Step right up! For one night only, the Exploratorium transforms into a carnival of amazing animal acts, astounding forces of nature, mysterious mind reading, and thrilling games of skill and chance. Within these walls lurk some of the most astonishing phenomena found in nature—the biggest “freak show” of them all. Witness the whimsical and weird! Behold unbelievable technologies and test scientific ideas that defy common sense! Can cosmic rays from the edge of time really pass through the museum? Do animals have more complicated cognition than we ever imagined? Discover some of nature’s strangest curiosities at Sideshow Science. Performances start at 7 PM.

Featured Entertainments: Gilda and her Trained Goldfish: See finned performers execute graceful acrobatic feats under the gifted hands of the glamorous Gilda, Mistress of Fishes.

Wønderson Humpback: Risk games of chance, magic, and amusement with our premiere prestidigitator. But beware—your coins may disappear before your very eyes.

Madam Yu and the Beautiful and Strange Hermaphrodite, Planaria: Watch Madame Yu chop charming Planaria into 237 pieces, transforming her into 237 separate, charming creatures! And meet her mutant companion, the glowing C. elegans. Could this marvelous creature hold the secret to the elixir of youth?

Mentalisms: Submit your thoughts to a mind reading machine… if you dare. You can also test your eyes on optical illusions and experience out-of-body travel and other reality-wrenching wonders with our Anti-Gravity Mirror, fortune-telling machines, proprioceptive illusions, and more, including a Distorted Room that that makes all who enter shrink and grow like Alice in Wonderland.

The 10,000 Mile Bike Race: This live performance is adapted from Alfred Jarry’s 1906 novel The Supermale, which chronicles a 10,000-mile race across Siberia between a locomotive and a five-person bicycle—a fantastic promotion for chemist William Elson’s Perpetual Motion Food. Local filmmakers Jerome Hiler, Kerry Laitala, Paul Clipson, and Bill Basquin will accompany the race with film projections while an eight-piece ensemble plays music arranged for the event by local composer and bandleader Graham Connah. Konrad Steiner directs. The performance lasts 45 minutes.