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

Join us as we crunch our way through everything from our San Francisco sourdough to Injera and Pugliese.

Zoom into a fossil chimp tooth.

If you want to dig a ditch in the Arctic, you'd better bring more than a shovel.

Activities and History

From 1977 until 2003, the Exploratorium published a quarterly magazine. The Exploratorium Magazine Online is a companion to selected issues of the print magazine, providing key articles and activities and including multimedia features.

Tour the Breads of the World

Most people abhor the sound of their own recorded voice. So what are these recording devices doing to our voices to make them sound so awful?

How do you stop and steer a bicycle? What forces keep the bicycle from falling over?

Find out how different kinds of candy are made in the Candy-o-matic!

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

Saving seeds helps preserve the culture of Native American farmers in the American Southwest and northern Mexico.

Listen to bird songs and try to figure out which are songs, which are companion calls, and which are alarms.

fat, proteins, collagen, and more

Specialized cells have a common origin. What sets them on separate paths?

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Scientists dig under the surface for clues to past climate

Introduce students to unique life science activities that let them work with our research-quality microscopic images and videos.

Build a stripped-down motor, a simple, easy-to-make version of the electric motors found in toys, tools, and appliances.

Visit the Outdoor Exploratorium at Fort Mason to explore the science behind wind, waves, and more.

Why do teens take risks, and what do our notions of risk tell us about the dangers of growing up?

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

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

Touch supercooled water drops with an ice crystal and trigger them to freeze instantly.

An incubator for innovative public space ideas, projects and news

Make a fantastic toy that shimmers when you shake it.

What's in that cup of coffee anyway? Find out about the history and chemistry of coffee.

These unique – and uniquely beautiful – seal species spend their lives amid the sea ice

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

Can you trust your own memory? Find out with this activity.

Find out why biodiversity benefits plants and people alike.

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

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

Scientific knowledge and a few chemical concoctions can get you through a Bad Hair Day.

What's at fault?

Rube Goldberg-inspired cause and effect contraptions using everyday materials and found objects.

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

Discover the uncommon stories behind the most common fruits and vegetables.