Planetarium Party at Nightlife

In honor of its 60th anniversary, Morrison Planetarium will screen a mini-marathon of its three recent productions: Fragile Planet, Life: A Cosmic Story, and Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet, preceded by a Tour of the Night Sky at 6:30. Planetarium Director Ryan Wyatt and his staff will share the history of Morrison Planetarium, and what it takes to make a show for a 75-foot dome. Battle some retro-extraterrestrials in a game of Space Invaders for Atari or Star Fox for Super Nintendo, and weather permitting, join staff on the living roof for stargazing and a glimpse of the planet Jupiter.  Stellar cocktail in-hand, check out the lunar topography carvings of Craig Dorety, watch 1950s-era documentary footage introducing the world to the Morrison, and touch a 35-pound meteorite from the Academy's collections. Then track down LoveTech'sout-of-this-world live electronic musicians and interactive art installations in the east pavilion and coral reef.

NightLife guests this week are also invited to the premier of a new film, "Brain Power: From Neurons to Networks" by an award-winning film team that has had their last four films at Sundance. This ten-minute film and TED Book (that will also launch at NighLife) explores the parallels between a child's brain development and the development of the global brain of the Internet, offering insights into the best ways to shape both.  Screenings in the Forum at 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 will be followed by commentary from filmmakers Tiffany Shlain and Sawyer Steele, UC Berkeley robotics professor and co-writer Ken Goldberg, best-selling authors Howard Rheingold (Netsmart) and Steven Berlin Johnson (Future Perfect), and others.

21 and over.