The Cellphones: Unseen Connections exhibit on the second floor uses multiple presentation techniques to immerse visitors in the story of cellphone technology. First, there are interactive touchscreens that allow visitors to engage with information about cellphone evolution and key technological milestones. These screens are effective because they let people explore specific interests at their own pace, fostering personal engagement. Second, the exhibit uses audio-visual displays, showing videos that document historical footage of early cellphone usage and interviews with experts discussing the societal impacts of mobile technology. This technique is impactful because it provides a direct, multimedia experience that brings history to life. Third, physical models and cutaway displays of cellphones are used, allowing visitors to see the internal components up close. These models are effective as they demystify the complex inner workings of cellphones, making the technology behind them more accessible and understandable to visitors.
The exhibit delves into the environmental challenges associated with cellphones, particularly focusing on the materials used in their construction, such as rare earth metals like cobalt, lithium, and gold. It explains that these materials are sourced through mining processes that often have significant environmental impacts, including habitat destruction and water pollution. Additionally, the exhibit addresses the energy-intensive manufacturing and frequent disposal of cellphones, contributing to e-waste and toxic waste issues when phones are not recycled responsibly. The exhibit uses both visual infographics and physical samples of these raw materials to highlight these issues. These displays are coupled with detailed explanations on wall panels, emphasizing the life cycle of a cellphone from resource extraction to disposal. Through these visuals and straightforward text, the exhibit effectively informs visitors of the environmental consequences and prompts them to consider sustainable practices.
In examining the impacts of cellphones, the exhibit highlights a significant technological impact: the development of mobile internet access, which revolutionized how people connect to information and one another. Through a timeline display, the exhibit shows the evolution of network technologies (from 2G to 5G), underscoring how each advancement expanded possibilities for communication and data use. Socially, the exhibit addresses two major impacts: first, the way cellphones have changed interpersonal communication, enabling instant, global contact, and second, the effects on privacy, as cellphones now frequently track location, data, and behaviors. These impacts are conveyed through storytelling panels featuring personal anecdotes and hypothetical scenarios. This technique effectively helps visitors reflect on their personal relationship with technology, making the abstract impacts of cellphones on society feel more immediate and relatable.
The Humans Change the World section addresses several key topics related to the Anthropocene. First, it explores deforestation, illustrating how humans have cleared vast areas of forests for agriculture, urban development, and resources. The exhibit uses before-and-after images and a global map to depict the rapid loss of forest cover over recent centuries, which powerfully conveys the magnitude of this change. A second topic is species extinction, where the exhibit highlights how human activities such as hunting, habitat destruction, and pollution have driven many species to extinction. This is represented through life-sized models of now-extinct animals alongside modern-day relatives, emphasizing the diversity that has been lost. Finally, the exhibit addresses greenhouse gas emissions, particularly how industrialization and the burning of fossil fuels have led to increased atmospheric CO₂ levels. An interactive timeline allows visitors to see rising CO₂ levels over time, providing a compelling visual of the acceleration since the Industrial Revolution. Together, these portrayals offer visitors concrete evidence of human-driven environmental change.
Some critics argue that the hall softens the narrative of human-driven environmental impact, and to some extent, this criticism has merit. While the exhibit does address major environmental changes, it often presents them in a neutral tone and from a purely historical perspective, without explicitly connecting human actions to the urgency of the current climate crisis. Instead of highlighting the potential solutions or the full scope of current impacts, the exhibit may leave visitors without a sense of immediacy about the ongoing consequences. However, this approach can also be seen as inviting visitors to form their own conclusions, as it subtly guides them to recognize the scale of human influence without explicitly attributing blame. Whether this approach is effective depends on the viewer’s perspective—some may find it thought-provoking, while others may see it as not going far enough.
Two videos from The Changing Ocean exhibit provide data on ocean changes related to both biological and environmental factors. The first video, “Coral Reef Bleaching”, discusses biological oceanography by explaining the process of coral bleaching, in which corals expel their symbiotic algae due to stress from rising water temperatures. The video shows data on global coral health, temperature trends, and how increased ocean warming events have affected reefs worldwide. This information is presented through visuals of coral ecosystems and temperature maps, making it relatively easy for general visitors to understand the impact on marine life.
The second video, “Ocean Acidification”, addresses chemical changes in ocean waters. It explains how CO₂ emissions dissolve in seawater, lowering pH levels and making the ocean more acidic. This acidity harms shell-forming organisms like oysters and certain plankton. The video uses animated molecular models and pH level graphs to show the process and impact over time. While informative, some of the chemical terminology might be complex for younger visitors, but the visuals help clarify the broader environmental issue for a general audience.
The Global Ocean Video on the spherical “Science on the Sphere” screen covers topics such as ocean currents, global warming, and the interconnectedness of ocean ecosystems. The video visually depicts how ocean currents distribute heat across the planet and how rising temperatures affect these currents and marine life. It also discusses plastic pollution’s spread across oceanic gyres. The spherical format effectively shows Earth from a global perspective, helping visitors grasp the scale and interconnectedness of the oceans. This 3D approach is particularly useful for understanding concepts like current flows and global distribution patterns, though some may find it challenging to view specific details without moving around the sphere. Overall, the format enhances understanding by offering a comprehensive, immersive experience.
The Paleoenvironmental Dioramas in the Deep Time Hall showcase different periods in Earth’s geologic history with miniature scenes.
Diorama 1: The Cretaceous Period (about 100 million years ago), located in what is now North America. During this time, carbon dioxide levels were significantly higher than today, leading to much warmer temperatures and elevated sea levels, which flooded large parts of the continent. The model includes prehistoric plants and animals, such as early flowering plants and dinosaurs adapted to this warm, lush environment. This diorama effectively illustrates how greenhouse gas levels directly impact sea levels and temperatures, providing a clear connection to modern climate issues.
Diorama 2: The Permian Period (around 280 million years ago), which represents parts of what is now Pangaea. CO₂ levels and temperatures were variable, but as the period neared its end, volcanic activity drove up CO₂ levels, causing intense global warming and ocean acidification, which contributed to the Permian extinction. This diorama is visually striking, with ancient species of reptiles and early conifers, and helps visitors see the dramatic impact of CO₂ on ecosystems. The historical comparison gives a sense of scale and urgency to the modern climate crisis.
The Deep Time Hall includes exhibits on past climate events, such as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a period about 56 million years ago when rapid CO₂ increases caused global temperatures to spike. Scientists analyze sediment cores and fossils to understand these ancient climates. This exhibit effectively shows how scientists use the past to make predictions about future climate trends, highlighting how fluctuations in CO₂ have historically impacted Earth’s climate, drawing parallels to present-day climate change and providing context for visitors on why studying ancient climates is critical.