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The Thinkery is an evolution of Austin Children’s Museum. It’s Austin’s sparkling new home for “why” and “how.” A place where science and families play side by side. Where people connect with ideas by doing, making and experiencing. It’s a foundry for a new generation of innovators and creative problem solvers. And it’s a heck of a good time.

[whenyouworkatamuseum]

Museum Dance Off 3: Day 2, Round 1 - Vote now!

Capturing 45% of the votes, Epping Forest District Museum moves on to Museum Dance 3, Round 2! Day 1 is in the books, and now we’re on to Day 2 of Round 1! It’s so exciting!

How This Works

There are four rounds total. The video with the most votes will advance to the next round, until the final two videos compete in the Museum Dance Off Thunderdome to reign supreme!

How To Vote

Visit www.whenyouworkatamuseum.com each weekday at 8am EDT and view that day’s videos. Voting will be open each day from 8am - 7:59am the next day.

 Vote for your favorite video.

Do it again the next day!

Today’s contestants are:

Thinkery - Austin, TX, USA 

Museum Victoria - Melbourne, VIC, AUS

Missouri Historical Society - St. Louis, MO, USA

Chemung County Historical Society - Elmira, NY, USA

(If the embedded poll does not appear, click here.)

Round 1, Day 2: Which Museum Dance Off 3 video should advance to the next round?

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Museum Dance Off will always be free, but we are seeking donations to support the competition. If you enjoy Museum Dance Off and would like to chip in a few bucks, please click here to donate. Thank you! We love you!

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[thinkeryatx]

Vote #ThinkeryATX!

[patrickbenfield]

Thank you @ThinkeryATX for hosting the #edexchange program! It was great to collaborate with other makers, educators, and tech enthusiasts at our first gathering and I can’t wait for the next. What an amazing opportunity to learn from the best.

[thekidshouldseethis]

Thing that exists in the woods of North Carolina: a 20 foot pendulum wave demonstration made with 16 bowling balls.

Watch the video.

[thinkeryatx]

This is awesome!

[utaustin]

Tale of the Turf: DKR’s field history The university’s football stadium finished construction during the 1924 season. Over the years, the stadium has undergone several renovations. And for Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, in its 91st season, that includes several playing field surfaces. A quick history:

The football team played on natural grass from 1925 until 1968.

During the summer of 1969, artificial turf was swapped out for natural grass.

UT Athletics replaced the turf in 1974, 1982 and 1989. DKR returned to natural grass (Prescription Athletic Turf/PAT) in 1996.

In 1999, the field was lowered and the grass (PAT) was replaced.

A few seasons later, in 2002, the PAT was replaced with TifSport Certified Bermuda grass.

The Longhorns switched back to FieldTurf, an artificial surface, in 2009.

The most recent installation was in 2013 when a new FieldTurf surface was installed. Read more about the stadium’s history from UT Athletics. Related: Texas Longhorns football tickets [Images: UT Athletics. 2009 installation.]

[yr-cock]

[thinkeryatx]

We have a new trailer up for our Thinkery21 program! Our next Thinkery21 will be held on Thursday, September 4th at 7 PM. The theme is "Back to School" and we'll have a photobooth, yummy food trucks, and live readings from Mortified*. Grab your ticket now before we sell out!

*Mortified is a grassroots series of events where adults share their childhood writings/art/media in front of total strangers. 

[thinkeryatx]

Today we are practicing the art of Suminagashi--the ancient technique of Japanese ink marbling--in our Kitchen Lab. Check out the gorgeous before and after results of one participant! #thinkery #suminagashi #inkmarbling #paper

[sciencefriday]

Scientists never stop asking. They’re little kids who never grew up.

Sylvia Earle, oceanographer

[thekidshouldseethis]

Self-Folding Crawler: A Transformer-style Origami Robot.

[smithsonianmag]

Photo of the Day: Beautiful Vietnam Valley

Photo by Nguyen Viet Thanh (Hoàn Kiếm District, Hanoi, Vietnam); Bac Son Valley, Vietnam

[thinkeryatx]

Kids in our "Can You Dig It?" camp made tiny moon craters yesterday. Did you catch the Supermoon earlier this week? #thinkeryatx #summercamp

[mentalflossr]

Math’s Top Prize Given to a Woman for the First Time

The International Mathematical Union has awarded the Fields Medal to four mathematicians—including, for the first time, a woman: Iranian Maryam Mirzakhani, a 37-year-old professor at Stanford.

[laughingsquid]

Artist Creates Functional Chocolate LEGO Blocks

[npr]

This brings playing with your food to a new level.

– Alexander

[thecmnh]

View this post on Instagram

It’s #TrebuchetThursday at #CMNH today! Have you fired a trebuchet today? We’re just getting warmed up! Tomorrow - Friday, August 15th - is Catapults & Slingshots Day at the museum! We’ll have staff led demonstrations as well as time to create your very own catapults, slingshots and trebuchets! #Trebuchet #Catapult #Slingshots #FamilyFun #HenryLawPark #DoverNH #NewHampshire (at Henry Law Park)

[thinkeryatx]

We <3 a good trebuchet!

[thinkeryatx]

Toys are even more fun to play with when you design them yourself!

[utaustin]

Synthetic Molecule Makes Cancer Self-Destruct

Researchers from UT and five other institutions have created a molecule that can cause cancer cells to self-destruct. This discovery confirms a two-decades-old hypothesis that could point the way to new anticancer drugs while also benefiting patients with cystic fibrosis.

[thinkeryatx]

Awesome work, UT!

[kqedscience]

Supermoon photographs from around the world

“There’s something about moons and photographers. So when supermoons appear, it tends to bring out the best of them from all over the world, scoping out the best location to make a dramatic photograph. A supermoon occurs when the moon, which orbits Earth in a slightly elliptical trajectory, is at the absolute closest it can get while also being full. Yesterday’s supermoon did not disappoint.”

See more photos at The Big Picture at Boston.com.