Experience the Exploratorium. Let your curiosity roam free through hundreds of exhibits in our six spacious indoor and outdoor galleries at Pier 15, San Francisco.

Substitution ciphers and decoder rings We use substitution ciphers all the time. (Actually, substitution ciphers could properly be called codes in most cases.) Morse code, shorthand, semaphore, and ...

Photosynthesis requires light, but plants don’t use all the colors that make up white light. Use a spectroscope to explore the absorption and transmission of white light through leaf material.

Answers to questions about COVID safety, planning your visit, accessibility, food and more at the Exploratorium's beautiful bayside location at Pier 15, San Francisco.

The bicycle is a tremendously efficient means of transportation. In fact cycling is more efficient than any other method of travel--including walking! The one billion bicycles in the world are a ...

Kazoos and drums are membranophones—instruments that produce sound from a vibrating stretched membrane. Here, a water bottle and a paper tube make a membranophone that sounds like a saxophone crossed ...

Completely fill two bottles with hot water. Keep filling until a meniscus (an upward bulge) forms on the surface of the water. Completely fill two bottles with cold water. Keep filling until a ...

Fill in your weight below in the space indicated. You can enter your weight in any unit you wish. Click on the "Calculate" button. Notice that the weights on other worlds will automatically fill in.

Fill in your birthdate below in the space indicated. (Note you must enter the year as a 4-digit number!) Click on the "Calculate" button. Notice that your age on other worlds will automatically fill ...

This simple paper toy spins through the air like a mini-helicopter ...

One of the most exciting exercises I ever did as a kid was to make a scale model of the Solar System. Most of the pictures in my books made the distance between planets seem small and easy to travel.

A Scribbling Machine is a motorized contraption that moves in unusual ways and leaves a mark to trace its path. It’s made from simple materials and demonstrates the erratic motion created by an offset ...