Pipedreams at the Science Museum

Today at last I finished a very hard research paper that I'm doing as part of my volunteer research efforts. I decided it would be good for my mental health and physical health to get out for a walk, so decided to return some books to the Saint Paul Public Library. This is about a 10-12 minute walk from my apartment.

The sun was shining, but oh my! It was a wicked wind that was blowing. I should  have worn a hat. I stopped at one of the condo buildings down the street and went inside the entry area to fix the hood on my coat up around my ears. But I made it to the library, picked out some new books and then walked back across the street to the Science Museum and stopped there for coffee.

I was seated by the kinetic sculpture called Pipe Dreams.

 The colors at the top are actually reflections from a nearby exhibit.  And the yellow on the left is a dinosaur foot, part of a huge poster announcing a new exhibit opening in the Science Museum in March.

The information by the sculpture, which has been there since 1999, explains it works off a computer program somewhat analogous to a printer driver.

The above photo is blurry because it is taken through the plexiglass surrounding the lower area of the sculpture area.

The computer program, using the 1 and 0 of all computer programs, opens a valve in each of the pipes and turns water on or off.

The video below shows this just a bit better.

Other interesting designs captured my viewpoint today.

Behind were I having coffee are the ticket booths, with an interesting curved wall over the top. The afternoon sun helped to make the design interesting.

Soon I had to "bite the bullet" and myself walk back home in the cold wind.

The afternoon sun was lighting the housing area in which I live in an interesting manner, too.

The sun was lighting the windows in the historic elevator structure and making the apartment and condo buildings glow. It was quite beautiful. The above photo was taken around 4:30 in the afternoon. By 5 PM it is now dark here this time of the year.