EXHIBITS

Changing Colors is an interactive exhibit that shows how some high-tech nanomaterials mimic natural phenomena. Super-small, light-reflecting structures—instead of pigments—on the wings of some butterflies create intense, iridescent colors. Nanoscientists have replicated this effect with layered, super-thin films. Watch the colors change on butterfly wings and thin-film slides as you move them beneath a light source, and discover how nanoscale structures can manipulate light and create color.
Butterfly specimens deteriorate with heavy use, and may need to be replaced periodically.

Nanolab is a component of the Nanolab+Fact or Fiction exhibition, with separate activities and interactives aimed at a wide range of visitor ages. Nanoscientists use special devices and laboratories to build and manipulate materials on the nanoscale. Dress up like a scientist, or examine clothing and objects found in real clean room nanoscience laboratories. Watch a video on nanoscale research, play with interactive exhibits, or explore the resource area for materials on nanotechnology and the basics of nanoscale science.

This exhibit introduces new ways of diagnosing and monitoring disease by using nanomaterials. Visitors conduct a lab test by select one of three sick patients and using a real pipette to add the patient’s blood sample to a glass slide (the GreeneChip). An on-screen animation explains what happens at the nanoscale, and the visitor is presented with a diagnosis.

At the Nanoscale is a static component that aims to show just how super small one billionth of a meter, or one nanometer, really is. A Billion Beads is an activity where visitors inspect tubes that hold quantities of one thousand tiny beads, one million beads, and one billion beads. To the naked eye, the tube containing one thousand beads appears nearly empty. Visitors see that the next tube, partially filled, contains one million beads. Finally, to compare, a four-foot tall container nearly full contains approximately one billion beads. This component is mounted to the backside of the Intro to Nanotechnology video kiosk.