bookmark_borderMarch for Science in Philadelphia

Saturday, April 22 at 10 AM – 2 PM / Earth Day April 22, 2017
Penn’s Landing
101 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106

PHILADELPHIA — March For Science is a nationwide protest in support of science and technology. The Trump administration has discredited scientist in many areas. President Trump has said the climate change is a hoax. The acting director of the EPA stated that carbon emissions are not causing global warming.

Join the March for Science Philadelphia on Saturday, April 22, 2017. The March for Science PHL will be held at Penn’s Landing Great Plaza. (March for Science in Philadelphia on Facebook)

They will assemble at 10:00am on the east side of City Hall (Juniper Street). The March will kick-off promptly at 11:00am and will go down Market Street to Front Street, Front Street to Chestnut Street and then over Chestnut Street to Penn’s Landing Great Plaza.

Entertainment will begin at 11:30am and the March for Science speakers will begin at 12.

Similar marches will take place throughout the country including Washington D.C. and 394 satellite marches.

“The Franklin Institute supports the March for Science, and it’s exciting to see the greater Philadelphia community come together to celebrate science. Our mission is to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology, and we provide opportunities for students, families, and adults to do that all year long. We will continue to be a resource for science education for our community, and to stand up for science, as we have done for 193 years.”

ABOUT THE MARCH FOR SCIENCE
The March for Science champions robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for science that upholds the common good and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence based policies in the public interest.

The March for Science is a celebration of science. It’s not about scientists or politicians; it is about the very real role that science plays in each of our lives and the need to respect and encourage research that gives us insight into the world. Nevertheless, the march has generated a great deal of conversation around whether or not scientists should involve themselves in politics. In the face of an alarming trend toward discrediting scientific consensus and restricting scientific discovery, we might ask instead: can we afford not to speak out in its defense?

People who value science have remained silent for far too long in the face of policies that ignore scientific evidence and endanger both human life and the future of our world. New policies threaten to further restrict scientists’ ability to research and communicate their findings. We face a possible future where people not only ignore scientific evidence, but seek to eliminate it entirely. Staying silent is a luxury that we can no longer afford. We must stand together and support science.

The application of science to policy is not a partisan issue. Anti-science agendas and policies have been advanced by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and they harm everyone — without exception. Science should neither serve special interests nor be rejected based on personal convictions. At its core, science is a tool for seeking answers. It can and should influence policy and guide our long-term decision-making.

The March for Science champions and defends science and scientific integrity, but it is a small step in the process toward encouraging the application of science in policy. We understand that the most effective way to protect science is to encourage the public to value and invest in it.

The best way to ensure science will influence policy is to encourage people to appreciate and engage with science. That can only happen through education, communication, and ties of mutual respect between scientists and their communities — the paths of communication must go both ways. There has too long been a divide between the scientific community and the public. We encourage scientists to reach out to their communities, sharing their research and its impact on people’s everyday lives. We encourage them, in turn, to listen to communities and consider their research and future plans from the perspective of the people they serve. We must take science out of the labs and journals and share it with the world.

bookmark_borderHitchBOT Hijacked In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, PA — HitchBOT is… was a hitchhiking robot from Port Credit, Ontario. HitchBOT traveled over 10,000 km in Canada from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Victoria, British Columbia. “We want to see what people do with this kind of technology when we leave it up to them,” Frauke Zeller, one of the creators and an assistant professor in professional communication at Toronto’s Ryerson University, told the AP. “It’s an art project in the wild — it invites people to participate.”

But, after only two weeks traveling in the USA, HitchBOT was vandalized and destroyed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

HitchBot In Philly
HitchBot In Philly

The HitchBOT team has issued a statement:

Oh dear, my body was damaged, but I live on back home and with all my friends. I guess sometimes bad things happen to good robots! My trip must come to an end for now, but my love for humans will never fade. Thank you to all my friends.

A message from the family:

hitchBOT’s trip came to an end last night in Philadelphia after having spent a little over two weeks hitchhiking and visiting sites in Boston, Salem, Gloucester, Marblehead, and New York City. Unfortunately, hitchBOT was vandalized overnight in Philadelphia; sometimes bad things happen to good robots. We know that many of hitchBOT’s fans will be disappointed, but we want them to be assured that this great experiment is not over. For now we will focus on the question “what can be learned from this?” and explore future adventures for robots and humans.

We have no interest in pressing charges or finding the people who vandalized hitchBOT; we wish to remember the good times, and we encourage hitchBOT’s friends and fans to do the same.

bookmark_borderBenjamin Franklin and the Kite Experiment

Benjamin Franklin was a great inventor. His inventions included everything from bifocals and swim fins to electricity. The place of Franklin’s grave is also the location where he is purported to have conducted the kite experiment — Christ Church in Philadelphia, PA.

“The experiment’s purpose was to uncover then unknown facts about the nature of lightning and electricity.

In 1752, Franklin proposed an experiment with conductive rods to attract lightning to a Leyden jar, an early form of capacitor.

Such an experiment was carried out in May 1752 at Marly-la-Ville in northern France by Thomas-François Dalibard. An attempt to replicate the experiment killed Georg Wilhelm Richmann in Saint Petersburg in August 1753, thought to be the victim of ball lightning. Franklin himself is said to have conducted the experiment in June 1752, supposedly on the top of the spire on Christ Church in Philadelphia.

Franklin realized the dangers of using conductive rods and instead used a kite. The increased height allowed him to stay on the ground and the kite was less likely to electrocute him. According to the legend, Franklin kept the string of the kite dry at his end to insulate him while the rest of the string was allowed to get wet in the rain to provide conductivity. A key was attached to the string and connected to a Leyden jar, which Franklin assumed would accumulate electricity from the lightning. The kite wasn’t struck by visible lightning (had it done so, Franklin would almost certainly have been killed) but Franklin did notice that the strings of the kite were repelling each other and deduced that the Leyden jar was being charged. Franklin reportedly received a mild shock by moving his hand near the key afterwards, because as he had estimated, lightning had negatively charged the key and the Leyden jar, proving the electric nature of lightning” — Wikipedia

Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA
Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA

Some of the famous people buried at the Christ Church burial ground:

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Scientist, Philosopher, Printer, Diplomat, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution

Francis Hopkinson (1737-1790) Artist, Lawyer, Judge, Composer, Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Joseph Hewes (1730-1779) Secretary of Naval Affairs, Signer of the Declaration of Independence from North Carolina

George Ross (1730-1779) Judge, Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Dr. Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) Physician, social reformer, Treasurer of the United States Mint, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, founder of Dickinson College, Known as “The Father of American Psychiatry”

Sarah Knowles (1721) oldest known marker in the burial ground

Edward W. Clay (1799-1857) Political cartoonist

John Dunlap (1747-1812) Printer of the first broadside of the Declaration of Independence. Published the first daily newspaper.

Dr. William Camac (1829-1900) Prominent Philadelphia Physician who founded the Philadelphia Zoo, America’s first Zoo.

John G. Watmough (1793-1861) United States Congressman, who served as First Lieutenant in the War of 1812.

Major William Jackson (1759-1828) Revolutionary War officer, Secretary of the Constitutional Convention in 1787

Sarah Franklin Bache (1737-1811) Daughter of Benjamin and Deborah Franklin, Founder and member of “The Ladies’ Association,” which was a leading fund raiser during the Revolutionary War

Franklin Watkins (1894-1972) Served in the US Navy during World War I, Painter with artwork featured in museums around the world

Dr. Thomas Bond (1713-1784) Physician, founded the first hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital

Philip Syng (1703-1789) Silversmith and maker of the ink and quill stand used for the signing of the Declaration of Independence

Julia Stockton Rush ( 1759-1848) Wife of and daughter of signers of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Ladies’ Association

Dr. Philip Syng Physick (1768-1837) Known as the Father of Modern Surgery

Major General George Cadwalader (1806-1879) General during the Civil War

William M Meredith (1799-1873) Lawyer, State Attorney General, Secretary of the Treasury under President Taylor

Michael Hillegas (1729-1804) First Treasurer of the United States

Commodore William Bainbridge (1774-1833) Commander of Old Ironsides

John Spurrier (1746-1798) Author of the Practical Farmer, his book promoted the idea of composting

John Taylor (1718-1803) He was the gravedigger at the burial ground for over 50 years

Richard Folwel (1768-1814) Printer and newspaper publisher. He printed the first collection of laws of the United States, which was commonly known as the Folwel Edition.

Joseph Dolby (1741-1816) Sexton and bell ringer for Christ Church.

James Humphreys (1748-1810) Printer, who founded and published The Pennsylvania Ledger.

Richard Thomson (1799-1824) Consul from the United States to Canton