Lectures today were very animated; Lawrence Hobbie's pro-GMO lecture raised some interesting ethical questions. Igor Zaliznyak's lecture on Archimedes and calculus was also received very well, as was Vicka Bershadsky's one on the power of illusion. Meanwhile, Pavel Etingof talked to us about the many faces of a dodecahedron. Once again, even more new things were introduced during semilabs: in The Quest for Blue, campers painted ceramic tiles; in From Gene to Protein in 5 Days, campers grew proteins like never before; in the Science of Cooking, campers were convinced of the wonders of salad; among many other wonderful Semilabs. Workshops were a little bit broken up today by an impressive Chamber Music concert; nevertheless, they were as amazing as ever. In Andrey Khesin's Oobleck workshop, campers got their hands slightly dirty, but were very excited about a liquid that wasn't always a liquid. Mark Lukin's glass-blowing workshop was mesmerizing to watch and amazing to do. Kostya Khrapko's silicate gardens were extremely beautiful. After an hour of workshops, we had a concert of classical chamber music. Campers, counselors, and faculty all participated, playing the piano, the violin, the cello, and other string instruments. Everyone played incredibly well; however, the hour seemed to go by very quickly. So, some of the counselors gave us a hilarious impromptu after-concert peformance! There was cello and violin playing, drum beats, vocalizing, and even rapping! These brave counselors really put a smile on everyone's faces, and the campers were able to go to bed with music still in their ears.
