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So, you're seen the banners (Bruce, and otherwise) all over town, hanging from lightposts. You've wondered what they are all about. Well, it's time to activate your latent mutant genes, and go find out for yourself at the California Science Center.
Last month they opened the brand spanking new Marvel Superheroes Science Exhibit, and it's one of the most exciting and innovative ways we've seen to get both children and adults interested in science. They have exhibits explaining how strong Spiderman's webs are, how powerful Iron Man's exoskeletal armor is, what it took to get Wolverine that nifty adamantium skeleton, how Storm controls the weather, and our favorite, how Iceman forms ice from thin air.
There were several school groups visiting the morning that we attended, and they loved the entire exhibit. In one exhibit, explaining how sonic powers work, kids yell at an approaching sentinel robot (they hunt down mutants) and use the power of their voices to beat him. You can control one of Doc Ock's robotic tentacles to send an alert to Spiderman, find out how Daredevil uses his sonar powers to see in the dark, and even have your face worked into an existing Marvel comic book cover.
The adults in attendance (including us) enjoyed the oversized artwork, the replicas of parts of Xavier's School for Mutants, and the hands on portions of the exhibit. As you wind your way through everything, you'll find that it does dump you, very Disney-style, into gift shop, where you can purchase everything from expensive porcelain statues, to Fantastic Four candy, to comic books. You'll also see, just outside the gift shop, a short but entertaining film featuring Stan "The Man" Lee talking about how science insprired him when he created everything from Spiderman to the Fantastic Four, to the X-Men.
Enjoy some more shots from our Flickr pool! The Marvel Superheroes Science Exhibit runs through September 4th at the California Science Center. Excelsior!
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