omicron variant of the coronavirus to be a “variant of concern” last week. Since then, it seems like the only thing we know is that there’s a lot we don’t know! So let’s talk about all the science that’s going on right now that will help answer some of these questions.

Discovering variants