See the Invisible Side of Science
"ENVISION the INVISIBLE"

Measuring less than 1/100,000,000th of an inch, the hills in this micrograph are individual atoms on a silicon crystal that have been enlarged more than 1 billion times. A scanning tunneling microscope collects digital information, which is plotted by a computer. False colors are assigned by the computer to help researchers see how crystalline structures are formed.

If someone asked you to envision the invisible, chances are you'd close your eyes and see nothing. After all, you can't see something that's invisible. Or can you?

On Friday, June 2, the Museum of Health & Medical Science kicks off what promises to be its biggest and best summer exhibition ever. And, strangely enough, most of the exhibit content is, well, invisible.

But seeing what's not really there is exactly what you are supposed to see during ENVISION the INVISIBLE, the museum's first comprehensive summer science experience that ties together three very different, yet completely integrated, hands-on exhibits for visitors of all ages.

Magnetic Field Lines: Each bright star-shaped feature indicates a vortex of electrical current, where the magnetic field penetrates into a superconductor.

Included under the visual umbrella of ENVISION the INVISIBLE are Brain Matters, Signals and Microscapes: the hidden art of high technology. ENVISION the INVISIBLE, which is on display June 2 through September 4, is all about communication technologies and the signal processes that are invisible to the human eye.

From the way your brain sends messages to the way microchips process information in your personal computer, today's communications technologies - conceived with pure brain power - have made possible things that researchers and scientists of yesterday could not have envisioned, let alone created.

Even the inventors who designed the very first vacuum-tube-based computer - remarkable by old standards, crude by today's - could not possibly have envisioned what today's microscopic computer components would look like. But consider, too, that even the most intelligent and imaginative of inventors have yet to duplicate a technology comparable to the human brain - though they keep trying!

Microprocessor: The square in the center of this photomacrograph is a mid-1980s computer processor. It is less than one square centimeter and contains 180,000 transistors.

"Some advanced technologies can do things humans cannot - like relay satellite signals from one side of the planet to another. However, no technology has yet been developed that can independently match the diversity of skills, speed, flexibility and precision of the human brain," notes Cindy Bandemer, M.P.H., director of programs and education at the museum. "We thought it would be interesting to look at how our special and uniquely human brain works and compare it with technologies being developed today that are getting ever and ever closer to what the human brain can accomplish."

Three Pieces Make It Visible
Brain Matters is a highly interactive science experience that offers you a chance to see inside your head - literally. Nine different exhibit stations allow you to put your hands on brain models, see actual brain specimens and take challenges that demonstrate your brain's adaptability and skill. You also will see how the healthy brain works, how the brain connects to other parts of the body, how messages are transmitted from the brain, how the brain develops, and what can go wrong when disease, drugs or alcohol damage this amazing organ.

"Thanks to advances in computer and imaging technologies, we are just now beginning to understand what was once invisible and completely unknown to us about the human brain," explains Bandemer. "We can now `see' how the brain actually works; which parts of the brain control intellect, emotion and motor functions; how memories are formed; how neurons communicate with each other; and how chemical and electrical signals are sent within the body."

Signals explores the nature of messages and the information they convey. Four distinct exhibit areas - Biological Signals, Analog & Digital Signals, Codes & Carriers, and Waves & Vibration - invite visitors to discover how different types of signals are emitted, transformed and encoded so they can be sent or, if necessary, stored.

For example, you can create simple and complex waves using your voice or a piano keyboard; send and receive messages in computer ASCII code; see how lightening bugs synchronize their flashing when they see each other; send and receive a fax; and generate a pattern of signals to create a program that runs a music box.

Chip for Echo-Free Communication: This silicon chip processes phone conversations to eliminate annoying echoes. It is especially effective for satellite communications, through which callers otherwise would hear their own voices a small fraction of a second after speaking.

For younger visitors, special `signals-related' activities also will be offered, including a sign language spelling game, a nonverbal facial signals exercise, and a sound waves game where you match rattle noises. Other simpler stations in this area include a cut-and-color station; a clapper station where one clap turns the radio on, two claps turn it off; a homemade musical instruments station; and a spoon bell experimentation station sure to be a resounding success with visitors of all ages.

"The concepts behind the exhibits and activities in Signals are often very difficult to explain especially to younger children," explains Bandemer. "Our focus is to get kids engaged in educational play by providing them with fun activities that relate to our theme and to generate curiosity about the world that will make them excited about lifelong learning."

Between hands-on kiosks and related activity areas, the Signals exhibition alone offers 30 different stations guaranteed to keep curious minds and little hands occupied for hours.

The third and most visually stunning of the ENVISION the INVISIBLE exhibit pieces is Microscapes: The Hidden Art of High Technology. Since premiering at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in 1983, Micro-scapes has become one of the most popular art in technology exhibits circulating to museums internationally and has been seen by millions of people in 24 countries.

The 50 photographs that comprise this renowned collection are large-format color and black and white works that explore the convergence of art and technology through the medium of scientific photography. The techniques used to photograph the elements in this exhibit are of a high technology all their own.

The photographic subject matter includes the materials and "invisible" processes that underlie all communications technology - technology that few individuals could explain and most have never seen. For example, laser irradiation of silicon is just one of the images showcased in this remarkable photo exhibit.

Though largely hidden to the naked eye, microprocessor chips, glass fiber, crystals, magnetic bubbles, gold, copper, tin and aluminum also "come to life" as oddly alluring and elegant landscapes - or "microscapes" - that are rich in shapes, shades, textures and hues. To detect and capture on film this once unseen colorful and mysterious microscopic world. the special vision of microscopy was required. Some images were shot at speeds of 1/720,000 of a second, others magnify their subjects a billion times.

Daily Scheduled Demonstrations

The ENVISION the INVISIBLE summer science experience will also include the popular Brain Train activities, robot races, telemedicine conferencing demonstrations, sheep brain dissections and wacky Weird Science Saturday demonstrations by the museum's own weird scientists Ernie and Maria.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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