Stephanie Stone (415) 379-5121
sstone@calacademy.org

Pat Kilduff (415) 321-8125
pkilduff@calacademy.org

Explore XTREME LIFE at Academy of Sciences

Small new exhibit now open at 875 Howard Street

SAN FRANCISCO (April 12, 2006) – Think the contestants on the CBS reality television show are the toughest survivors on Earth? Think again. The real survivors are the members of the microbe hall of fame, which can withstand temperatures of over 235°F, subsist without sunlight, and feed on delicacies such as rocks and gases. Learn about these extreme survivors—and discover why scientists are looking for similar life forms on other planets—in the Academy’s new exhibit, Xtreme life: On Earth and Beyond?. Located on the second floor of the Academy’s temporary museum at 875 Howard Street, this small new exhibit explores life in some of Earth’s harshest environments, including hot springs, deep sea vents, and polar ice. It also leads visitors through some of likeliest habitats for life in space, including Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Highlights of the exhibit include an interactive projection of the surface of Mars that visitors can navigate using a track-ball device; a touchable meteorite that may have brought some of the building blocks of life to Earth; and a “Microbe Hall of Fame,” where visitors can find the single-celled organisms that endure the hottest, coldest, saltiest, most acidic, most basic, and most radioactive environments on the planet. Additionally, visitors can watch underwater video footage of animals that tolerate total darkness, toxic gases, scalding temperatures, and tremendous pressure in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Like geysers on the ocean floor, these vents spew super-heated water full of dissolved minerals into the deep ocean community, providing chemical energy for a wide variety of microbes. Many other animals, including specialized crabs, clams, shrimp, and fish, feed on these microbes. Similar vents may exist on Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

The Xtreme life exhibit will be on display at the Academy through Spring 2007.

Another Extreme Life Form Coming Soon…
They were the largest land animals ever to walk the earth, and this fall, they will thunder in to San Francisco. DINOSAURS: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries will open at the Academy on September 15, 2006 and run through February 4, 2007 . This groundbreaking exhibition will present the most up-to-date look at how many of the most persistent and puzzling mysteries about dinosaurs—what they looked like, how they moved, and even whether or not they are really extinct—are being reinterpreted by scientists as recent discoveries are brought to life using the latest technology.

The California Academy of Sciences, including Steinhart Aquarium and the Natural History Museum, is open to the public at 875 Howard Street. Admission to the Academy at 875 Howard Street is: $7 for adults, $4.50 for youth ages 12 to 17, Seniors ages 65+ and students with valid ID, $2 for children ages four to 11 and children ages three and younger will be admitted free of charge. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. www.calacademy.org (415) 379-8000.

The California Academy of Sciences, the fourth largest natural history museum in the United States, is home to Steinhart Aquarium, Morrison Planetarium and the Natural History Museum. The Academy is beginning an extensive rebuilding project in Golden Gate Park. Pritzker prize-winning architect Renzo Piano is designing the new Academy, which is expected to open in 2008.

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