NightLife at the Academy

Creature Carnival NightLife

Step right up for a night of circus fun inspired by the Academy’s marvelous menagerie of creatures.

Event Schedule

Unusual Creatures at the Project Lab
6:00-10:00 pm
-Weird Worms Presented by Academy Scientist Chrissy Piotrowski
-Two-headed Snake Skeleton plus other Strange Herpetology Specimens Presented by Academy Scientist David Blackburn
-Curious Insects Presented by Academy Scientist Dave Kavanaugh
-Animals or Plant? A sea urchin that thinks it’s a termite! Presented by Academy Scientist Rich Mooi
-Platypus, Babirusa Skull, and Pangolin Presented by Academy Scientist Liz Carlen
-Bizarre Ants from the Antlab Presented by Academy Scientist Francisco Hita Garcia
-Freaky Frogs Presented by Academy Scientist Greg Jongsma
-Mysterious Creatures found within Rare, Old "Scientific" Books from the Academy Library Collection Presented by Academy Librarian Yolanda Bustos

Circus Performers Throughout
6:00-10:00 pm, Stilt walkers, “TubeAH”, Centrifuge Wheel, Unicycle Juggler, Iracus the Monkey Contortionist, Isotope Orb and many others

Circus School in African Hall
6:00-10:00 pm, Learn how to juggle with Circus of Smiles and then get your face painted - Please note there will be a wait for face painting

Music in the East Pavilion
6:00-10:00 pm, DJ set by Aaron Axelsen 
Music presented by Popscene

Carnival in the East Garden
7:00-10:00 pm
American Tripps Berlin-style Ping Pong
Carnival Games
Burning Man art cars including: Dusty Rhino, Snail Car and Serpent Twins

Live Music in the East Garden
7:45 pm, ODESZA    
8:45 pm, Beat Connection
Visuals by ALL OF IT NOW!
Music presented by Popscene

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Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm
Earth Update
What’s the latest from Planet Earth? Using actual data from NASA, NOAA, and other sources, discover what’s up on our blue planet!  An immersive look at current, news-making developments in climate study, biodiversity, and the geosciences will give new meaning to the word “planet-arium.” Tim Horn will take you around the globe to study the most amazing world of all… The one we live on!

7:30 & 8:30pm Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet
Excite your senses with a new, visually stunning planetarium show that journeys through the San Andreas fault, delves into the Earth's core and explores the seismic science of earthquakes throughout our world.

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

Feel the Music NightLife

Open your ears and your soul—this week we’re exploring the intersection of sound and emotion with help from swissnex San Francisco. At interactive stations set up by scientist Eduardo Coutinho, listen to a plant make music, and explore how emotions are expressed differently in music and the human voice. See NeuroDisco, a 7 foot tall mind-controlled music and light installation by Dr. Erica Warp, Richard Warp and Chung-Hay Luk. Explore how your ears (along with your nose and mouth) affect the experience of wine tasting at 6:30 and 7:30 (note: capacity at tastings is limited).  Didier Grandjean, expert in the neuropsychology of emotion, will give a talk on the “Bliss of the Beat” at 8:30. Listen to bird songs curated by the Academy’s own Ore Carmi at the Project Lab, and in the planetarium, catch a special screening of the math-meets-music show Chaos and Order at 6:30, followed by Earthquake at 7:30 and 8:30. Musicologist and pianist Steffen Schmidt will perform “Piano and Soundscape,” and “Noise and the Digital Stethoscope” in the coral reef. Slayers Club DJs will play sets built around a different emotion each hour.

RSVP on Facebook

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm
Chaos and Order - A Mathematic Symphony
Does math have a color? Sound? Take a journey into a fascinating world of sensuous, ever-evolving images and symphonic-electronic music. Structured into four “movements” from geometric forms, algorithms, simulations to chaos theory, the show explores breathtaking animated visuals of unprecedented beauty in the realm of maths. Experience the fundamental connection between reality and mathematics, as science and art are fused together in this immersive celebration of the one language of our universe. 

7:30 & 8:30pm Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet
Excite your senses with a new, visually stunning planetarium show that journeys through the San Andreas fault, delves into the Earth's core and explores the seismic science of earthquakes throughout our world.

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

Built for Speed NightLife

Satisfy your need for speed at the NightLife premiere of the Academy’s latest exhibit, Built for Speed, which explores what it takes for animals and boats to be fast in fluid. Take part in a Q&A with the designers behind the boats of ORACLE TEAM USA, the America’s Cup defending champions. Challenge a friend to a backyard sailing race using miniature boats, straws, and your lungs.  Plus, learn about fast fish from the Academy’s aquarium staff, and see speedy squid specimens from the research collections. Jot down a pledge of how you’ll help protect the sea and then step into the Healthy Oceans Project photo booth to record it for posterity.

Music in the Piazza and coral reef by Red Bull DJs J.Espinosa, Shortkut and King Most.

RSVP on Facebook

Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm
Universe Update
Take a tour of the Universe with a sprinkling of the hottest news stories from astronomy and the space sciences!  Ryan Wyatt, Director of the Morrison Planetarium, pilots you through the stars and beyond the galaxies, explaining the latest space headlines in easily-digestible terms, and returns you safely to Earth in less than an hour.

7:30 & 8:30pm Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet
Excite your senses with a new, visually stunning planetarium show that journeys through the San Andreas fault, delves into the Earth's core and explores the seismic science of earthquakes throughout our world.

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.