Exploratorium
 
For Immediate Release
July 1, 2008		 Images Available
Contact:
Linda Dackman 415. 561. 0363
Leslie Patterson 415. 561.0377
images@exploratorium.edu

 

Exploratorium Team on Silk Road in China Streams Total Solar Eclipse to Second Life:
Collision of Real and Virtual Worlds offers Mixed-Reality Event
July 31– August 1, 2008
http://www.exploratorium.edu/worlds/secondlife
Travel in-world to Exploratorium island to experience the event

On July 31, the virtual world gets a reality show when a team from the Exploratorium, the noted science museum based in San Francisco, travels to remote Xinjiang Province in Northwestern China, close to the Mongolian border, to stream a real,
Avatars in Second Life
watch the Total
Solar Eclipse: Live from
Turkey webcast in 2006
total solar eclipse into the 3D world and online community known as Second Life: http://www.secondlife.com. With video and commentary by Exploratorium and NASA scientists and guests, residents of Second Life will be transported to the path of totality in a remote desert on the ancient Silk Route where the Exploratorium's Live@ crew will be located. Second Life residents can view the 45 minute-long Webcast, starting at 3:30am PDT (10:30am UT), August 1, and continuing through totality at 4:09am PDT, to watch one of the most breathtaking events in the universe. In Second Life, there will be an eclipse viewing party complete with interactive exhibits before, during, and after the live video stream of the eclipse on Exploratorium island. The live video stream will also be available at other locations in Second Life including the Pi Day Theater at the Sploland sim, at the Science School sim, and at the Spindrift sim.

Experience the total solar eclipse in Second Life at the amphitheater on Exploratorium island secondlife://exploratorium/91/181/27. Time and date help is available at the Exploratorium’s Total Solar Eclipse: Live From China website at http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2008. The eclipse webcast replay will be available on-demand in the amphitheater on Exploratorium island, one hour after the event.

Beginning July 1, learn more about eclipses through exhibits in Second Life which show the sun-earth-moon system to scale. Understand how eclipses happen the Second Life way, by placing your avatar into the exhibit. Second Life residents are invited to explore all the Exploratorium’s interactive exhibits to learn about solar science and points of interest along the path of totality in China. Visit a virtual yurt and listen to a specially composed soundtrack of indigenous music from the region.

To participate in Second Life, go to http://www.secondlife.com/, download and install the free Second Life viewer software, and join the Second Life community. Second Life residents can then travel in-world using the teleport feature of the viewer map or use one of the direct teleport links from the Exploratorium’s Total Solar Eclipse: Live from China website. After visiting Second Life, the eclipse-chasing digerati can check out the archived Webcast and other eclipse science on the Exploratorium site: http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/

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The Exploratorium is located inside the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco's Marina District. Museum admission is as follows: Members FREE; Adults (18-64) $14.00; University Students (with ID) $11.00; Senior Citizens (65+) $11.00; People with disabilities $11.00; Youth (13-17) $11.00; Children (4-12) $9.00; Children Under 4 FREE. Exploratorium hours are TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 10am–5pm, CLOSED MONDAYS, except for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Exploratorium is wheelchair accessible. For information, call (415) EXP-LORE.



Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
San Francisco
California  94123-1099		 415.561.0363 telephone
415.561.0307 facsimile
pubinfo@exploratorium.edu
www.exploratorium.edu 		the museum of science,
art, and human perception

CONTACT: Linda Dackman, Public Information Director (415) 561-0363 / Leslie Patterson (415) 561-0377