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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.

Paper Bridges
Paper Bridges

Build a bridge from a piece of paper and explore ways of making it stronger.

The Nose Knows
The Nose Knows (pdf)

Discover the difference between taste and smell.

Desvanecimiento del punto

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

Up Periscope!
Up Periscope!

Build a mirrored tube that lets you see around corners and over walls.

Picture This
Picture This

Learn how Hubble Telescope scientists put together those lovely pictures.

Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunt

Are there meat by-products in makeup? Can you guess where you might find them?

2008 Return to Urumqi

Enjoy this time-compressed journey along China's Silk Road.

Spectra From Space
Spectra From Space

An introduction to spectra and to the space-based telescopes. The site includes a number of hands-on activities.

Geiger Counter
Geiger Counter

What does it take to block gamma radiation?

Surf the Data for Perfect Waves

by Mary Miller • February 1, 2018

Big wave secrets are all in the data.

Science of Cycling
Science of Cycling

Check out top mountain biker, Ruthie Matthes. Learn about frames and materials from a custom bike maker. Try interactive javascripts that calculate braking distances and energy consumption.

Picturing the Body
Picturing the Body

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

Fruitful DNA Extraction
Fruitful DNA Extraction (pdf)

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

Polarized Light Mosaic
Polarized Light Mosaic

With polarized light, you can make a stained glass window without gla

Total Solar Eclipse from Aruba: February 26, 1998
Total Solar Eclipse Aruba 1998
Ladle Rat Rotten Hut
Ladle Rat Rotten Hut

Listen to the story of Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.

Planetarium
Planetarium

View the night sky from any latitude on earth, and take a guided tour of the Hawaiian star families.

Light Play
Light Play

Explore light, shadow, and motion using a variety of simple materials and light sources.

Lunar Eclipse September 27, 2015

Chase the shadow of the rare total lunar eclipse.

Headlands Experiments
Headlands Experiments

A physicist, a scientist, and a musician experiment with sound, music, and acoustics using instruments both real and found.

Solar Views
Solar Views
Wind Tubes (pdf)
Wind Tubes (pdf)

Wind tubes are a playful and inventive way to explore the effect that moving air has on objects.

Why Save Seeds?
Why Save Seeds?

Find out why biodiversity benefits plants and people alike.

Outrageous Ooze
Outrageous Ooze

This stuff can't make up its mind -- is it a liquid or a solid?

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.

Inflatable: Jimmy Kuehnle

Jimmy Kuehnle’s inflated artworks engage his audiences with the unexpected.

Explore Gluten
Explore Gluten

Explore gluten, the substance that gives bread its structure.

Whirling Watcher
Whirling Watcher

Make a spinning disc called a stroboscope, which lets you create your own animated cartoon.

Mars in a Minute: Are There Quakes on Mars?

Are there earthquakes on Mars? Or rather, “marsquakes?" 

Balloon Blow-Up
Balloon Blow-Up

Not all bubbles are made with soap!

ColorFest
ColorFest

Check out ColorFest, a two-month extravaganza celebrating color at the museum from July 1 to September 5.

Unsung Science 2016

by Eileen Campbell • December 29, 2016

Read our picks for the Unsung Science stories of 2016.

Illusion Songs
Illusion Songs

A collection of auditory illusions found in indigenous folk practices, popular music, and scientific research.

Tuning
Tuning

Find out what all that fiddling around before a concert is really about.

International Polar Years
International Polar Years

Four times over 100-plus years, major initiatives have brought together scientists from around the globe to collaboratively study the poles.

Altamont Wind Farms

Learn how wind energy is generated and stored at Altamont Pass.

Ice Balloons
Ice Balloons

What can you do with a frozen water balloon? Plenty!

Antarctica: Ice Gallery
Antarctica: Ice Gallery

Take an animated tour of Antarctica's variety of ice formations, which give it a beauty unrivaled anywhere on Earth.

Cheese FAQ
Cheese FAQ

Have you ever wondered what makes blue cheese blue, or why some cheeses are hard and others soft?

Listening to Solve Problems
Listening to Solve Problems

Lisa Miller is a mechanic and teacher who shows her auto shop students how to use their listening skills to fix cars.

Baseketball
"Baseketball" A Physicist Party Trick
Exploratorium visits the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA

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

Audio Pong
Audio Pong

Close your eyes and listen to tell where the paddle is when you play this all-listening version of the classic game Pong.

Alonzo King and Bernie Krause: Interview

Explore the evolution of music and dance with Alonzo King and Bernie Krause.

Light Walk
Light Walk

Artist Bob Miller's Light Walk at the Exploratorium will change the way you look at light, shadow, and images.

About Alignments
About Alignments

The Maya were expert sky-watchers, careful observers of the motions of the celestial bodies...

The Science of Surfing
The Science of Surfing

A little physics can go a long way on that shortboard.

Bottle Blast-Off
Bottle Blast-Off

Make a simple rocket and a rocket launcher, and watch a demonstration of how the finished rocket will fly.

Skateboard Science
Skateboard Science

Find out how this extreme sport is governed by the principles of momentum, gravity, friction, and centripetal force. Learn skateboarding history, technology, and more!

Dry Valleys
Dry Valleys

The nearly ice-free Dry Valleys are an Antarctic anomaly, and Earth's closest equivalent to Mars.

Floating icebergs can be dangerous to ships.
Live from the Arctic

by Mary Miller • July 19, 2019

Live chat with an Arctic research expedition. 

Exploratorium @ Piers 15/17
Exploratorium @ Piers 15/17

We Moved! Follow Us to San Francisco’s Historic Waterfront

Everybody Gets Lunch
Everybody Gets Lunch

Sit down for compost tea with a visionary cultivator.

Microclimates in Fogtown
Investigate why San Francisco has so many microclimates.
Throwback Thursday | Thomas Dolby

Open your eyes to "She Blinded Me With Science."

Exploratorium @ Piers 15/17
Exploratorium @ Piers 15/17

We Moved! Follow Us to San Francisco’s Historic Waterfront

Clapping Culture and Mouth Music with Michael Bradke
Experience a hands-on, ears-on exploration of musical cultures from every continent.
Exploratorium in Second Life
See a film made entirely in Second Life.
The Race of Microorganisms
The Race of Microorganisms

Pickling is the art of manipulating the microbial garden in foods.

Nautilus
Nautilus

Follow along with expedition leader Bob Ballard and his crew on the exploration vessel Nautilus as they search for hydrothermal vents, underwater volcanoes, and ancient shipwrecks.

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