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Exploratorium
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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.

Pi Day 2015
Relive our 27th annual Pi Day celebration (and Einstein's birthday).
Floating: On Board the Airship Eureka

Float high in the sky on the airship Eureka.

Meet the Makers - Tools
Get to know Bay Area makers with our Open Make series.
Miwa Matreyek
Experience artist Miwa Matreyek's blend of animation and live performance.
Lunch with a Scientist, 2014

Can stem cells treat Alzheimer's disease?

Ladle Rat Rotten Hut
Ladle Rat Rotten Hut

Listen to the story of Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.

Oren Ambarchi: Performance

Oren Ambarchi shares his sound-world of deep guitar abstraction and light-as-air textures.

Exploratorium visits the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA

See the JPL "sandbox" where robotic rovers are tested.

Solar Images
Solar Images

The more astronomy changes, the more it stays the same. This series of images juxtaposes ancient and modern study of the celestial bodies.

Underwater World
If you sink it, they will come.
Science of Gardening: Control
Science of Gardening: Control

Make it grow . . . bigger, lusher, juicier.

Total Solar Eclipse China 2008
Total Solar Eclipse China 2008

View the full eclipse visible from China in 2008.

Total Solar Eclipse from Turkey: March 29, 2006
Total Solar Eclipse Turkey 2006
Solar Images
Solar Images

The more astronomy changes, the more it stays the same. This series of images juxtaposes ancient and modern study of the celestial bodies.

Seeing
Seeing

What do you really know about what you see?

Tom Stoppard and Carey Perloff
Join the conversation with award-winning playwright Tom Stoppard.
Astronomy in Antarctica
Astronomy in Antarctica

What makes Antarctica inhospitable to life also makes it ideal for astronomy.

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe: Performance

Fall into a trance with multi-instrumentalist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe.

A How-To Guide for Viewing Eclipses
How to View an Eclipse
Film Canister Farming
Film Canister Farming

Experiment with water, temperature, and light to see what makes a seed come out of its shell.

Desvanecimiento del punto

Si mira fijamente este punto por algunos momentos, éste desaparece.

Cardboard Automata
Cardboard Automata

Explore mechanical elements such as cams, levers, and linkages to create your own moving sculpture.

Tom Stoppard and Carey Perloff
Join the conversation with award-winning playwright Tom Stoppard.
Fruitful DNA Extraction
Fruitful DNA Extraction (pdf)

Think you have a lot in common with a kiwi fruit? Genetically speaking, you do.

Colored Shadows

Not all shadows are black. Discover a rainbow of shadows here.

Any Little Patch of Dirt
Any Little Patch of Dirt

A trash-filled median blossoms into a community oasis.

Cookie Subduction
Cookie Subduction

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

Fear
See the psychology and biology of fear up close.
Kosher Dill Current
Kosher Dill Current

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

Complexity: at the core of physical phenomena
Living in Complexity

by Josh Bacigalupi • September 26, 2016

Complexity: what is it and why it matters

From Jungle to Lab: The Study of Life's Complexity
From Jungle to Lab: The Study of Life's Complexity

Visit Las Cuevas Research Station in Belize and the Natural History Museum in London to learn about the study of biodiversity.

Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017
Where You Want to Be for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

by Eileen Campbell • August 19, 2016

On August 21, 2017​, a total solar eclipse will cross the continental USA. You want to be there to see it!

Exploring the Traits of Life
Exploring the Traits of Life

Explore the Traits of Life exhibition space using this 360˚ panorama.

Auroras
Auroras

Your guide to the Northern and Southern Lights (also in 'Observatory')

How Is Technology Changing Ocean Research and Exploration?
Find out how technology is changing ocean research.
Lorenz Butterfly
Lorenz Butterfly

Explore the strangest of strange attractors, the Lorenz butterfly.

X-Ray Simulation
X-Ray Simulation

Here's how you can model the use of X rays for medical examinations with some sand and a piece of screen.

Science at Burning Man
Science at Burning Man

Join the Exploratorium on the playa in Black Rock Desert and explore the science of pyrotechnics, flight, dust devils, rainbows, and more.

Swell Swell
Swell Swell

Want to understand how to predict when the good waves are coming to your shore? It helps to start with the basics behind the formation of ocean waves.

Strutture nel Mondo
Strutture nel Mondo

Attivita per le classi Elementari e Medie.

Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics

See a map of recent earthquakes in the United States, and learn why earthquakes happen so frequently on the West Coast.

Rolling Feet
Rolling Feet

Your worn shoe soles reveal whether your feet roll excessively from side to side as you walk.

The Scientific Capabilities of the Mars Rover Curiosity

See what's on the Curiosity rover's tool belt.

Everybody Gets Lunch
Everybody Gets Lunch

Sit down for compost tea with a visionary cultivator.

Diving into the Gene Pool
Diving into the Gene Pool

A multifaceted exhibition that explored genetics and the Human Genome Project from a variety of perspectives from April 8 to September 4, 1995.

Iron Science Teacher
Iron Science Teacher

Each webcast, the Exploratorium staff and teachers demonstrate their science projects and compete for the title of IRON SCIENCE TEACHER!

San Diego Race Weather Report
Visit the National Weather Service for the lowdown on sailing weather.
The Temple Illusion
The Temple Illusion

This ancient temple holds a secret...can you reveal the mystery?

Infinity Room: A Temporary Immersive Environment Experiment by Refik Anadol

Where are you in infinity? Try the Infinity Room.

Listening Memory Game
Listening Memory Game

Play a memory concentration game: Listen closely then match pairs of sounds.

Lunch with a Scientist, 2014

Can stem cells treat Alzheimer's disease?

Space Invaders
Space Invaders

Meteor, meteorite, meteoroid – what's the difference?

Artist Theo Jansen Prepares Strandbeests at the Exploratorium
Experience the thrill of Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen.
What Causes San Francisco Fog?

Why are San Francisco summers so foggy?

Meet the Artist: Kazu Harada

Get to know automata maker Kazu Harada's artistic journey.

Seasons and Shadows
Seasons and Shadows

Why is your shadow longer in winter than in summer? Grab a basketball and some paperclips and find out!

Balloon Blow-Up
Balloon Blow-Up

Not all bubbles are made with soap!

Bird in a Cage: Introduction

Make a bird appear in a cage using only your eyes. 

Light Painting
Light Painting

You can make a light painting with a light source, a darkened room, and a digital camera.

Bernie Lubell
Bernie Lubell

Meet a kinetic sculptor.

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