Gentian's Photographic Misadventures

[Gentian]

I'd read this place had Japan's first particle accelerator on display. I guess, technically, that's true. It seems more like a collection of parts, most likely incomplete to me, but it's still pretty cool. It also looks like something I could expect to see in Twilight's laboratory in the basement of the Golden Oak, a la Feeling Pinkie Keen.

[Gentian]

I love chirography. Block, printed, cursive, shorthand, conlang, calligraphy, and every-day script. I love it. This is a...pamphlet, for lack of a better word, of astronomical data written in 1797. It's gorgeous. You can't tell because of the frame limits, but rather than be tied together like a normal book, or rolled like a scroll, it's folded back and forth over itself, kind of like the paper fans kids would make out of loose leaf back when I still attended school.

[Gentian]

This is like the opening of a joke isn't it? A neanderthal, a Jew, and a pony all (((walk into a bar))) sit on a bench...

I prefer to see it as Twilight finally having a human to talk to who is as intelligent as she is. She looks like she's having fun, anyway.

[Gentian]

Next to the space section, was an area dedicated to magnets. To fit the theme there were a lot of hands-on exhibits, but they were thick with stinky, noisy, careless miniature-humans so we didn't linger. Fortunately, they also had a number of motors on display, like this one, which is a cutaway of one of the 800kg motors used on the trains that run on the Midosuji subway line.

[Gentian]

Another thing I enjoy is early technology, and the abacus is one of the ones I like the most. One thing I do not like, is the way xenophilia and mysticism have made the versions of things found in the east be given a cultural aura of superiority, or mysteriousness, the most infamous example is the katana/longsword thing. But, I will eagerly admit the Japanese abacus is much, much better than the ones we used in the west.

A funny thing about Japan is, it's quite conservative, though not in the ways the internet likes to pretend. These are, to my mind, an amusing example of both Japanese ingenuity, and tradition rolled into one, I mean, who thought of combining an electronic calculator with an abacus? Who would think of that, and why would they think it was a good idea? Backup if the battery fails? Electronics being considered unreliable? An easy method to check answers? Skilled abacus users can outpace calculator users (go look up flash anzan on youtube), so maybe it was a logistical thing? As in, the high-level abacusers could use it, and the less-skilled could use the calculator, but the company would only have to buy one machine?

[Gentian]

As promised earlier, here is the picture of the rocket component: a piece of paneling. As I said, not really photogenic, but it was pretty interesting.

[Gentian]

So, here we are at the bottom of the escalator between the 4th and 3rd floors. The plan of the museum is sort of like a spiral, which twists around a hollow area. This shot was taken immediately to the right of the escalator, looking into that hollow area, at this neat glider. Behind it you can see the gift shop, which was rather disappointing. I wanted to buy a pin to put in my bag, but the only ones available were for specific space missions, and nothing for the museum itself. Ce'st la vie.

Anyway, we're not there yet. The 4th floor was space, magnetism, radioactivity and those sorts of things. The third floor is related to my personal favorite branch of science: geology! So, moving right along...

[Gentian]

This collection of displays discusses various useful metals. The most useful is undoubtedly iron. The cross-section of the train wheel is what first caught my eye here, but the crankshaft, in various stages of forging is pretty darn impressive. Imagine the machine it must take to smash that heated bar into a useful shape.

[Gentian]

To the right of the iron display, there was a gold display! My pony princess certainly deserves gold! Even if it is much less valuable in Equestria.

The metal displays continued on to silver, copper, and titanium, but nothing really worth photographing. However, behind them...

[Gentian]

...are gemstones!

Very cool, most of these I've only glimpsed in jewelry store windows, and even then, never saw any large enough to really shine, but sweet Celestia, do these ever shine!

In the vertical cases, the are, clockwise from top left: topaz, turquoise, opal, diamond, aquamarine, emerald ruby, and sapphire.
In the left table case, which contains man-made stones, they are, in the same order: alexandrite, ruby, sapphire, and emerald.
In the right table-case (natural stones): emerald, sapphire, ruby, alexandrite, diamond