By: Tom Wickersham

NEW EXHIBITION STORMS IN AT EXPLORIT

Okay, pop quiz: what is a nephoscope?

While you're thinking about the answer, or looking it up, you might want to know that you can try one out at Explorit Science Center's new exhibition opening tomorrow.

The exhibition, "Weather or Not: Forces Affecting the Earth," features hands-on activities that focus on weather and other geologic processes that are constantly changing the surface of the earth.

You'll have the chance to form your own rivers, and then dam them. Try your hand at the lightning station and make your own sparks. Give a whirl at the wind station to discover the energy of the force your breath.

At "Weather or Not" you'll also encounter different weather measuring devices: thermometer, barometer, rain gauge, anemometer and nephoscope. A nephoscope, in case you didn't know, is an instrument used to measure the direction and relative speed of clouds.

Rain or shine, visit "Weather or Not: Forces Affecting the Earth" this weekend and several times over the next couple of months.

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Surely you've seen the Mona Lisa before. If you haven't seen Da Vinci's famous painting in person, you've probably seen it in books, on T-shirts or on posters.

Take a moment to recall the painting. What do you remember? Most likely you remember her smile. But can you recall the background of the painting?

Leonardo da Vinci painted Mona Lisa in front of a typical Tuscan landscape -- a river meandering through a rocky terrain. Da Vinci, a scientist and an artist, often brings together science (in this case geology) and art in his works.

The expressions of artists and the studies of scientists, at a glance, might seem worlds apart. These two seemingly unrelated disciplines, however, are more interconnected than you might think, according to Dr. Raymond Pestrong, Professor of Geology at San Francisco State University. For starters, both artists and scientists observe and interpret the world around us.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, Dr. Pestrong, through visual and musical examples, will explore the spectrum of the relationships between the arts and the sciences in his lecture "Geosciences and the Arts."

This lecture, as part of The Cutting Edge of Science Lecture Series, is free and open to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Davis Senior Center, 646 A Street

Explorit's Cutting Edge of Science Lecture Series is sponsored by Novo Nordisk Biotech, Inc. with additional support from the Davis Senior Center. For more information about this lecture or the lecture series, call (530) 756-0191.

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Engineering, as are all sciences, is part of our everyday lives. Helping Explorit kick off National Engineers Week will be the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) from UC Davis.

On Saturday, Feb. 20 from 2:00 to 4:00, SWE returns to Explorit as part of the "Meet the Scientist" program. They'll have lots of fascinating activities for folks of all ages. Don't miss this popular program.

For more information call Explorit or check out this Explorit column next week.

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Explorit Science Center is located at 3141 5th Street in East Davis. The current exhibition is "Weather or Not: Forces Affecting the Earth." Public hours are Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. Regular admission is $3; members, teachers (with school ID) and children under 4 are free.