Science Museum - The Book of Discoveries: In Association with The Science Museum

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If material cannot be transported there, you may be able to consult it at the Library and Archives at the National Collections Centre. This will be assessed by our staff on a case-by-case basis, and where access is permitted, you will be offered a Friday visit providing that we have available space and that you agree to abide by our Covid-19 access arrangements. Glyn Morgan, Lead Curator for the exhibition said: ‘Science fiction invites us to observe our own planet and consider our impact upon it. Visitors will see bright futures the genre has imagined and be confronted by some of the biggest threats to our existence – climate change, ecological devastation and nuclear war – as we invite them to consider how often-dystopian imaginings could give us the intellectual and emotional tools to imagine and create more utopian futures.’

The exhibition also explores artificial intelligences we have engineered and imagined, from Maria in Metropolis and HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey to today’s companion robots. Are these artificial beings just reflections of ourselves and our fears, or could they ever be alive like us? To help answer these questions, visitors can examine how AI is already shaping our societies in unexpected ways such as through biases in programming which create discriminatory algorithms. Visitors will answer a distress call from an unexplored world and beam down to the planet in a dazzling blaze of light to investigate. As this unfamiliar and eery place is explored visitors will encounter an unusual lifeform that reacts to their presence and discover more about the planet in this captivating experience before returning to the spaceship to continue their adventure.Driverless: Who is in control? is free and open daily from 12 June 2019 until October 2020, with late opening (18.45 to 22.00) on the last Wednesday of each month for Lates . Taylor’s narrative clings tightly to Wallace’s train of thought as he grapples with these feelings, difficult enough for anyone, whilst simultaneously being made to feel that he doesn’t fit into his lab because of his skin colour. When his supervisor or fellow students question whether he belongs there, and after one of his experiments fails under potentially suspicious circumstances, he cannot know if they are articulating his genuine self-doubt or their own racist presumptions. For decades, autonomous vehicles have been heralded as a new technology that could change the way we live our lives. Driverless: Who is in control? opening today at the Science Museum will explore how close we are to living in a world driven by thinking machines. The Energy Café, The Diner, Shake Bar, Gallery Café, main shop and Power Up shop are open all week for you to enjoy. The Basement Café is open during school holidays.

This unforgettable experience begins the moment you enter the exhibition’s departure lounge, ready to blast off into space. In this unique story-led exhibition, visitors have a vital role to play in helping an extra-terrestrial artificial intelligence understand more about humanity while exploring a vast spaceship. Guided by the AI, visitors can examine visions of the future through science and science fiction, encountering authentic items from celebrated science fiction films, television series and literature as well as significant scientific objects that have shaped modern life. Although this is a debut novel, Taylor (who is a former biochemist himself – drawing on his own experience at University) imbues the book with turns of phrase which are beautiful in their precision and imagery, whether it’s describing the vast lake which dominates the campus, the life cycle of the nematode worms on Wallace’s petri dishes, or some other element of lab work. Normal postgraduate anxieties and the recent death of his father dredging up memories and feelings of his home in Alabama, a lifestyle and circumstances he is not eager to have to return to, Wallace is already conflicted about whether a PhD in biochemistry is really for him. Roger Highfield, Science Director at Science Museum Group, said, ‘Driverless: Who is in control? will highlight how autonomous technology may seem like the stuff of sci-fi but has been around longer than many realise, beginning with our beautiful 1960 Citroen DS19 automatically-guided motor car, which followed the magnetic field from embedded cables in the M4. We’ll be exploring how robotic vehicles have evolved with mine clearance drones from Mine Kafon, the world’s first self-driving racing car, barley from the first crop harvested by autonomous machines, and how Boaty McBoatface will attempt the world’s first under-ice crossing of the Arctic Ocean. In Driverless we’ll ask timely questions about how much control we’re willing to cede to AI machines and how driverless technology could transform our world.’Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at https://news.samsung.com/uk/ About Discover South Kensington Engineer Your Future closed permanently on Monday 23 January 2023— Engineers, a major new, free gallery exploring the incredible human stories behind engineering, opened on Friday 23 June 2023. We owe a huge thank you to our judging panel and our supporting organisations who nominated them. They are:

Glyn’s first entry is Real Life by Brandon Taylor. Left, Book cover image courtesy of Daunt Books Publishing. Right, Brandon Taylor image courtesy of Penguin Random House and Bill Adams. TITLE: Real Life This is a novel which, as the title suggests, is very true to the everyday experience of many people in the scientific community. It is also a novel about how scary academic life can be. Much like the work of a writer like Sally Rooney, it is also about how isolating it can be to be young, and about the challenges of love. It is a book that feels thoroughly American yet also universal. It is a novel about science, but it is also a mirror on society.Gavin Fox, Creative Director at Framestore, said: 'Framestore have been taking people to fantastical worlds for many years and our dedicated immersive team’s work in theme parks and attractions has raised this to new levels. Working alongside P&P Projects, one of the foremost scenic design and build companies in the world, we’re delighted to take our immersive work to new heights, to outer space even, to bring this ambitious, innovative and exciting concept to life for the Science Museum.' The exhibition is supported by MathWorks (Principle Sponsor) and Direct Line Group (Major Sponsor) and PwC (Major Sponsor) and Samsung Electronics UK (Technology Partner). Use our risk assessment information, hazard identification sheet and insurance confirmation letter to help you write your risk assessment. she plates thousands of tiny cultures, clumps of greyish cells that grow and divide, or else die, in pools of brilliant red media. Wallace once found her there, like stumbling upon a spirit in a myth. She had been dabbing tears from her eyes with her bare forearm, dabbing and pipetting simultaneously in one unbroken motion. She had a heavy scent to her, like salt water.’ (p. 63) Volume 14 No.4 (Oct 1 1996) of the “Worm Breeder’s Gazette”, an amateur journal for researchers working on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegan from the Science Museum Group Collection.

Visitors will have the chance to explore three distinctive zones in the exhibition, Land, Air and Water. Each section will explore the different technology solutions already operating in these environments, the motivations of their developers, and their potential to transform a range of activities and industries.

Getting here

If you have limited mobility, access is by lift; please ask for help at the main reception desk when you arrive in the building. Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination is curated by the Science Museum and designed by Framestore, the BAFTA and Academy Award winning creative studio. The exhibition is kindly supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation as the Major Funder.