Here at the Exploratorium, we’ve got plenty of exhibits with geek appeal. In fact, most of our exhibits are at least a little geeky. But there are some exhibits that push nerd appeal into the stratosphere. If irrational numbers, cosmic rays, vintage video games, and quantum mechanics are your idea of fun, then here’s a special set of exhibits voted by staff to be our 10 geekiest—just for you.
Pi Toss
Mathematics section, near the ground-level classrooms
Imagine this: You're on a desert island, and you desperately need an estimate of the irrational number pi. Now, probably you already have pi memorized to a dozen or so decimal points . . . but if you didn’t? With no measuring device, you could forget about comparing the ratio of a coconut's radius to its circumference. So what to do? Believe it or not, all you need to calculate pi is to toss a few sticks on the ground. This exhibit recreates the classic Buffon’s Needle problem, first conceptualized in 1777.
Sooner or Later
Mathematics section, near the ground-level classrooms
You bump into a your long-lost best friend in a foreign airport; you find a penny on your birthday and it has your birth year on it—sometimes things happen that seem extremely unlikely. But in fact, the laws of probability decree that as time goes by, even the unlikely becomes likely. Here you start by picking a random number, but somehow always wind up landing in the same place. Can you figure out why it works?
Lunar Lander
Motion section, just before the skylight area on the ground level
A blast from the 80s past, this vintage video game is an Atari original. Land your spacecraft safely on the moon, but watch out: Crags and craters or a less-than-gentle landing could dash the mission. Who said vector acceleration couldn’t be fun?
Satellite Orbit Simulator
Motion section, just before the skylight area on the ground level
While you’ve got your joystick fingers all warmed up, step over to Satellite Orbit Simulator. Use the thrusters to change velocity, and see if you can put your satellite into a geosynchronous orbit. Easy, tiger: Too much energy will send your satellite flying off into space; too little, and you’ll crash into the earth. Feeling wild and crazy? Try turning gravity off.
Gravity-Powered Calculator
Motion section, just before the skylight area on the ground level
A rolling stone gathers no moss—and it can also calculate square roots. Place a ball anywhere on the adjustable number line and release it to roll down the track. The ball launches off the ramp and lands on another number line to give you the square root of your original number. How does a ball launched from a ramp “know” how to take the square root? The secret lies in the conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy. Look for the mathematical proof hiding on the side of the exhibit.
Falling Feather
Motion section, just before the skylight area on the ground level
“If you ignore air resistance. . . .” That’s the oft-repeated refrain in physics circles, where the rules of Newtonian mechanics are often belied by the annoying presence of air molecules. Finally, here’s a chance to really ignore air resistance, as a feather and a plastic chicken fall—together—in a vacuum. If Galileo were alive today, you would find him at this exhibit, watching over and over as the feather falls through the vacuum like a lead weight, muttering “I knew it.”
Population Cycles
Mezzanine level, Life Sciences section, near the classrooms
The Sims meets population biology as you experiment with a simulated ecosystem consisting of eagles, mice, and grain. Click into manual mode and generate experimental worlds of your own devising. What if the mice were stronger but dumber? What if the world were smaller? What if there were more eagles? The permutations are endless.
Photoelectricity
On the main level, beyond the skylight area, in the Seeing section
Ultraviolet light shining on a zinc plate knocks electrons into the air. It may sound innocent enough, but the discovery of this phenomenon, the photoelectric effect, turned classical physics upside down. When Einstein published the first explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize, little did he know he was launching a branch of physics that would later keep him up nights: quantum mechanics.
Pendulum Snake
Mezzanine level, towards the front of the museum
A line. A snake. A mess. A square dance. Patterns appear, disappear, and reappear in this mathemagically tuned row of brass pendulums. Armed with the fact that a pendulum's period depends only on the square root of its length, perhaps you'll get inspired to build one of these of your very own.
