Masks and vaccinations are recommended. Plan your visit
In a historic maintenance video for the exhibit Black Sand, exhibit developer Richard Gagnon explains how it came to be and how it's taken care of.
Related Exhibits
Tilt a spinning bicycle wheel while you’re sitting in a swivel chair and—surprise—you’ll start spinning in circles, too. You can also witness the same phenomenon here by hanging a spinning wheel from its axle.
Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems
At this simple but ever-popular exhibit, black sand from nearby beaches make spiky patterns that reveal the invisible magnetic field between the poles of two giant magnets.
All these organisms are adapted to life in California's rocky tidal zone.
Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems
See the chemical reactions taking place in an electrolytic cell, as electricity flowing through a tank of salt water and pH-indicating dye creates zones of acidic (yellow) and basic (blue) solutions.
A square wheel can roll smoothly—if the "road" is the right shape.