DECEMBER 2015 – JANUARY 2016 Sparks!A Newsletter for Members and Friends of the Museum of Science Inside This Issue • Wild Waters of Africa • Computer Science Fun • Member Perks Awe-Inspiring Adventure Take the trip of a lifetime through the wildest continent on Earth. large and environmentally diverse place, Africa is surrounded by vast oceans and seas and features rainforests, the world’s A largest waterfall, and countless rivers. Water is the lifeline for this continent’s wildlife, as you’ll witness in the new giant-screen film, BBC Earth’s Wild Africa, now showing on the IMAX® Dome screen. Nations of Wonder Dive into the Red Sea and visit spectacular coral reefs that are home to an array of species. Travel thousands of feet into the air to Kenya’s snow-covered mountains. Between these elevation extremes, you’ll see the striking contrasts of deserts that border oceans, erupting volcanoes, the enormous Victoria Falls, wide-open savannas, and many other eye-catching landscapes. Along this journey through 12 of the nations that make up Africa, you’ll meet a large cast of real-life animal characters, including a family of mountain gorillas in a Rwandan forest, hundreds of thousands of flamingos performing a unique mating ritual in Kenya’s Continued on next page Continued from cover volcanic Lake Bogoria, hungry crocodiles waiting for the annual wildebeest migration to water holes in the Serengeti, elephants desperately searching for water, and snakes and lizards in Namibia’s barren desert finding water in their food. Your odyssey concludes in the swamps of southern Africa, where water’s ultimate role as a lifesaver is on display. Follow lions, zebras, and gazelles as they embrace the monsoon that brings them the rain they need. Technology into the Wild With filming taking place over two years in a wide variety of environments, the production team from BBC Earth had to use many techniques, even some they invented, to capture everything for the camera. Challenging, but Worth It “To achieve this, we had to ... assemble a unique mix of talent, The crew faced many challenges along the way. The production so we could film in the toughest wild locations, using a whole team described some of them: range of photographic techniques to put giant-screen audiences right in the heart of some of the most awesome landscapes “Over the course of filming, the crew withstood being sandblast- and dramatic wildlife on Earth,” co-director and producer ed, bounced over the roughest terrain, swept down mighty rivers, Neil Nightingale said. and kept submerged for hours on end.” Among the technological feats in the production was the Fortunately, you won’t have to endure the same hardships when first-ever vertical cable dolly shot from a rainforest canopy you journey to this incredible land packed with countless wild- to a forest floor, so you and other viewers will feel like you life dependent on the always necessary, but sometimes elusive, are jumping into the environment. water. Be sure to visit Wild Africa, now showing at the Museum of Science! Thanks to these new filming innovations, you are brought into the action like never before as you fly over the summit A BBC Earth Production. of Mount Kenya, get up close with marching elephants, travel down the rapids of the lower Zambezi River, and surf a giant Sponsored by wave along the coast! Ride a Waterfall It’s never a safe idea to ride a waterfall, but with the magic of film, you can do just that. Through ingenious methods, including the use of a remote control-operated camera just inches from the water’s surface, the makers of Wild Africa captured the first-ever horizontal cable dolly shot over the lip of Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall on Earth. Feel as if you are the one flying over the waterfall that sits on the Zambia/Zimbabwe border before traveling down 350 feet at a high speed! Wild Africa Now Showing in the Mugar Omni Theater Let’s Celebrate Computer Science Participate in a weekend of activities featuring robots, programming, and inspiration! Photo (right) © Ashley McCabe There’s a lot more to computers than using them for posting We’ve Got Robots! on social media and writing papers for class. They are the Art and technology combine for the Art Bots exercise. Take doorway to a world of creativity and design with limitless home a work of art created by a machine you design. Look possibilities. Find out more about this during the Museum’s for more activities with robots throughout the weekend, our Computer Science Education Weekend in December. As latest in a series of themed events. Museum visitors recently part of a nationwide effort to get young people interested in put on their archaeological and meteorological hats, and more computer science, this event will feature hands-on activities fun weekends are in store! and a chance to learn from the experts. Free with Exhibit Halls admission. For more information: mos.org/events. Take Control Design, build, and test different materials that allow you to control a computer at MaKey MaKey, an invention kit for the Mother of Computing 21st century and one of many activity stations. Here, you have the opportunity to make a game controller and even get a little The weekend of activities brings a goofy when you play a piano with potatoes. fun end to the nationwide Computer Science Education Week, which takes Stay with the food theme for the Fruit Loops Programming place in recognition of pioneer Admiral Maze, where you become the computer! Program your way Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, through an orchard to pick fruit. For a food-free experience, 1906 – January 1, 1992). Known as try your hand at Code Games, where you can practice the mother of computing, Hopper programming basics in fun online games with software developed the first computer compiler engineers from Microsoft. and the first computer programming And your hands will be busy with the Squishy Circuits language while working at Harvard. activity, which invites you to design, build, and test circuits A US Navy rear admiral who served made from dough. Plus, create a sculpture that lights up, until age 79, a naval ship is named in buzzes, or moves! her honor. Wild Africa Now Showing in the Mugar Omni Theater Computer Science Education Weekend December 12 – 13 ESCAPE THE COLD WITH Photo © TMP Images SEE YOUR FAVORITE PIXAR CHARACTERS BEFORE THEY LEAVE, WATCH A FILM, AND VISIT THE BUTTERFLIES! You might not have asked for it, but winter has arrived. And with this seasonal change comes the lower temperatures and precipitation that may have you looking for a vacation even before the December school break starts! After all, inside the Museum, the atmosphere is warm and there’s nothing to get in the way of the many sights, sounds, and interactive opportunities that await. With your membership, you can enjoy the Exhibit Halls for free. Take in more than 700 interactive exhibits, including the Hall of Human Life and Dinosaurs: Modeling the Mesozoic; attend a Lightning! show in the Theater of Electricity; and more! And for just $5 each, there are many extras to enhance your experience, including your last chance to see our popular special exhibition The Science Behind Pixar, large-format and 4-D films that bring you to exotic places around the globe, out-of-this-world Planetarium shows, and the tropical Butterfly Garden! “We want our members to make the most of their membership and take advantage of everything the Museum has to offer,” says Sue MacLaren, director of membership. “With school vacations coming up, now is a great time to visit the Museum and see some new shows or revisit favorite exhibits.” Nothing Lasts Forever Since opening in June, The Science Behind Pixar has been a major hit with Museum visitors. But there’s not much time left to enjoy it because the exhibition’s final day Image © Disney / Pixar is Sunday, January 10. Even if you’ve already seen it, there’s so much to take in that What’s Hot at the Museum Photo © Michael Malyszko Photo © Ashley McCabe Photo © Ashley McCabe it’s worth another visit (or two…). Don’t miss out on your last Garden of Oohs and Ahs chance to enjoy this unique look into the Pixar process! With their majestic wings, few things are quite as beautiful as Feel the Season! butterflies. These colorful creatures welcome you to their home among exotic plants in the Butterfly Garden. It’s Hop aboard and grab a spot in our 4-D Theater for a special the perfect antidote to a chilly winter’s day. holiday treat. The Polar Express™ 4-D Experience is back for In addition to the free-flying residents, seasonal showings through Sunday, January 3. Enjoy this there are various displays and activi- condensed version of the cherished film—the most mem- ties that give you insight into the orable scenes are enhanced with thrilling special effects for an lives of the animals, including immersive, unforgettable experience for the whole family. It’s like the Emergence Box that taking a trip to the North Pole and back without ever leaving your seat! reveals their most Visit a faraway land in another direction in the Mugar Omni fascinating feature— Theater with the film Jerusalem, also returning for a limited the metamorphosis engagement. The ancient and holy city is treasured in Juda- from caterpillar to butterfly. Check ism, Christianity, and Islam, and people of all three faiths call mos.org for entry times. the small, but important, place home.