11 and up

“Nanosilver: Breakthrough or Biohazard?” is a public presentation which introduces audiences to the increasingly frequent use of silver nanoparticles in consumer products. During the presentation, visitors are guided through questions such as: What is nanosilver? Why is it used in consumer products such as teddy bears and food containers? How safe is nanosilver, and how might it affect the environment? Visitors are engaged with samples of nanosilver products, various images and graphics that tell the story of nanosilver, and a demonstration that uses a plume of diet cola to show how particle size affects reactions.

Mixing Molecules is a full-body immersive simulation demonstrating the collision of molecules at the nanoscale. The digital interface allows visitors to use their shadows to “push” animated molecules that are projected onto a screen in a darkened room. Visitors can manipulate the collsion of the molecules, speeding or slowing the formation of new compounds. The piece demonstrates the connection between the nanoscale - where individual molecules collide with each other - and the macroscale where many small random collisions appear as one larger, consistent motion.

This poster aligns zooms into three familiar objects - a human heart, a butterfly's wing, and a laptop computer. Using the conventions of visual perspective the image travels in one continuous “landscape” from the human scale at the top to the atomic scale in the foreground. As the scale gets smaller and smaller, these disparate objects resolve to individual atoms, highlighting the concept that everything is made of atoms.

SmallTalk is a podcast series chatting about nanotechnology with leading scientists, thinkers, artists, writers, and visionaries, and look at quirky nanoscience stories in the news. Dr. Stephanie Chasteen, of the Exploratorium’s Teacher Institute, hosted this series in 2007. Podcase Episodes: • Nature’s Playing Field: Nanotechnology and Medicine Dr. Tejal Desai, UCSF and Dr. Thomas Murray, Hastings Center Running Time: 00:30:48 • Nanotechnology’s Role in Making Cheap Solar Power Dr. Jeff Grossman, UCB and Patrick Lin, Nanoethics Group Running Time: 00:26:04 • Consumer Products Using Nanotechnology Julia Moore and Evan Michelson, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Running Time: 26:56 • Vroom! Nanocars and Nanofactories Dr. Jim Tour, Rice University and Diane Hickey, University of Florida Running Time: 00:28:20 • Nanograffiti: Building from the Atoms Up Dr. Don Eigler, IBM and Tom Rockwell, Exploratorium Running Time: 00:22:52

This interactive component is about cutting-edge medical treatments that are being developed with nanotechnology. Gold Nanoshells, demonstrates how tiny nanoparticles of gold are being used to destroy cancerous tumors. Visitors inject gold nanoshell marbles into the bloodstream and watch as the gold nanoshells are absorbed by cancerous cells. The visitor then activates an infrared laser and watches as the laser heats up and kills the tumor cells while leaving the healthy tissues unharmed.

Visitors "travel through time" with a host playing several characters: from the Future, 1900, 1945 and 1999. Visitors answer questions in a quiz about other people's predictions of future technology, and then are invited to make their own predictions.

In this interactive piece, visitors can zoom into the structures on the surface of a nasturtium leaf. Electron micrographs reveal the nanoscale structures that make water bead on the surface of the leaf. Zoom Into a Nasturtium Leaf can be used alone, or to accompany an exhibit or demonstration of the lotus effect, in which water beads and rolls off highly water-repellent leaves. Follow the instructions included with the file to install the free Adobe Air application.

This interactive zoom, inspired by Eames "Powers of Ten," allows visitors to travel from the familiar scale of their hand down to DNA deep within a cell. This zoom is designed as a stand-alone visitor experience, or to be used as part of a presentation to orient visitors to the size of the nanoscale. Follow the instructions included with the file to install the free Adobe Air application.

This poster features an illustration of a computer chip across ten orders of magnitude, from the computer chip to the atoms of which it is made. Using the conventions of visual perspective the image travels in one continuous “landscape” from the human scale at the top to the atomic scale in the foreground. The illustration is also available without annotation as an image, banner, or poster, and also appears on the "Everything is Made of Atoms" Poster with other parallel zooms into the human bloodstream and butterfly wing.

This illustration shows a butterfly's wing across ten orders of magnitude, from the butterfly to the atoms of which it is made. Using the conventions of visual perspective the image travels in one continuous “landscape” from the human scale at the top to the atomic scale in the foreground. Placing objects from the butterfly's wing in one frame clarifies connections between components, highlighting the system’s reliance on structures at very different scales. This version of the image is a poster with annotated text explaining the different objects in the image, but it is also available as a poster without annotations, a banner or a graphic file, and also appears on the "Everything is Made of Atoms" Poster with other parallel zooms into the human bloodstream and a computer chip.