Strange Matter Exhibition at Cranbrook Institute of Science
May 10 , 2005
“Strange” exhibit ready to take shape at Cranbrook
Institute of Science
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan -
Something “strange” is coming to Cranbrook Institute of Science!
U ncover the surprising science behind everyday stuff and get a glimpse of where
materials research might take us when Strange Matter materializes on
June 4.
At a whopping 6,000 square feet, Strange Matter’s h
ands-on technologies and interactive experiences let visitors of
all ages investigate the structure of materials and their intriguing
and remarkable properties. The exhibit captures advanced materials
used in high-tech fields such as the space program and cardiac
surgery and reveals them in more common places, from the shoes
that you wear and the dishes you eat off of to the CDs you listen
to and the bike or skateboard you ride .
Upon entering the fascinating, practical and occasionally bizarre
world of materials science, visitors will encounter more than a
dozen hands-on experiences. Discover how scientists control structure
and defects to create certain properties in materials. Observe
what different materials look like when placed under a microscope
camera lens. Marvel at a piece of aerogel foam – the lightest
material ever made – and see its weight balanced by a tiny
piece of glass. Bend and twist a nitinol metal ribbon and watch
in amazement as it returns to its original shape!
Want to feel something really weird? Swish your gloved hand around
in a vat of magneto-rheological fluid at the Amazing Magnetic
Liquids pod and feel it morph from fluid to solid at the touch
of a button! Stop by Sand to Supercomputers and you’ll
touch the top of a giant, shining column of silicon grown from
a “seed” in a lab and follow the painstaking process
through which sand is transformed into microchips. Smash the
Glass allows visitors to crank up a bowling ball and let it
fly into heat tempered glass to see if it will shatter.
More information on Strange Matter can be found on its
award-winning website at www.strangematterexhibit.com. Since the
site’s launch, it has garnered several honors including winner
of the 2004 Sci/Tech Web Awards by ScientificAmerican.com and 2004
Bronze MUSE Award by the American Association of Museums.
This local presentation is made possible by:
Presenting Sponsors:
Major Sponsors:
- IBEW Local 58
- 3M Foundation
About the Strange Matter Exhibition:
Strange Matter is presented by the Materials Research Society.
The exhibition and its tour are made possible by the generous support
of the National Science Foundation, Alcan, Dow, Ford Motor Company
Fund, Intel® Innovation in Education and
3M Foundation.
About the Materials Research Society: .
The Materials Research Society is
a not-for-profit scientific association founded in 1973 to promote
interdisciplinary goal-oriented research on materials of technological
importance. Membership in the Society consists of more than 12,500
scientists from industry, government, academia and research laboratories
in the United States and nearly 50 other countries.
About Cranbrook Institute of Science:
The Institute of Science is located at 39221 Woodward Avenue
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Museum admission is $7 adults; $5
children 2-12 and senior citizens (65+); children under 2 and members
admitted free. Cranbrook Institute of Science is open daily 10am-5pm
with extended hours on Friday until 10pm. For more information
on becoming a member of Cranbrook Institute of Science call 248
645.3245. For information call (toll free) 1-877-GO-CRANBrook (1-877-462-7262)
and visit www.cranbrook.edu.
-30-
For more information, please contact:
Jason Ruttenberg
(248) 645-3224
jruttenberg@cranbrook.edu
> View other Press Releases
|
