You want fascinating? Boston’s got it — in the form of the ever popular Museum of Science, a Boston landmark and member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that is home to the Charles Hayden Planetarium, the Mugar Omni IMAX Theater, and dozens of animals. The museum is situated steps from the Boston-East Cambridge border, right at the Science Park stop on the Green Line subway.

With a stated mission “to stimulate interest in and further understanding of science and technology and their importance for individuals and for society,” the museum hosts a number of intriguing interactive exhibits each year, ranging from IMAX movies to displays of live insects and animals to instructional sessions on diverse science-related topics. It even offers a series of virtual exhibits available to everyone, free of charge and around the clock, conveniently via their computer.

The current Museum of Science began as the Boston Society of Natural History in 1830 and later became the New England Museum of Natural History in 1864 after a move to Back Bay. Land was purchased at what is now called Science Park in 1948, and three years later the museum reopened at its new address as the Museum of Science.

The museum’s lengthy list of longtime draws includes the aforementioned Charles Hayden Planetarium and Mugar Omni IMAX Theater, the Theater of Electricity, the Science Live! Stage, Mathematica, and the Children’s Discovery Center. Present exhibits are equally impressive, such as Beyond the X-ray, Dinosaurs: Modeling the Mesozoic, Earth: Inside Out, and the Live Animal Exhibit.

Take a quick video tour of the Museum of Science after the jump and visit the museum’s official website to learn more about its offerings and prices.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

Amazingly, the seminars offered at mini-med school are available to the general public … free of charge. That’s right — for free! At Harvard! If you’re not familiar with how much money just one Ivy League course costs, please take my word that this “price” is a ming-boggling bargain.

Even better than that is the fact that not a single examination is administered in mini-med school. Heck, participants don’t even have to have any prior training in science or medicine. Not a lick!

By now, you might be wondering what exactly this too-good-to-be-true get-up is. Let me explain.

Mini-med school consists of four seminars offered at Harvard Medical School’s Longwood campus on two days each in March and April. All will take place in the chic and sleek Joseph B. Martin Conference Center (77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, 1-866-790-7000) from 5:30pm to 7pm, evening scheduling that gives potential participants who work full-time jobs extra incentive to attend.

Don’t let the cost-free status of the courses fool you, either. People who attend at least three of them will receive an official mini-med school Certificate of Completion, while public school teachers who attend all four become eligible to earn ten professional development points (PDPs) after submitting an assessment form for each session.

Moreover, every seminar will have several knowledgeable professionals from both Harvard Medical School and prominent, affiliated local hospitals as leaders. For instance, the first scheduled seminar, March 5th’s “The Ups & Downs of Daily Life,” will be overseen by three individuals who work at Cambridge Health Alliance and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in addition to the medical school.

If any combination of the following four seminars sounds appealing, make sure to complete advance registration online at the Longwood Seminars website or by phone at 617-432-3038. Interested parties can also find more details about the curriculum at the registration website just provided.

The Ups & Downs of Daily Life

March 5 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

What’s normal? Bereavement, the challenges of daily life, clinical depression, and mood disorders — how to tell the difference and what you can do to help.

Muscle Tone: Getting and Keeping It

March 19 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

Muscle tone and overall health — how one affects the other and what you can do to improve both.

Intelligent Drug Consumption

April 2 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

Beyond the marketing hype — what you need to know and what questions you need to ask.

Your Gut: The Long and Short of It

April 16 | 5:30pm–7:00pm

The gastrointestinal system — diseases, treatments, and prevention.

Post from: The Boston Traveler