After Dark: Tune In

Full-Spectrum Science: Sound
With Ron Hipschman
7:00 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1, Kanbar Forum

What is sound? How high a pitch can you hear? Can you measure the speed of sound with a yardstick? Can two sounds add up to no sound? Join Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman for colorful explorations of these questions and more in this resonant presentation.

Listening to the Night
With Vanessa Lowe of KCRW's Nocturne Podcast
8:30 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1, Kanbar Forum

Do I truly know you if I only know the daytime you? Join in on a conversation with radio producer Vanessa Lowe about what goes on after night falls. Drawing from clips from her podcast and experience in sonic storytelling, Vanessa will share what can be discovered when we turn our attention outside of waking hours. Nocturne is an exploration of the night and of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors transform in the dark.

Ongoing

Morse Code Exhibit Prototype
With Doug Thistlewolf
6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Gallery 3

- .... .. ... / . -..- .... .. -... .. - / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .... . .-.. .--. / ...- .. ... .. - --- .-. ... / - --- / ..- -. -.. . .-. ... - .- -. -.. / ... --- -- . / --- ..-. / - .... . / .... .. ... - --- .-. -.-- / -... . .... .. -. -.. / .-. .- -.. .. --- / -.-. --- -- -- ..- -. .. -.-. .- - .. --- -. / .- -. -.. / --. .. ...- . / - .... . -- / .- -. / --- .--. .--. --- .-. - ..- -. .. - -.-- / - --- / . -..- .--. . .-. .. . -. -.-. . / .. - / ..-. .. .-. ... - / .... .- -. -.. .-.-.-

Do you dig dots and dashes? Try out these two Morse Code exhibit prototypes and learn the history behind radio communication then let your own fingers do the talking when you send a message of your own.

Speaker Dissection
With the High School Explainers
6:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3

Tune in to surrounding sounds experiment with strings and vibrations, use electromagnets to build a basic speaker, and learn how to listen with your bones. Then find out how sound gets into your brain from the outside world by getting to know the workings of the inner ear.

Listen to the Sounds of the Bay
With George Czeck
6:30-8:30 p.m.  |  Gallery 5

Tune in to the Exploratorium’s underwater soundscape with George Czeck. Scientists use sound to track animals and non-invasively monitor biological communities in difficult-to-access habitats, and recordings can also be used to assess the impact of a changing environment. Learn more about the importance of sound to marine life and listen to underwater soundscapes streamed live from below the Exploratorium's pier and sampled from Czeck's research.

Hearing Light
With with Zeke Kossover
6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Gallery 4

There are bright lights in the big city, but they have secrets only your ears can detect. Learn how to use some simple tools like solar panels and speakers to tune in to the hidden flashes in bulbs, flashlights, and even your remote control.

Listen to Whale Sounds
With Yolande Harris
6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6 and Observatory  Terrace

Let the sounds of the ocean bowhead and beluga whales, bearded seals and narwhals move you. This immersive audio and video experience by artist Yolande Harris makes deep connections between humans and the cetaceans living just below us in San Francisco Bay and in the ocean beyond. Experience it with the After Dark community or take a private moment to go deep on your own.

Sound Scavenger Hunt
6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Gallery 2, South Corridor

Take yourself on a search for sound and learn, in the process, how sound can travel through electricity. Our exhibit developers have hidden secret sounds, undetectable to the human ear, around the Exploratorium. Our equipment can help you hear them, if you can find them so get out there and get listening.

Magnify Your Hearing
With the Explainers
6:30-9:30 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3, Light Lab

Have you ever wondered what your hair sounds like? How about the sound of the foam in your beer? Tune in to everyday sounds you can’t usually hear, using piezo microphones (also known as contact mics) as a kind of magnifying glass for your ears.

Shortwave Radio
With Rob Rothfarb
7:00-9:00 p.m.  |  Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Public Space

Get your rabbit ears on! Local AM/FM radio signals abound, but did you know that you can, with inexpensive radios, easily listen to high-frequency transmissions coming from distant locations? Our radio communications listening station will be plugged, in with antennas pointed at the airwaves and Rob Rothfarb assisting. Try out receivers, including software-defined radios (SDRs) the latest way to tap into the frequency spectrum with computers and mobile devices to hear what you can hear

Radio Take-Apart
With Explorables
7:00-10:00 p.m.  |  Gallery 2, Tinkering Studio

The magic of radio of taking inaudible sound waves from the air, running them through a little box, and getting music or information is enduring...and, of course, it isn’t magic at all. Let Explorables show you how it’s done: disassemble radios from different eras, hold in your hands the parts that make it all happen, and see the “magic” for yourself.