Trek Tales with Tom Prater: The Story

Dr. Thomas Prater, partner at Mattax Neu Prater Eye Center and long time supporter of science education and Discovery Center of Springfield, is part of a London-based expedition of doctors and health specialists traveling to Mt. Everest as part of a medical expedition.

This unique expedition, called Caudwell Xtreme Everest, aims to understand how the human body works under the grueling condition on Mt. Everest.

"This is a tremendous opportunity not only to see another part of the world, but to be able to contribute science knowledge of high altitude medicine and how to translate these results to critically ill people." remarks Dr. Tom Prater.

Caudwell Xtreme Everest is a research project coordinated by the Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme (CASE) environment medicine. The team of doctors and scientists are conducting medical testing on more than 70 volunteers during their ascent to base camp, studying the effects of extreme altitude and low oxygen levels on human physiology. The hope is that this research will help doctors treat critically ill adults and children who suffer from diseases associated with low oxygen levels.

A previous expedition took place about two years ago May, 2007. This continued research and data gathered will benefit acute respiratory distress syndrome, altitude sickness, brain dysfunction, congenital heart disease, lung disease, oxygen deficiency and more.

Dr. Tom Prater left Friday, April 24, 2009 to begin the research soon to follow.

Discovery Center of Springfield is offering a variety of programming surrounding Dr. Prater's participation in the expedition.

We hope to be able to stay in touch with Dr. Prater and share his comments and updates on our blog. Discovery Center of Springfield also invites you to an Evening Under the Stars. This special fundraising event will be held Saturday, June 13, 2009. This event will be held at Jude Ranch in Rogersville, Missouri and will include seated dinner, stargazing and Mt. Everest presentation by Dr. Tom Prater. For more information on this event contact Emily Fox at 417-862-9910 Ext. 700.

For more information regarding the Caudwell Xtreme Everest please call Emily Fox, Executive Director, 417-862-9910 Ext. 700 or Charlotte McCoy, Marketing/Special Events Director at 417-862-9910 Ext. 713. To learn more about the expedition, www.xtreme-everest.co.uk.

Venues of All Sorts Go Green

Facilities across the Midwest region make eco-friendly changes.

Meeting planners looking for an environmentally solid meetings alternative will find great green choices in the Midwest. From meetings venues, to hotels, to a brand-new airport, green is in throughout the Heartland.

In Madison, WI, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed and 250,000-sf Monona Terrace Convention Center (www.mononaterrace.com) is the first center to receive silver-level certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED - EB) rating system. By purchasing 1.1 million kilowatt-hours of wind energy, the facility eliminated more than 2.4 million tons of carbon-dioxide emissions and the need for 410 tons of coal. In 2009, nearly half of Monona Terrace's total energy usage will be wind-derived.

Monona Catering, the building's in-house caterer, which serves 450,000 people per year, uses many recyclables, including plastic cups at water stations, box lunch packaging, copy paper, and toner cartridges. Recognizing today's hard times, leftover food is donated to local pantries.

In St. Louis, the 260,000-sf Science Center has begun offering a green meetings program. Not only will delegates enjoy 700 hands-on exhibits—the Omnimax Theater, Boeing Space Station, and planetarium—the center will also donate 5 percent of its meetings proceeds to carbon-neutral programming through Carbonfund.org.

Even smaller facilities are catching green fever. The Discovery Center of Springfield, MO, is the first building in southwestern Missouri to attain LEED Gold certification. With an auditorium seating up to 200, a pair of modern classrooms, an immersion cinema theater, and a full kitchen and tables for up to 75, the facility even offers videoconferencing services that can connect the Ozarks to the world—and cut carbon-emitting travel.

Chicago offers a wide range of green meetings venues–including the new McCormick Place West, the largest new-construction building in the country to receive LEED certification.

Chicago also leads the country with five Green Seal-certified hotels. Hotel Monaco Chicago, Hotel Burnham, Hotel Allegro Chicago, InterContinental Chicago, and the Talbott Hotel all recently received Green Seal certification, an environmental lodging standard with requirements in waste minimization, energy efficiency, water conservation, waste-water management, and green procurement.

Finally, Indianapolis has taken environmental friendliness to a whole other level, with the new $1.1 billion Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport. The 1.2-million-sf facility is the largest LEED-certified building in the Midwest. Energy is conserved by the design and construction materials of the terminal. The roof reflects energy, which can reduce cooling costs, while the daylight available throughout the building reduces the need for artificial light.

Taxi time for jets has been cut significantly, reducing the amount of fuel needed to reach gates and cutting emissions. The airport's taxiways are lined with channels to collect glycol used for de-icing aircraft; the material is recycled. The new airport also has incorporated sustainability in its design, construction, and furnishings by reusing parking lots and runways, demolition materials, and glass, paint, and flooring.

Ground-transportation centers for local transit systems have been added, and the airport has even gone back to nature. Red maples, redbuds, switchgrass, honeylocust, hemlock, and tulip trees are among the native Midwestern species planted throughout to cut pesticide use, erosion, and maintenance costs, helping keep the airport green in more ways than one.

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Starlab Viewing

Starlab viewing-If you missed it during Astronomy week, the Starlab will be available during the month of April on the following dates and times:

April 18th-Earth Day-10:30, 11:30, 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00
April 23rd-10:30, 1:00 and 3:30
April 28th-10:30, 1:00 and 3:30

Come learn how to identify common constellations in our sky from the comfort of the indoors!

Your tongue can pick up 5 different types of taste sensations

Back in grade school, you probably learned that the human tongue can pick up four different kinds of tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. But those textbooks left out another flavor sensation: umami. Taken from the Japanese word for "yummy," umami was first identified as a primary flavor back in 1908 by a Japanese chemist who was inspired to look for it after eating a bowl of seaweed soup. He found a chemical that is to umami what sugar is to sweet. It's monosodium glutamate, or MSG. But MSG isn't the only way to tickle your umami taste buds. Often described as the "savory" taste, umami sensations are naturally produced by foods like meat, aged cheese, tomatoes and mushrooms.

Discovery Center is rated #1 of 9 attractions on Trip Advisor

See what visitors are saying about Discovery Center on Trip Advisor. If you are not familiar with Trip Advisor; this is a great site to gain info about attractions, hotels, resorts, and vacations. Be sure to leave a review while you are there!

Science Cafe for Adults

April 9, 2009 6pm-8pm
Scientists and Engineers from Brewer Science will discuss nanotechnology. Nanosience is a new area of exploration with tremendous potential. Cost is Free. Limited seating. First Come First Serve. Full menu for purchase. Located at Trolley's Level 2. 107 Park Central Square

You have 2 million tiny hairs in your inner ear

Unlike hair growing on the surface of your ears, the presence of hairs, or "stereocilia," deep inside your head aren't considered a hygiene lapse. Instead, they're a vitally important part of your ability to hear, responsible for changing physical sound waves into electrical signals that can be understood by your brain, according to the British Hearing Research Trust. When stereocilia are hit with a sound vibration, they produce electricity and begin to "dance," stretching and compressing. In May 2008, researchers at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis figured out that this dancing, and the protein that causes it, is probably how stereocilia amplify sounds. If those tiny hairs can't dance, the brain they're connected to can't hear high-frequency sounds and might even be rendered deaf.