Measurement

Cloud Chamber

Look down into the chamber and you’ll see an ongoing cascade of thin white trails appearing and disappearing. These are cosmic ray tracks, created by high-energy subatomic particles from space.

Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening

Lower these rings into the Bay and see just how far you can see into the water. One of the San Francisco Bay’s defining features, sediment flows from the delta change with the seasons. This exhibit is based on a scientific observational instrument called a “secchi disk,” which scientists use to determine water clarity.

Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.

Inverse Square Law

Light gets dimmer the farther it travels–and a bit of simple math explains how.

Where: Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon

Seismograph

This seismograph is an earthquake detector that records the up-and-down motion of the ground—whether made by tectonic activity or by you.

Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine

Tidal Flow

Floating orange arrows turn a series of leftover pilings into a visual representation of water movement into and out of the Bay. As tides rise and fall, the arrows travel up and down the pilings, swiveling to point the direction of the water flow.

Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.

Tidal Memory

Twenty-four columns record twenty-four hours of tide water levels.

Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems

Time to Think

At this exhibit, you can test your reaction time in three different scenarios—each requiring an increasing amount of thought. In the process, you can actually measure the time it takes your brain to accomplish the extra work of making a (fast) decision.

Where: Crossroads: Getting Started

What's Hot, What's Not?

At this exhibit, an infrared camera detects the heat radiating from warm objects and projects it on a big screen, allowing you to see what’s hot (and not) about you and the other people and objects in your surroundings.

Where: Crossroads: Getting Started