Masks and vaccinations are recommended. Plan your visit
$15 General
$10 Members; Free for Lab Members
$10 Add-On Ticket for the Tactile Dome Available for Purchase Onsite
Adults Only (18+)
Note: Some programs have limited seating and will be made available to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.
Reinvent your Thursday nights at After Dark. Experience a fascinating array of unique, adult-only programs and events that change each week. Grab dinner by the Bay, play with hundreds of hands-on exhibits, crawl through our pitch-black Tactile Dome, sip cocktails, and explore.
Using purely visual language, this global selection of short animations offers a dose of eye-catching abstraction using simple forms. Comprising the best selections from the 2016 Punto y Raya Film Festival, eighteen short films highlight diverse techniques. From synesthetic representations to computer-generated hallucinations, each film challenges and rewards viewers with an appetite for eye candy. The selections are the finalist and awarded-winning films that were shown at ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany.
Punto y Raya (Dot & Line), dubbed “the most abstract festival in the world” by the Japanese press, explores experimental narrative expressions in filmmaking and live cinema through the use of pure form, color, motion ,and sound, avoiding direct representation. Since its launch in 2007, Punto y Raya aims to overcome intercultural barriers and bring together people worldwide under the motto “back to basics.”
Special thanks to Larry Cuba at the Iota Center.
Zdarzenie plastyczne (Ink meets blank) by Tymon Albrzykowski & Sebastian Ładyżyński, Poland (2016, 5 min.)
Proportion (Balance 5 of 5) by Daniel Iregui & Mitchell Akiyama, Canada (2015, 5 min.)
Line by Steven Subotnick, USA (2014, 2 min.)
Fugue by Oerd van Cuijlenborg & Miho Hazama, France (2016, 6 min.)
Vitreous by Robert Seidel & Nikolai von Sallwitz, USA/Germany (2015, 3 min.)
Kompozicija (Composition) by Mitja Mancek, Slovenia, (2015, 4 min.)
Boeygen (The Boyg) by Kristian Pedersen & Erik Hedin, Norway (2016, 6 min.)
Interference Oscillations by Matthew Biederman & Pierce Warnecke, Canada (2016, 4 min.)
The Dancing Line by Shelley Dodson & David Rose, USA (2016, 2 min.)
Almost 1.0 by Gábor Szûcs, Slovakia (2015, 4 min.)
letters.EHO by Aga Jarząb & Maciek Bączyk, Poland, (2016, 4 min.)
Vagina Cosmica by Cosmic Vagina] (Luca Pertegato & Otolab, Italy (2009, 5 min.)
Jazz Orgie by Irina Rubina & Emanuel Hauptmann, Germany (2015, 1 min.)
SusY by Barbara Doser & Hofstetter Kurt, Austria (2016, 7 min.)
Oneiria by Jeroen Cluckers, Belgium (2014, 4 min.)
Point by Matt Abbiss & Martins Strautnieks, UK (2013, 2 min.)
Virtuos Virtuell by Thomas Stellmach & Maja Oschmann, Germany (2013, 8 min.)
RGB Colour Model by Blanca Rego Constela, Spain (2016, 5 min.)
TRAILER | The Best of Punto y Raya Festival 2016 from Punto y Raya Festival - dot&line on Vimeo.
8:00 p.m.
Phyllis C. Wattis Webcast Studio
Come be in your elements with Exploratorium host and scientific raconteur Ron Hipschman. Follow tales of intrigue and invention, join in dynamic demonstrations, and uncover fascinating connections between individual elements and our collective human experience.
Learn more about the series, Everything Matters: Tales from the Periodic Table.
Join marine scientist Claire Till to explore the significance of dissolved scandium. Learn what it’s like to be at sea collecting samples of trace elements, and the elaborate steps her team undertakes to avoid contaminating them with their ship or themselves. Find out how this seemingly obscure element illuminates important chemical and physical processes in the ocean.
Claire P. Till is Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry at Humboldt State University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz in Ocean Sciences in 2016. Dr. Till’s research focuses on the concentrations of metals (especially scandium) in the ocean, and how they impact or provide insights into biological, chemical, and physical systems.
Scandium
A transition metal found mixed among rare earth elements, scandium is thinly scattered across the globe, and is considered expensive and difficult to obtain. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev, known as the father of the Periodic Table, in 1869. In his groundbreaking Periodic System, Mendeleev determined a gap between the atomic weights of calcium and titanium would be bridged by an unknown element he termed ekaboron. Lars Frederick Nilsen confirmed this prediction in 1879, naming his discovery for the Scandinavian Peninsula where it was found. Pure scandium was ultimately isolated in 1937.
Alloyed with aluminum, scandium strengthens jet planes and high-end bicycle frames but is too costly (6.5 times the value of gold) for widespread applications. And although pure scandium is seldom seen, its compounds are used in film set lamps and stadium lights to simulate natural sunlight.
6:30–9:30 p.m.
Think of any scenario. Put it into five words or less. Now watch as artist Paul Nosa interprets your words and uses a sewing machine to draw the resulting image on fabric.
Embroidered patches will be available for purchase.
Paul Nosa is a sewing artist who draws with a sewing machine (without a computer or a template) powered by a solar panel and a bicycle electric generator. Paul is on a sewing tour across America facilitating people's creativity and demonstrating alternative energy sources.
Think of any scenario. Put it into five words or less. Now watch as artist Paul Nosa interprets your words and uses a sewing machine to draw the resulting image on fabric.
Embroidered patches will be available for purchase.
Paul Nosa is a sewing artist who draws with a sewing machine (without a computer or a template) powered by a solar panel and a bicycle electric generator. Paul is on a sewing tour across America facilitating people's creativity and demonstrating alternative energy sources.
6:15–10:00 p.m.
Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery
Take an excursion through total darkness in our Tactile Dome. Crawl, slide, and bump your way through the pitch-dark Dome using your sense of touch as your only guide through its chambers and mazes.
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.
Learn more about the Tactile Dome.
6:00–9:45 unless noted
Various locations throughout the museum
Drawing Board
Ticketing at 6:00 p.m., first come, first served
Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery
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 Central Gallery
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.
Cow Eye or Flower Dissection (alternating)
East Gallery
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
Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery
Everything is not as it seems—at first. Pick a card, any card, and watch the Explainers reveal some surprising aspects of human perception.
Pier 15
(Embarcadero at Green Street)
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.528.4444
The Exploratorium is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our tax ID #: 94-1696494© 2023 Exploratorium | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Your California Privacy Rights |