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4 exhibitsCourses

Giants at real size

Whales, mammoths, our human ancestors and flying reptiles, each placed in a walkable scene at their real size so that you can stand beside them.

It goes from the sea to the ice age, then to our own ancestors, and ends in the air with the largest animal that ever flew.

Numbers about size are easy to read and hard to feel. A blue whale is 28 m long, and a mammoth is taller than a room. These four exhibits build each animal at real size in a scene you can walk through, with a line-up and a person for scale. The best way to use them is to stand next to one animal, then switch on the line-up and compare it with all the others.

The route moves across time as well as space. The first stop goes through eight seas from today back to the Triassic. The second runs a time slider through 50,000 years of the last ice age, and the third walks through seven million years of human relatives, including Lucy at about 1.1 m. The last one lifts into the sky among pterosaurs. Notice how often the biggest animal of an age lived in the place that was richest in food.

  1. 01
    FIG. 93 · Walk-throughs

    Giants of the sea: megalodon and the blue whale

    Swim beside 48 sea giants at their real size, from a 28 m blue whale to megalodon, Livyatan and Mosasaurus, in eight seas from today back to the Triassic.

    Switch on Size line-up and People for scale to compare the 28 m blue whale with megalodon and the other sea giants.

  2. 02
    FIG. 90 · Walk-throughs

    Walk among ice age animals

    A 600 m park of 65 animals from the last ice age at their real size, from woolly mammoths to sabre-toothed cats, on a time slider that runs 50,000 years.

    Drag Time and climate back through 50,000 years and turn on Size line-up to compare a woolly mammoth with the other animals.

  3. 03
    FIG. 91 · Walk-throughs

    Human evolution walk

    Lucy stood about 1.1 m tall. Walk 7 million years of human relatives at their real size, with yourself beside them.

    Set Your height and turn on You beside each species to stand next to Lucy, who was about 1.1 m tall.

  4. 04
    FIG. 92 · Walk-throughs

    Fly with life-size pterosaurs

    Quetzalcoatlus spanned about 10 m, close to the 11 m wing of a Cessna 172, and standing it was as tall as a giraffe. Watch it pass over a Cretaceous cliff, then fly with 35 pterosaurs from three ages.

    Turn on Size line-up and People for scale to set Quetzalcoatlus, with a span near 10 m, beside the other pterosaurs.

Courses

7 exhibits

Questions from an ordinary day

Things you meet on a normal day, from the colour of the sky to a game-show puzzle, each opened up as a working model.

Why the sky is blue and sunsets are redHow GPS works: why your phone needs four satellitesHow does an elevator work? Counterweight and safety brakeHow does a vinyl record work? Grooves, stereo and RIAAHeart beating: interactive model of the heart, step by stepOrigami crane crease pattern: how many regions it hasWhy should you switch doors in the Monty Hall problem?7 exhibits

Walking tour: from a cell to the solar system

Life-size places you can walk through, visited in order of size.

Walk inside a cell: animal, plant and bacteriumCoral bleaching causes: why warmer water turns reefs whiteSwim to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in a 3D oceanDinosaur size compared to a human: 172 life-size animalsWalk the Apollo landing sitesWalk around a Mars baseSolar system scale model measurements along a park walk7 exhibits

Engines: from steam to rockets

How the heat of burning fuel becomes motion, from the steam engine to the engine that lifts a rocket.

How does the Watt steam engine work? A working 3D modelFour-stroke engine simulator: watch each stroke in a cutawayTurbocharger: interactive model, take it apartHow a manual gearbox worksHow does a differential work in a car? A 3D gear modelHow a jet engine works: where an airliner’s thrust comes fromLiquid rocket engine: interactive model, how it works8 exhibits

Space: from your window to a black hole

Start with the sky you can see from home and move outwards, as far as the edge of a black hole.

Why we have seasons: tilted Earth, changing daylightMoon phases: why a crescent is not Earth’s shadowSolar system scale model measurements along a park walkYour weight and jump height on other planets and moonsWalk the Apollo landing sitesAsteroid impact crater size simulator: how craters form in 3DWalk around a Mars baseWhat you would see falling into a black hole8 exhibits

The body: from heartbeat to DNA

Your own body, from the organs you can feel down to the molecules inside each cell.

Heart beating: interactive model of the heart, step by stepHow nerve signals travelHow does the eye focus on near and far objects? Try it in 3DReaction time test: how many milliseconds do you take?Walk inside a cell: animal, plant and bacteriumHow ATP synthase worksHow DNA replication works, step by step: Okazaki fragments in 3DHow CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing works8 exhibits

Light and sound

What a sound wave and a light wave are, and what ears, eyes and machines do with them.

What sound looks like: sound waves, frequency and decibelsHow a piano works: the grand action and equal temperamentHow does a vinyl record work? Grooves, stereo and RIAAHow do bats see with sound? Echolocation explainedLight and colour, from prisms to polarisersWhy the sky is blue and sunsets are redAnimal vision: see the world through 69 animals’ eyesChecker shadow illusion and Ames room: how they work in 3D8 exhibits

Old machines, oldest first

Machines that kept time, played music, calculated and carried messages before electronics took over.

How the Jagyeokru water clock worksSlide rule: how to use one, with an interactive modelHow a pendulum clock works, and why its length sets the timeHow a music box worksMorse telegraph: key it yourself, step by stepTypewriter simulator: how a typewriter works, key by keyHow a rotary phone works: dial pulses explained in 3DHow the Enigma machine worked: rotors, reflector and plugboard8 exhibits

Electricity: from turbine to chip

Follow electric power from where it is made to where it turns a motor or adds two numbers.

How a wind turbine works: why the blades twist in strong windHow a solar panel worksHow electricity gets to your homeWhat is under the streetLithium-ion battery simulator: charge it and follow the ionsElectric motor simulator: how it works, step by stepHow a transistor works as a switch: the MOSFET gateHow logic gates add numbers: sum bits and carry bits8 exhibits

The Earth: from the core to the sky

The planet under your feet, from the iron core through the oceans to the air above.

Layers of the Earth: depth and density, interactive modelWhere volcanoes and earthquakes happenHow buildings resist earthquakesTides simulator: move the Moon and Sun, watch high tideSwim to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in a 3D oceanCoral bleaching causes: why warmer water turns reefs whiteSnowflake growth simulator: grow your own crystalWhy the sky is blue and sunsets are red8 exhibits

Buildings and the city

How structures stand up, and how a city keeps water and power moving underneath them.

Stone arch bridge: load it and watch how it carries weightHow flying buttresses work: Gothic cathedral 3D modelHow a hanok is put together and heated by ondolWhy a tower crane doesn't tip overHow does an elevator work? Counterweight and safety brakeHow buildings resist earthquakesWhat is under the streetHow a water treatment plant turns muddy water clear9 exhibits

Forces you can ride or push

Machines and models where a push, a pull or a turn is multiplied, redirected or balanced, from a coaster's first drop to a folded paper plane.

Roller coaster physics: how a coaster works, ride it in 3DGyroscope simulator: spin it, push it and watch it precessBike gears explained: shift a bicycle simulator up a hillPulley and hydraulic jack simulator: lift a crate and a carWhy do ships float?How a wing makes lift, and what changes as the angle growsDisc brake and ABS simulator: how they work, step by stepRobot arm: move the joints, how it works step by stepHow to fold paper airplanes and fly rubber-powered models7 exhibits

Puzzles, games and codes

Cubes, boards, folded paper, knotted rope and dots of ink, each a small system with strict rules that you can step through one move at a time.

How to solve a 3×3 cube, step by stepHow to play chess, step by stepBilliards angles: aiming, spin and the diamond system, step by stepOrigami: 20 models to fold step by step and unfoldHow to tie knots: 40 knots step by stepHow a QR code is readBraille, semaphore and fingerspelling: how the codes work6 exhibits

Everyday devices opened up

A vending machine, a microwave, a phone screen, a zipper, a lock and a printer, each taken apart so you can see the idea that makes it work.

How vending machines detect fake coins: follow one coin insideHow a microwave oven works: the magnetron that makes the wavesHow a touchscreen works: how the glass finds your fingerZipper mechanism: work the slider and see the teeth lockHow does a pin tumbler lock work inside? A 3D cutawayHow a 3D printer works, layer by layer7 exhibits

Crafts that changed the world

Sewing, printing, photographs, recorded sound, timekeeping, steam and wind: seven hand-built technologies that shaped daily life before the electronic age.

How a sewing machine makes a stitchMovable type and the printing pressHow film cameras and instant cameras workHow a phonograph works: from tinfoil to cassette and CDHow does a mechanical watch work without a battery?How a steam locomotive worksHow windmills and watermills work9 exhibits

Weather, sky and light

Lightning, wind and ice, the winter stars, an eclipse, satellites, fibre cables and the northern lights, all things that happen above or around us.

How lightning and thunder workWind chill chart and calculator: how wind steals body heatWinter constellations: Orion, the Winter Triangle and HexagonWhy lakes freeze from the top down: water density and lake iceTotal solar eclipse: the 2027 path and the next total eclipsesSatellites orbiting Earth right nowTravelling at the speed of lightHow fiber optic cable works: one ray of light across the oceanNorthern lights over an Arctic village6 exhibits

Measuring size, place and time

How big is it, where is it and what time is it? Six exhibits on the tools people use to answer, from a bank card to a sundial.

Actual size: see real objects at true scale on your screenPowers of ten: from a proton to the observable universeMap projections: why Greenland looks as big as AfricaSundial: interactive model, how to read the timeWhy salt forms cubes: crystal structure and unit cellsWriting systems of the world: Hangul and 22 more scripts9 exhibits

Walk through famous places

Rome's arena, Barcelona's cathedral, a canyon, a Korean palace, an Inca town, a sequoia forest, an army of clay, a buried city and the clouds of Jupiter.

Walk through the ColosseumWalk through the Sagrada FamíliaWalk down the Grand Canyon rock layersWalk through Gyeongbokgung PalaceWalk through Machu PicchuGiant sequoia forest: walk under the largest treesWalk through the Terracotta ArmyWalk through Pompeii on its last dayFly over Jupiter's clouds and the Great Red Spot5 exhibits

Life up close: bodies and survival

How a horse runs, how a leaf feeds itself, how an ant colony works, how to save a life and what happens to a body in space.

How a horse runs: walk, trot, canter and gallopHow photosynthesis worksShrink to the size of an ant and walk into its nestHow to do CPR, use an AED, help someone choking and use a fire extinguisherWhat happens to your body in space without a suit