After Dark: Glow

Glow Science With Ron Hipschman  8:00 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1 , Kanbar Forum

Why do things give off light? There are many ways to make light, and all of them involve exciting atoms and molecules in some way. Join Exploratorium physicist Ron Hipschman to investigate some of the more colorful ways to make things glow. Using electricity, heat, and light, he’ll conduct a variety of demonstrations to illuminate the electromagnetic spectrum. Participants will receive a pair of diffraction grating glasses to take home.

Buckyball By Leo Villareal  6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Plaza

Inspired by the shape first explored by futurist and inventor Buckminster Fuller, Buckyball is a towering 25-foot illuminated sculpture featuring two nested geodesic spheres. Composed of 4,500 LED nodes arranged along a series of pentagons and hexagons, Buckyball is animated by custom software programmed by Villareal to display over 16 million distinct colors. 

Cubatron Core By Mark Lottor  6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1
On display through 1/27/19

Bask in the cascading colors of this tremendous, torus-shaped sculpture by returning artist Mark Lottor. Twenty-six feet in diameter and eighteen feet high, Cubatron Core is made of 3,840 individually controllable RGB LEDs.

Enunciation  By Taylor Dean Harrison  6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3
On display through 1/6/19

Reflect on and in Enunciation, a glowing, watercolor-hued stainless steel cocoon by artist Taylor Dean Anderson. The exterior of Enunciation mirrors its surroundings, while the interior features generative motions and color palettes pulled from nature.

Glowing Ball Run  With Kazu Harada  6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Gallery 2 Tinkering Studio

Light travels as a wave and in a straight line...but what about a rolling ball? Find out as Japanese automata artist Kazu Harada builds an interactive kinetic ball run with a special luminescent element added for Glow. Drop a ball, crank a handle, and see what happens in the dark.

Glowing Insects and Arachnids  With Ralph Washington, Jr.  6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Gallery 4 Corridor

Nocturnal arthropods cannot rely on the sun for visual communication, so they must produce their own light. Fireflies use light for courtship, cave-dwelling fungus gnats use light to attract and feed on mayflies, and glowworm beetles and millipedes use it to deter predators. Many arthropods are also manipulated by light. Come illuminate your understanding of how gleams and glows affect the lives of arthropods.

Glowing Oobleck  With Explorables  7:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3 Classroom

What’s better than a non-Newtonian Fluid?  A glowing non-Newtonian fluid! Come play with specially made glowing oobleck see how it flows (or doesn’t) and glows under the blacklight.

HoloSphere  By Gabe Levy and Mike Singletary  6:00­-10:00 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3

This spherical sculpture utilizes only 40 LEDs to create the illusion of an animated, holographic orb. While the LEDS spin in one direction, the timing of their flashes makes some lights appear to rotate the opposite way.

InfiniCube  By Gabe Levy and Mike Singletary  6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3 
On display through 1/6/19

Can you wrap your mind around the finite with the infinite inside? Try this: InfiniCube is a transparent box containing an infinite expanse of light.

Laser Susan and the Light Lathes  With Lowell Robinson and Dina Herring  6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3, Light Lab

Got two turntables and a laser pen? Explore the magic of phosphorescence as we spin the light fantastic. Create kinetic light sculptures using UV lasers and pendulums.

Lightbulb Demonstration  With the Explainers  6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3 Explainer Station

Are you bright enough to know which lightbulb is best for your household?  Do you know of any bulbs going extinct?  Visit this enlightening demo to learn the difference between lightbulbs and perhaps save a little money.  

Our Glowing Bio Lab  With Caitlin Jackson  7:00­-9:00 p.m.  |  Gallery 4 Bio Bar

Learn the fascinating uses and history of the green fluorescent protein (GFP). First discovered in the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, GFP has been used extensively as a gene marker, granting researchers a visually identifiable affirmation of gene expression. See its luminescent effect in various critters under the microscope.

Noble Gas Chandeliers  By Laura Stevenson  6:00 p.m.-10.00 p.m. |  Bechtel Gallery 3, Webcast Studio

Bask in the luminous glory of group 18 of the periodic table each chandelier is filled with one of the five nonradioactive noble gases (sorry, radon) and expresses its form and some of its properties. Because each chandelier runs on the same amount of power, you can compare the differences subtle and not between the glowing gases.

Plasmatica  By Coup de Foudre   6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Gallery 4

Make glowing, ghostly forms forms dance at Plasmatica, an ethereal and electrifying work by the art collective Coup de Foudre. In these custom glass columns, a charged interaction between noble gases and electrically excited particles forms luminous filaments that jump, flow, and respond to your touch.

Ring Theory  By John Pertsch  6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Gallery 4

Evoking the chaotic motions that underlie our physical reality, Ring Theory is a collection of hypnotic mobiles. The construction of each mobile is simple a series of nested steel rings, electroplated for reflectivity but hidden LEDs create an ethereal vision not soon forgotten.

Sugar Cubes  With Symmetry Labs  6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1, Black Box
On display until 1/6/19

Absorb the perception-altering kinetic light of Symmetry Labs' mesmeric Sugar Cubes. Exploring the concept of light as an instrument, Sugar Cubes are building blocks for immersive, scalable 3D visual environments. Driven by Symmetry Labs' custom hardware and software, the LEDs in each cube are individually 3D modeled and mapped, creating an enveloping light canvas driven by algorithms generated in real time.

The ZOA  By Chromaforms   6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3
On display through 1/6/19

Let a glowing mega-microbe change your perspective. A mysterious white light emanates from the nucleus of the ZOA, a large pulsating “organism” inspired by the hydrozoa polyp-the nascent form of thousands of ocean creatures.