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

Explore the mysterious interactions between light and geography through the eyes and works of artists Charles Ross and James Turrell.

This clay building activity shows that when you make things bigger, weight increases faster than strength.

Our collaboration with Public Radio International's The World. With Public Radio International, we're taking technology news beyond the headlines.

Visit an organic egg farm, and see the science behind raising those eggs.

Turn your phone into a pocket science laboratory with tools to measure light, motion, sound, and more.

APE was a four-year Exploratorium project to explore strategies and tactics to shift the role of visitors from passive recipient of information to active participant in the exhibit experience.

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

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

Use the Science Journal mobile app to investigate the sound around you.

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

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

Imagine yourself in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean. You've been sailing for weeks, and there's no land in sight. Do you know where you are? Do you know which way to go?

Watch old pennies turn bright and shiny right before your eyes!

Richter and beyond

We can't predict when an earthquake will occur, but we can avoid some potential disasters.

Recycle some cans to make after-dinner music!

Explore the mysterious interactions between light and geography through the eyes and works of artists Charles Ross and James Turrell.

Summertime in the Arctic is for the birds

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

The three most densely populated cities on the planet where seismologists expect major earthquakes are San Francisco, Tokyo, and Istanbul. Find out why the effects in each city will be very different.

A do-it-yourself cartoon kit. It's easy to make pictures move!

In Observance of the 50th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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

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

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

Listen to the sound of a rainstorm – anytime, anywhere.

Scientists dig under the surface for clues to past climate

Geometry Playground will change the way you think about geometry. This exhibition engages your hands, brain, and body in playful investigations of this most visible branch of math.

Why do wintergreen LifeSavers spark in the dark?

Scratch Film, also known as Direct Animation, is the process of drawing and scratching designs directly onto film.

A window on regeneration

What's the science behind a home run? Why do curveballs curve? Learn about the game from players from the S.F. Giants & Oakland A's.

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

Living along the continental coastline of Antarctica are the emperors and the Adélies.

San Francisco was born in gold dust, and nearly died in rubble and ashes.

Find out how a cochlear implant helped one man regain the ability to listen.

A comprehensive tour through the weird and wonderful world of frogs.

Tinker with electricity using common objects: batteries, lights, buzzers, motors, switches, etc.

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

Take a microscopic tour of the staff of life.

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

In an earthquake, some older structures collapse and others stand tall. The difference is usually retrofitting.

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