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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about a new effort to help the publicunderstand science.

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"New tools help us see deeper intothe nature of things. New discoveries lie before us." These wordshelp explain the purpose of the new Marian Koshland Science Museumin Washington, D.C. The museum is designed to help the publicunderstand new scientific tools and discoveries.

The museum is small and different. It is created for people agedthirteen and older. It uses modern technology to explain somecomplex science issues to the public. The exhibits explore the linksbetween scientific research and everyday life.

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The museum opened in April, two thousand four. It is part of theNational Academy of Sciences, a private, non-profit organization. Ineighteen sixty-three, President Abraham Lincoln signed acongressional charter making the National Academy of Sciences anindependent adviser to the federal government. Today it is one offour organizations that advise the nation on issues of science,engineering and medicine. They publish more than two hundredresearch studies each year for policy makers and citizens. Theexhibits in the new science museum are based on these researchreports.

The museum is named for a female scientist, Marian Koshland, whohad been a member of the National Academy of Sciences for manyyears.

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Erika Shugart (SHOE-gart) is deputy director of the MarianKoshland Science Museum. She says the idea of a new museum beganwith Daniel Koshland, a well-known biochemist. He wanted to honorhis wife who died in nineteen ninety-seven. Marian Koshland wasmolecular biologist and immunologist who had made importantdiscoveries. She also was known for wanting to get young peopleinterested in science. And she felt it was important to increasepublic understanding of science.

Miz Shugart says that about six years ago, Mister Koshlandoffered to give money to the National Academy of Sciences to supporta project that would honor his wife. Many ideas were discussed.Mister Koshland liked the idea of creating a new science museum. Heand other members of the National Academy of Sciences looked at anumber of science museums. They decided there was a need for amuseum to present the latest scientific theories that are related todaily life.

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Miz Shugart says four goals were important in planning the MarianKoshland Science Museum. One was that the exhibits in the museum bebased on research reports released by the National Academies. Themuseum creators also felt that any science issue being presentedshould be important now and for the future.

Another goal is that the subject of the exhibit be one thatpeople disagree about in some way. And the museum planners wantedeach exhibit to be based on scientific information that could bepresented by modern technology in such a way that visitors have funwhile learning.

So the new museum contains a lot of factual information presentedin a bright, interactive way. There are films, games and videodisplays that are fun to use.

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The museum space is divided into three areas. Visitors first seea film that explores the "Wonders of Science". It shows some of theresearch that scientists are doing to unlock the mysteries of theuniverse.

The film shows scientists using telescopes to look deep in theuniverse beyond our world. They use microscopes to look deep intothe smallest particles in our world. These tools helped scientistsdiscover that the same rules that govern the structure and movementsof atoms and plants also govern the structure and movements of starsand galaxies.

Nearby are areas where visitors can explore subjects in the filmsuch as dark matter, dark energy and the shared properties of allthings. Visitors can compare satellite images of the Earth's lightstaken at night in nineteen ninety-three and in two thousand. Manyareas of the world are more brightly lit in the more recent imagesbecause of an increase in economic activity and energy use. There isalso a difference in lights at night in North Korea and South Korea.And the lights increase in an area of the world such as Ukrainewhose economy grew in the seven years after the first images weretaken.

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The second exhibit area in the new science museum is "GlobalWarming Facts and Our Future." Visitors can find out facts aboutclimate change including its natural and human causes. They also cansee the possible future effects of global warming.

A large real-looking copy of a cow named Bessy is part of theexhibit. Cows eat a lot of grass and release a lot of methane gas.Scientists say methane is one of the biggest causes of the warmingof the atmosphere. Nearby, a large wall display describes othercauses of climate change. These include natural ones such asvolcanoes and the activity of the sun. And there are human causessuch as the burning of coal, gas and oil.

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One part of the exhibit shows changes in temperature around theworld during the last century. A large map lets visitors find outhow the temperature changed in any area of the world. They canexamine the tools scientists use to find recent and prehistoricchanges in climate – including samples from trees, dirt, ice andcoral.

Visitors can see how global warming affects different areas ofthe world. One possible result is a rise in sea levels because ofmelting ice. Scientists say it is possible that the sea level couldrise from five centimeters to almost a meter in about one hundredyears. The exhibit shows possible effects of the resulting floodingon agriculture, animals and plants, water supply, human health andtraditional cultures.

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The third exhibit in the new Marian Koshland Science Museum is"Putting DNA to Work". It shows ways that DNA, the genetic materialof organisms, is being used today. Computer devices let visitorsinvestigate how diseases are identified. These programs show how DNAresearch is helping protect public health by letting scientistsquickly identify the virus responsible for a new disease. In twothousand three, scientists used a new scientific tool called amicroarray to identify the virus family to which SARS belongs. Theyidentified the virus family in just twenty-four hours.

Visitors also can learn how DNA information is used in criminalcases. For example, law enforcement agents use a system named CODISto solve crimes. CODIS is the Combined DNA Index System. It is usedby the Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS is based on the seriesof DNA markers in thirteen places in the human genome, the map ofthe gene system in humans. It is used to prove if a suspect in acrime is guilty or innocent.

A visitor to the museum exhibit can compare DNA from threesuspects of a crime to a DNA sample found where the crime tookplace. For two of the suspects, some of the series of DNA markersare the same as in the DNA sample found at the crime. For onesuspect, the guilty one, all the DNA series are the same. Scientistssay it is almost impossible that two different people would have thesame DNA series in all thirteen places used in CODIS.

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The deputy director of the museum, Erika Shugart, says thatvisitors seem to have a rich experience even though the museum spaceis small. Many visitors praise the efforts of the Marian KoshlandScience Museum to make science exciting and to show how science isrelated to daily life.

The museum also offers a number of public programs. One popularprogram is a scientific wine tasting where a climate expert explainshow climate affects the taste of different wines.

The museum offers special visits for school groups of olderstudents. Material on the museum's Web site helps students preparefor their visit and to continue learning about the subjects in theexhibits.

People who cannot visit the real museum can experience it on theInternet. The museum's exhibits and links to other science Web sitescan be found at koshlandscience.org. That isk-o-s-h-l-a-n-d-s-c-i-e-n-c-e dot o-r-g.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Marilyn Christiano, and directed byMario Ritter. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.