Liberty Science Center
Encyclopedia
Liberty Science Center is an interactive science museum
and learning center located in Liberty State Park
in Jersey City, New Jersey
.
The center, which first opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum, has science exhibits, the largest IMAX
Dome theater in the United States
, numerous educational resources, and the original Hoberman sphere
, a silver, computer-driven engineering artwork designed by Chuck Hoberman
. The museum opened with another artistic exhibit that is related to the sciences, Jim Gary
's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs sculpture exhibition, as the exhibit on the ground floor.
Liberty Science Center's exhibitions include:
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
and learning center located in Liberty State Park
Liberty State Park
Liberty State Park is located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey, opposite the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations and is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.-Geography and...
in Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
.
The center, which first opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum, has science exhibits, the largest IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
Dome theater in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, numerous educational resources, and the original Hoberman sphere
Hoberman sphere
A Hoberman sphere is a structure invented by Chuck Hoberman that resembles a geodesic dome, but is capable of folding down to a fraction of its normal size by the scissor-like action of its joints...
, a silver, computer-driven engineering artwork designed by Chuck Hoberman
Chuck Hoberman
Chuck Hoberman is an inventor of folding toys and structures, most notably the Hoberman sphere. He won the Chrysler Design Award for Innovation and Design in 1997 and was a finalist for the 2000 Smithsonian National Design Award.-Creations:In addition to toys such as the Hoberman sphere,the...
. The museum opened with another artistic exhibit that is related to the sciences, Jim Gary
Jim Gary
Jim Gary was an American sculptor popularly known for his large, colorful creations of dinosaurs made from discarded automobile parts...
's Twentieth Century Dinosaurs sculpture exhibition, as the exhibit on the ground floor.
History
Liberty Science Center completed a twenty-two-month, $109 million expansion and renewal project on July 19, 2007. The expansion added 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) to the facility, bringing it to nearly 300000 square feet (27,870.9 m²). However the amount of exhibit space slightly decreased with the expansion as all the new space added is open space such as queue lines for the ticketing office. It also has state-of-the-art surround sound, and also one of the world's best picture screen in the IMAX dome.Liberty Science Center's exhibitions include:
- Skyscraper! Achievement and Impact - the largest exhibition on the subject of skyscrapers in the world - with artifactsArtifact (archaeology)An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
from the World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, a walk along an I-BeamI-beam-beams, also known as H-beams, W-beams , rolled steel joist , or double-T are beams with an - or H-shaped cross-section. The horizontal elements of the "" are flanges, while the vertical element is the web...
two stories above the exhibition floor, an earthquakeEarthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
-shake table, a glass-Schindler 400A mid-rise Traction elevator, which is open to show how the elevator moves, the machine room, and the pit, and much more. - Eat and Be Eaten - this exhibit of life animals explores the predator-prey relationship, offering lots of live animals including deadly vipersViperidaeThe Viperidae are a family of venomous snakes found all over the world, except in Antarctica, Australia, Ireland, Madagascar, Hawaii, various other isolated islands, and above the Arctic Circle. All have relatively long, hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of venom. Four...
, amazing puffer fish, and scores of other creatures. - Communication explores humanHumanHumans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
communicationCommunicationCommunication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
in four areas—body and language; symbols, signs, and writing; print, audio, and video; and signals and networks. Here you can also do Language Karaoke, where you are taught to say phrases in a new language: Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, or Cockney. - Infection Connection - helps guests understand how individual actions may affect global healthHealthHealth is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
issues. You may ride the IC Express, which shows a film about different types of infectious diseases. - I Explore - an age-restricted area, where guests under age six and their caregivers can explore aspects of the world around them through water play, a microscope, a large climbing structure, a street scape, and a rock xylophone - made from hanging rocks that ring like bells when struck.
- Our Hudson Home - teaches guests about the wildlifeWildlifeWildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
and ecologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
of the Hudson RiverHudson RiverThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. - Wonder Why - holds many of the original exhibits from the earliest days of the museum
- Energy Quest - explores different energyEnergyIn physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
types and the technologiesTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
to harness these. - Wildlife Challenge - a seasonal outdoor exhibit in which guests can take part in a variety of physical activities, designed to simulate different animals' environments. Activities include balance beams, and a zip line accessible only to guests that can hold onto a rope for at least ten seconds.
- Traveling Exhibit - Various exhibits on display. The first exhibit since the center re-opened was Islamic Science Re-Discovered. A recent traveling exhibit was Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear, where guests saw how they would react when they were exposed to creepy animals, loud noises, electric shock and the fear of falling. The exhibit explored why their bodies reacted the way they do. Liberty Science Center is currently hosting "Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age" until January 9. This exhibit uses video installations, hands-on interactive displays, life-sized models and fossils to teach more about the extinct mammals. Between October 16 and November 10, the exhibit showcased LyubaLyubaLyuba is a female woolly mammoth calf who died ca 40,000 years ago at the age of one month. She is by far the best preserved mammoth mummy in the world, surpassing Dima, a male mammoth calf mummy which had previously been the best known specimen.Discovered in May 2007 by reindeer breeder and...
, the world's best preserved woolly mammoth specimen.