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  • Tinkering at Home

    Try this collection of prompts for tinkering at home.

  • Learning Toolbox: Engage in activities about the science of coronavirus and explore our online resources for learning at home.

  • Explore water's crucial role in food and cooking.

    Science of Water: Food   Explore water's crucial role in food and cooking.

  • Shadow Box exhibit

    Browse our growing online collection of interactive exhibits.

  • Global Climate Change Explorer • Discover how researchers study climate change and examine the latest scientific data.

  • Science Snacks

    Low-cost, teacher-tested activities for the classroom and the curious.

  • Wired Pier Environmental Field Station • Explore weather, air quality, and water conditions from San Francisco Bay

Explore, Play, Discover: Websites, Activities, and More

Dive into websites, activities, apps, and more.

The Dirt on Dirt
The Dirt on Dirt

Get down and dirty with the surprising science of soil.

Collecting soil for Winogradsky Column activity
Bacterial Terrarium

With just mud, paper and an egg, you can grow colonies of multi-hued microbes!

Walk a Math Trail
Walk a Math Trail

Get outside and explore geometry (and other math) all around you.

Seymour Papert Lecture
Seymour Papert Lecture

Learn how to bridge the digital generation gap

What Causes San Francisco Fog?

Why are San Francisco summers so foggy?

Exploring Paper
Exploring Paper

Learn about origami, make your own paper, and find out the best way to fold a paper airplane.

Crystal Creations
Crystal Creations

Grow spikes of crystals in the sun.

Made for Movies: Star Wars IV, V, and VI

Discover the artistry behind some of cinema's most iconic scenes.

Meet the Artist: Paul Spooner

Meet Paul Spooner, an automata artist showcased at Curious Contraptions.

Science Information Infrastructure
Science Information Infrastructure

The Science Information Infrastructure (SII) is a collaboration among teachers and scientists. The SII at the Exploratorium is developing educational resources using NASA images and datasets.

This year marks 50 years since the first human set foot on the moon. Relive the memories with NASA scientist Brian H....
NASA Moon Tour with Brian H. Day

This year marks 50 years since the first human set foot on the moon. Relive the memories with NASA scientist Brian H. Day—take a look back at each of the Apollo landing sites, examine why NASA chose each one, and reflect on what they learned at each site.

Molecular Meat
Molecular Meat

What happens to meat when you cook it?

Picturing the Body
Picturing the Body

Learn about common techniques for peering inside the body in order to diagnose disease and injury.

Strandbeest: Animaris Ordis

Observe Theo Jansen and a strandbeest strolling on a sunny beach.

Ear Guitar
Ear Guitar

Share some secret sounds with a friend.

The Gong Show: Exploring Metal
Explore the science, history, and art of gongs.
Transits
Total Solar Eclipse: Live From Turkey
Total Solar Eclipse: Live From Turkey

On March 29, 2006, a total solar eclipse occurred when the new moon moved directly between the sun and the earth. The moon’s shadow fell on the eastern tip of Brazil, sped eastward across the Atlantic, through northern Africa, across the Mediterranean, an

Frog City USA
Frog City USA

Take a virtual journey to the frog capital of the world, Rayne, Louisiana.

UV Beads
UV Beads

Study ultraviolet radiation from the sun and other sources using UV beads.

How to Build a Spectroscope
How to Build a Spectroscope

Using a spectroscope, you may see that what appears to be a single color of light is really a combination of colors called a spectrum.

A How-To Guide for Viewing Eclipses
How to View an Eclipse
Naked Eggs
Naked Eggs

Use your naked egg to experiment with osmosis, the movement of water across a membrane.

Pi Day
Pi Day

Activities and History

Glitter Globe
Glitter Globe

Make a fantastic toy that shimmers when you shake it.

Antarctic Exploration
Antarctic Exploration

The lure of Terra Australis Incognita begins with the Ancient Greeks and ends with modern cruise ships.

Seasons and Alignments
Seasons and Alignments

Does the sun rise in the east? Not exactly.

How Far Can You Hit One?
How Far Can You Hit One?

How can something as light as air slow down a hit?

Extended Cinemas 2018

Contemplate the continuum of cinema at After Dark. 

Bread Science 101
Bread Science 101

What's really going on when you bake? Find out.

The Making of a Bell

Follow the process of designing and casting our new bell.

Kosher Dill Current
Kosher Dill Current

High energy prices got you down? Discover how pickles can ease your troubles.

High Altitude Aviation
Get a bird's-eye view of the Black Rock desert.
Quinine Cover-Up
Quinine Cover-Up

Show yourself how a pinch of salt can take the bitter taste away.

Revealing Bodies
Revealing Bodies

How has imagery changed the way we look at our bodies—over time and in different cultures?

Long Now Rosetta Project
Discover how we shot 1,500 languages into space.
Vocales vocalizadas
Vocales vocalizadas

Modelos plásticos huecos del aparato vocal humano convierten el graznido de un pato en sonidos de vocales.

Light Island

At Light Island, play with transmitted and reflected light.

Preserving our Wild Fish

Check out efforts to restore California’s native steelhead and salmon. 

Studio for Public Spaces: Field Notes
Studio for Public Spaces: Field Notes

An incubator for innovative public space ideas, projects and news

Dot Mixer
Dot Mixer

Produce some pretty mixed-up music with this online interactive.

Aurora
Aurora

Darkening polar skies often bring beautiful light displays.

Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza

A brief history of Chichen Itza.

Indicating Electrolysis: What's going on

Learn about oxygen and hydrogen after water has been separated.

Look Inside a Tooth
Look Inside a Tooth

Teeth are the most common fossils found. What can they tell us?

Cookie Subduction
Cookie Subduction

Get a taste of how the earth's plates move.

Cantilevers

Build cantilevers from bamboo garden poles and drinking straws and discover the importance of scale.

Aurora
Aurora

Darkening polar skies often bring beautiful light displays.

Cell Explorer
Cell Explorer

Learn about the inner workings of a cell through this interactive exhibit.

Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System

Take an exclusive tour of the Hetch Hetchy water system. 

 
 
Quake Basics: Measurements
Quake Basics: Measurements

Richter and beyond

The thrill of natural phenomena

by Sebastian • August 16, 2019

Visitor at After Dark : Get Surreal sampling an augmented reality Meta Cookie
Meta Cookie: Olfactory and Gustatory Augmented Reality

by Rob Rothfarb • February 11, 2011

Visitors experienced the sights and smells of "Meta Cookie', an augmented reality installation at After Dark: Get Surreal.

Hockey Check Force Calculator
Hockey Check Force Calculator
Cancer
Cancer

Cells behaving badly

Making a Sun Clock
Making a Sun Clock

Before there were clocks, people used shadows to tell time!

Microscope Imaging Station
Microscope Imaging Station

What do stem cells, fruit flies, and zebrafish look like under a microscope?

Resonance: Unheard Sounds & Undiscovered Music

Watch contemporary musicians and sound artists perform and discuss their work.

Make a
Make a "Mummy"

Create your own fish mummy using common baking soda!

Be mesmerized by the PVC structure that allows Strandbeests to walk.

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