Make a truth teller for light. Turn an old CD into a spectroscope to analyze light—you may be surprised by what you see. Try pointing your CD spectroscope at the fluorescent light in your room, sunlit ...

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.

Global Climate Change Explorer Keeping an Eye on Our Changing Planet Scientists have been studying the relationship between global climate and carbon in the atmosphere for over a century, with a ...

The Tinkering Studio is primarily an R&D laboratory, so whenever possible we try to share our projects, explorations, and developing ideas. Tinkerers We often invite artists, scientists, educators, ...

Egg proteins change when you heat them, beat them, or mix them with other ingredients. Understanding these changes can help you understand the roles that eggs play in cooking. Proteins are made of ...

Happy National DNA Day, which commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953. Published sixty-four years ago in the journal ...

Fireworks may be a really fun way to celebrate the Fourth of July, but we know they are more than a little dangerous. The solution? Grab a friend and make your own liquid fireworks with this simple ...

In an extraordinary mission to rescue 16 kidnapped soldiers, the Colombian army turned to pop music to send the hostages a secret message.

Illustrations by Ray Larsen Our social lives are filled with ritualistic touching: from hugs to high fives to pinky-swears. These acts of interpersonal contact create feelings of connection between ...

We have been prototyping a new automata activity called “Cranky Contraptions” using simple materials such as wooden blocks, wire, and foamies. Now that it’s been about a month that we have been ...

Can you smell time? Your dog can. On a very basic level, so can you: When you crack the lid on that old quart of milk, tentatively sniff and—peeyouu!—promptly dump that foul stuff down the sink, you ...

We love laser engraving! We've been laser engraving on wood and plastics and they have been great when we make signs/signage in the Tinkering Studio. Lately I've been experimenting with filling some ...