Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tap into 'Boundless Energy' at Birch Aquarium at Scripps

New exhibit opening July 9

Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego

Get charged up about the future of energy. On Saturday, July 9, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, will open Boundless Energy, an outdoor, interactive exhibit that explores how we can use natural forces to power our lives.

Boundless Energy, made possible through the support of lead sponsor Sempra Energy Foundation, will showcase innovative ways to harness renewable energy from the sun, wind and ocean motion. The exhibit — located in the Robert Smargon Exhibit Court, with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean — features highly educational, interactive elements that encourage learning through play.

The exhibit will deepen visitors' understanding of how renewable energy sources can produce clean electricity, the benefits and challenges of deriving energy from these sources and the innovations making this energy increasingly available in the marketplace.

Visitors can:

·Explore renewable energy sources and decide how they would power the future.
·Get energized about new, cool technology that plugs into the power of the planet.
·Fuel their thinking with hands-on activities such as powering a mechanical fish with solar energy, comparing the latest wind turbine innovations, and creating green energy out of the blue at wave tanks and water tables.
·Expend their own "boundless energy" within a dynamic play area for children, where activity drives a kinetic water sculpture.
·Relax and recharge while discovering the sustainable practices in action all over the UC San Diego campus, including Birch Aquarium and Scripps Oceanography.

Boundless Energy is a natural extension of Feeling the Heat: The Climate Challenge, the aquarium's award-winning exhibit that presents the science of global climate change. Dedicated by former Vice President Al Gore in 2007, Feeling the Heat highlights Scripps' half-century of leadership in studying climate change and educates about current and projected environmental changes caused by society's over-use of fossil fuels.

"We want to show our visitors — especially children — the exciting future that awaits us all," said
Nigella Hillgarth, aquarium executive director. "Through human ingenuity, we can create a future in which clean power comes from renewable sources, a future that supports our quality of life and protects the health of people and our planet."

Boundless Energy will be open through 2016.

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About Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,400, and annual expenditures of approximately $170 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates robotic networks, and one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration. Birch Aquarium at Scripps serves as the interpretive center of the institution and showcases Scripps research and a diverse array of marine life through exhibits and programming for more than 415,000 visitors each year. Learn more at scripps.ucsd.edu.

About UC San Diego
Fifty years ago, the founders of the University of California, San Diego, had one criterion for the campus: It must be distinctive. Since then, UC San Diego has achieved the extraordinary in education, research and innovation. Sixteen Nobel laureates have taught on campus; stellar faculty members have been awarded Fields Medals, Pulitzer Prizes, McArthur Fellowships and many other honors. UC San Diego-recognized as one of the top ten public universities by U.S. News & World Report and named by the Washington Monthly as number one in the nation in rankings measuring "what colleges are doing for the country"- is widely acknowledged for its local impact, national influence and global reach. UC San Diego is celebrating 50 years of visionaries, innovators and overachievers.
50th.ucsd.edu

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