Masks and vaccinations are recommended. Plan your visit
After Dark: All Is Bright
Thursday, December 19, 2019 • 6:00–10:00 p.m.
Buy Tickets
Free for Donors and After Dark Members
Adults Only (18+)
Note: The Tactile Dome and some programs have limited capacity and are available to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.
Discover a once-missing element at Everything Matters: Technetium; excite your atoms at Glow, our annual festival of ebullient lights; experience a landscape of astonishing visual effects at Kaleidoscope; and bring flying, sailing, and cycling automata to life at Curious Contraptions.
See for yourself at After Dark
Lose yourself in thought-provoking programs and mind-bending experiences at adults-only After Dark Thursdays—including more than 650 interactive exhibits exploring perception, art, and science. Grab some friends, stash your stuff in our musical lockers, get a drink at one of our pop-up bars or food at Seaglass Restaurant, and start exploring. You may find that things look different after dark.
Tonight's Schedule of Events
Everything Matters: Technetium
With Ron Hipschman
8:00 p.m. | Osher Gallery 1, Kanbar Forum
The element technetium was known to science long before it was discovered, and when it finally came to light, it was the first primarily synthetic element to be produced in a lab. Get the details on the race to find this “missing” element and how a Bay Area scientist helped get the job done at Everything Matters: Technetium with Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman.
Kaleidoscope
By Karina Smigla-Bobinski
6:00–10:00 p.m. | Osher Gallery 1, Black Box
Experience a landscape of astonishing visual effects. Constructed as an 8-foot-square light table, artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski’s Kaleidoscope invites you to manipulate layers of inks comprised entirely of the primary colors. Each touch of the surface generates hyperdynamic images that visualize motion energy.
Curious Contraptions
6:00–10:00 | Gallery 2
Explore fantastical, often amusing mechanical sculptures known as automata. These small, handmade flying, sailing, and cycling machines bring whimsical dramas to life through low-tech mechanisms, inviting you to investigate how they work.
Glow
6:00–10:00 p.m. | Bechtel Gallery 3
Celebrate the holidays and excite your atoms at Glow, our annual festival of ebullient lights and subtle glows celebrating the close of the year.
Tactile Dome
$106:15–10:00 p.m.
Osher Gallery 1
Journey through total darkness in this twisting, turning, tactile sculpture. Walk, crawl, climb, and slide your way through a wonderland of textures using only your sense of touch as a guide.
Please Note: Due to the nature of this experience, certain restrictions apply. Guests who are afraid of the dark; claustrophobic; have back, neck, or knee injuries; or are in their third trimester of pregnancy should not participate. Guests wearing casts are prohibited. Also, please wear comfortable clothes.
You can reserve tickets for our 6:15 and 7:00 p.m. sessions. We also operate drop-in, first-come, first-served sessions at 7:45, 8:30, and 9:15 p.m.; tickets can be purchased at the Information Desk.
Learn more about the Tactile Dome.
Explainer Demonstrations
6:00–9:45 unless noted
Various locations throughout the museum
Drawing Board
Ticketing at 6:00 p.m., first come, first served
Osher Gallery 1
Draw hypnotically flowing patterns with a swinging table, and watch friction cause the patterns to slowly shrink along a spiral path. Pick up a ticket to reserve your spot in line for this popular activity.
Speaker Dissection
Bechtel Gallery 3
Tune in to surrounding sounds by experimenting with strings and vibrations, and use electromagnets to build a basic speaker. Learn how to listen with your bones, and explore the workings of the inner ear.
Van de Graaff Generator
With the Explainers
6:00–9:00 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3
Get ready to have your hair stand on end (literally). Experience our electrostatic generator firsthand—with high-voltage direct-current electricity turned down to low current levels, our Van de Graaff generator both will, and won’t, shock you. Please keep your hands on the sphere until our Explainers tell you to let go!
Cow Eye or Flower Dissection (alternating)
Gallery 4
Do cows see color? How does a lens work? Examine the intricate structure of a cow eye to learn about similar structures in our own eyes, as well as some key differences.
Stigma, stamen, pistil, anther, style: Uncover the beautiful architecture of flower anatomy, and gather some surprising strategies that plants use to reproduce.
Magic Demonstration
Osher Gallery 1
Everything is not as it seems—at first. Pick a card, any card, and watch the Explainers reveal some surprising aspects of human perception.
