Discover your inner nerd at the Tech Museum
By Anna Baldasty
If techies, those information-age insiders, sometimes seem a separate savvy tribe, then a museum about their craft might seem far from mainstream fun. But in the Silicon Valley where information industries brought wealth and fame in a real-life version of "Revenge of the Nerds," technology awareness just comes with the territory.
Still, if learning about the history of the microchip doesn't exactly sound thrilling, you're in luck: The interactive exhibits at The Tech Museum of Innovation, located in the heart of downtown San Jose, make the frontiers of applied science and engineering appealing and accessible to even the marginally curious.
A general admission ticket costs $8 and includes a complimentary showing of one of The Tech Museum's feature IMAX films. Currently playing are three MacGillivray Freeman Films productions: "Hurricane on the Bayou," "Greece: Secrets of the Past" and "Mystic India."
I decided to see "Hurricane on the Bayou," a documentary narrated by Meryl Streep which begins its chronicle three years before the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, detailing the erosion of Louisiana's fragile wetlands and the subsequent deterioration of the city's coastal safety net, its natural defense against gulf storms.
Although the breached New Orleans levies failed to protect the city from intense flooding, their initial construction obstructed the ebb, flow and soil deposits of the muddy Mississippi, choking the lifeline of this swampy region.
"Hurricane on the Bayou" showcases Louisiana's diverse Cajun culture, rich musical legacy, fragile ecosystems and the tremendous ferocity of the hurricane on an eight-story, high-definition screen with 13,000 watts of surround sound.
The museum exhibits themselves, though directed at a younger audience and perhaps less appealing than the IMAX films, are nonetheless engaging and informative. Museum-goers are invited to interact with robots that can spell anyone's name with wooden blocks or draw portraits from photographic templates.
However, if you prefer to do the designing yourself rather than let a robot take charge, you can participate in the virtual construction of a bike, car or even a roller coaster by inputting data into an easy-to-use computer program.
The downstairs level houses an exhibit entitled "Green by Design" that shows how innovative technology can produce alternative energy sources that cause less harm to the environment. The theme here is sustainability, encouraging practices that can work in harmony with the planet over time.
One display features an electric car which costs 75 percent less to drive than gas-powered vehicles but has not yet entered the mainstream market because its batteries must be recharged every 20 to 40 miles. Another display introduces new insulation strategies like straw board insulation, which uses clean wheat straw and non-toxic glue, or cotton insulation, which relies upon recycled scraps of denim.
Other environmentally friendly energy sources include solar panels, compact fluorescent lights, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams.
Understanding energy consumption -- an admittedly dry endeavor -- is made bearable by displays which encourage interaction more than simple observation.
Visitors can rearrange a minimodel of solar power field and watch as their strategic placement of panels lights up a model home.
Also downstairs is the presentation, "View from Space." Here visitors are invited to ponder the existence of life on other planets, see what it feels like to fly in space by sampling an astronaut's jet pack, calculate their body weight on Mars or participate in a simulated navigation of a space rover across Mars' rocky red surface.
The Tech Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is well worth the trip for anyone, visitor or resident, who wants to better understand the Silicon Valley, where information technology continues to change the way the world works and plays.
There's surely no place better, AFAIK (as far as I know), for the computer laggard to learn the latest Internet jargon. And for those already initiated, there's surely no place better to get excited about the history of the microchip.
Contact Anna Baldasty at (408) 551-1918 or abaldasty@scu.edu.