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8 exhibitsCourses

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.

Each stop is farther from home than the one before, and the course ends at a black hole.

The first two stops can be checked from your own window: why summer is warm and why the Moon changes shape. From there each stop is farther away, through a walk across the solar system, your weight on other worlds, the Moon and Mars on foot and an asteroid strike, to the edge of a black hole.

The same few rules carry the whole route: light travels in straight lines, gravity weakens with distance, and orbits keep going unless something pushes them. Try to spot where each rule appears again.

  1. 01
    FIG. 07 · How It Works

    Why we have seasons: tilted Earth, changing daylight

    The Earth is closest to the Sun in the first week of January, in the middle of the northern winter.

    Set the date to early January, when Earth is closest to the Sun, and look at where it is winter.

  2. 02
    FIG. 08 · How It Works

    Moon phases: why a crescent is not Earth’s shadow

    The Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun every 29.5 days, so why is there no solar eclipse every month?

    Switch the true 5.14° tilt on and see why most new moons pass above or below the Sun.

  3. 03
    FIG. 81 · Walk-throughs

    Solar system scale model measurements along a park walk

    Shrink the Sun to a ball 1.39 m wide and Earth becomes a 1.27 cm marble 150 m down the path, Neptune is 4.5 km away and Voyager 1 would be 25.7 km.

    Walk out to Neptune, 4.5 km on this scale, and see how empty the path is.

  4. 04
    FIG. 30 · Senses

    Your weight and jump height on other planets and moons

    A 50 cm jump on Earth becomes a 3 m leap on the Moon, 18 m on Ceres and a one-way trip off asteroid Bennu.

    Jump on the Moon, on Ceres and on Bennu and compare how high you go.

  5. 05
    FIG. 64 · Walk-throughs

    Walk the Apollo landing sites

    Standing on the Moon with your eyes 1.6 m up, the horizon is only about 2.4 km away. All six Apollo landing sites are here, from Tranquility Base to Taurus-Littrow.

    Visit all six landing sites and compare the ground the astronauts walked on.

  6. 06
    FIG. 84 · Senses

    How big a crater would an asteroid make, and how craters form

    The 1.2 km wide Meteor Crater in Arizona was dug by an iron asteroid only a few tens of metres across.

    Drop the same rock as stone and as iron and compare the craters.

  7. 07
    FIG. 75 · Walk-throughs

    Walk around a Mars base

    On Mars an eye 1.6 m up sees the horizon 3.3 km away. Walk ten areas of a concept base and stand beside every lander and rover that has worked there, at full size.

    Find the horizon on Mars, about 3.3 km away for a standing person.

  8. 08
    FIG. 82 · Senses

    What you would see falling into a black hole

    From 40 times the horizon radius a black hole's shadow is only 7.4° wide, yet starlight from directly behind it already forms a ring 28° across.

    Move closer to the horizon and watch the shadow grow and the sky bend into a ring.

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 stepHow to fold a paper crane and read its crease patternWhy 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 comparison to humans: 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 modelHow a four-stroke engine works: two crank turns per cycleTurbocharger: 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

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’ eyesOptical illusions: why equal grey tiles look different8 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 stepHow a typewriter works: inside a manual typewriterHow a rotary phone works: the dial, its pulses and the exchangeHow 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 streetHow a lithium-ion battery works: where the ions go on chargeElectric 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 earthquakesHow tides workSwim 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 weightGothic cathedral: flying buttresses, interactive 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 clear