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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories SOU students create thought-provoking art App Finder: Best science apps Volunteers show gratitude by sewing quilts for National Guard SOU students targeted in Drive Less campaign GMO opponents ask for seat at defense table Education SOU students create thought-provoking art SOU students targeted in Drive Less campaign Speech and debate team claims Jean Ward title SOU board names officers, committees Parent files complaint against Ashland schools Environment Grant will help restore 'legacy' oak habitat in Southern Oregon and Northern California Mt. Ashland Ski Area crew dips to five Mt. Ashland Ski Area announces layoffs The top five conservation success of 2014 Protestors want Keystone pipeline plans stopped Business Where do Ashland’s top chefs go to dine? Ride & Drive: The 2015 BMW M4 Silvio Calabi: Jeep’s Patriot earns respect New Ashland eatery features Basque cuisine Learning on the job Politics and elections Kent Bush: Fraud kept alive by the left and right Amid rising scrutiny, governor says fiancee won't have role in administration Ashland Fiber Network wants to be able to keep trade secrets Volunteer award, State of City address presentations Tuesday City's policy, efforts aim for diversity, but numbers show shortfall State News Albany father allegedly killed by son had worked in Ashland for 25 years Amid rising scrutiny, governor says fiancee won't have role in administration Two new wolves confirmed in Southern Oregon, state reviewing status of northeastern packs State records show number of big marijuana farms has increased New wandering wolf arrives in Southern Oregon Nation - World Obituaries Maridale Moore Lyn Richard Mary Diane Hudran Death Notices Glenn C. McBride Shareable Sports Latest Stories Aldridge leads Blazers past Suns Freshman goes off as SOU sweeps Menlo Layton picks Western Oregon Raiders nab pair of star SWC quarterbacks on signing day Ashland girls go 6-1 in multi-team dual meet High school Layton picks Western Oregon Ashland girls go 6-1 in multi-team dual meet Raiders, at last Ashland swimmers sweep three-way Grizzly spirit Southern Oregon University Freshman goes off as SOU sweeps Menlo Layton picks Western Oregon Raiders nab pair of star SWC quarterbacks on signing day Raiders, at last Raiders pulverize Simpson, bag first shutout in six years Opinion Latest Stories Our View: The benefits are mutual Letters to the Editor, Feb. 6 Jeffrey Gillespie: Et tu, Barack? Editor's Notes: Agonizing uncertainty in runaway case Wolves in our woods Editorial Our View: The benefits are mutual Wolves in our woods Our View: Bricks remodel is a smash Our View: Bravo to MovieMaker nod Other Views: Allow wilderness burns Letters Letters to the Editor, Feb. 6 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 4 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 2 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 28 Letters to the Editor, Jan. 27 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: A message to my health care colleagues Guest Opinion: Experts couldn't answer pipeline questions Guest Column: A Koch and bull story Guest Opinion: A New Year’s resolution you can keep: starting “the conversation” Chris Honoré: Modern media: the unreliable narrator Revels Latest Stories Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets : Feb. 5-12 Steep Ravine, T Sisters play the Unitarian Fellowship 'A Most Violent Year' is a taut, cerebral film Theater Looking inside yourself and finding a character is magic Classics, premiers highlight 2015 season for OSF Roy Orbison tribute hits high note Music Frisell brings fine-tuned act to Armory The Farr Side: Trainor building a music niche A laid-back chat with Marilyn Manson Roy Orbison tribute hits high note Jeff Kloetzel at Belle Fiore Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies Movie review: New ‘SpongeBob’ movie mops up with surrealistic goofiness Movie review: The Wachowskis rebound with sci-fi epic ‘Jupiter Ascending’ Movie review: A slow but sturdy study of corrupt politics and fragile families in ‘Leviathan’ Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'A Most Violent Year' is a taut, cerebral film Food and Drink Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Looking Up: Venus, Mars passing each other Health Watch: Simple swaps for a healthy lifestyle In Good Faith: Don’t let Christianity be hijacked Marketta Gregory: Your dance matters Looking inside yourself and finding a character is magic Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business NEWS NOW SOU students create thought-provoking art ... Our View: The benefits are mutual ... Calendar: Friday, Feb. 6 ... SOU students create thought-provoking art ... Our View: The benefits are mutual ... Calendar: Friday, Feb. 6 ... SCIENCEWORKS HANDS-ON MUSEUM Displaying medieval genius Special demonstrations, exhibits set for this weekend only By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 4, 2015 @ 6:56 pm By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 4, 2015 @ 6:56 pm » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> We may think of Dark Age folk as hopelessly pre-technological, but they had to tinker and invent constantly on a personal level to survive and make society go — something ScienceWorks will show all this weekend as they invite kids (or anyone) to come and experience it hands-on.  This experiential fest, called “Making Medieval,” is all about tinkering and getting things to work — a catapult, casting low-temperature metal — all without machines, fuel, horses or any of the labor-saving devices we know so well in the modern world, says ScienceWorks Educational Director Summer Brandon.  Demonstrating a small, castle-busting, gravity-driven trebuchet, Brandon says the exhibit and participative class will call on the brains, eyes and hands of children to discern how things worked a thousand years ago, “without any crazy, complicated magic.”  Exhibit builder and “tinkerer in residence” Dana Schloss loads the trebuchet with coins, providing the mass that will pull the catapult (bucket) sharply downward, hurling a ping-pong ball across the room. That’s how it worked in the 12th century, when the device was first engineered to bring down castle and town walls. Gunpowder replaced it a few centuries later.  It’s all about “tinker, tinker, tinker” until you figure it out, Schloss says — then when it doesn't do what you want, tinker some more, using your powers of observation and gray matter. To make things of metal a millennium ago, you usually had to shape a die, melt iron and other metals and pour it into the die — and that’s exactly what kids will be doing. It’s also what Brandon and Schloss were doing this week, melting non-lead fishing sinkers in a skillet on a hot plate, then carving a die of soft, inflammable plaster. They thought pewter might work, but its melting temperature was too high, so they used non-lead sinkers of bismuth and tin. Using pull-tabs from pop cans, they figured out a way for kids to make chain mail for battle or decorative clothing.  “I've never done this before,” says Schloss, “so I’m learning how to do it safely, while empowering the kids to tinker and solve problems with their own ingenuity.”  Videos will demonstrate many ways medieval folk survived and did daily activities — including one that shows how a skilled archer can get off three arrows in less than three seconds. “We’re looking for places and times where a lot of invention led to a lot of progress,” said Brandon. “People were forced to solve problems, while making do with what they had and being very inventive.”  Their take-away in the 12th century, and ours now, she adds, is that “you take this set of ideas and play with them. You build a mindset. They did it for survival and we're doing it for fun, inspiration and to be a tinkerer, using new levels of creativity and invention.”  What’s really different about then and now, she notes, is that now, it’s mostly about mastering something you plug in, and doing it by reading the owner’s manual and operating the software and buttons. Back then, you invented the machine itself and powered it with natural forces, including human muscle.  The tinkering fest will be focused in "da Vinci’s Garage," site of many tinkering adventures, with other engaging events all over the building. The event will feature period actors and musicians, including Earl the Bard on the hurdy-gurdy. He is normally seen at Oberon’s downtown. Dennis DeBay and Ash Carey, blacksmiths from the Ashland Forge, will demonstrate the tools and techniques used centuries ago, and still today, to mold iron into unique pieces in a coal-fired forge. Visitors can create their own iron work to take home. Larry Kellogg of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute will demonstrate the life-size cam hammer he and OLLI students built using plans of Leonard da Vinci. The device was used to forge heated metal, even into the 20th century to make sheet metal for ships and tanks in World War I.  Making Medieval is this weekend only, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 under 12 or over 65 and free for 2 and younger. A year-long family membership is $70. ScienceWorks at at 1500 E Main St., Ashland. For more, go to www.scienceworksmuseum.org . John Darling is an Ashland freelancer at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 4, 2015 @ 6:56 pm » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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