UNITED KINGDOM: A new exhibition at the Science Museum in London explores the science of aliens

Are they here? A new exhibition at The Science Museum in London explores the facts and fiction of alien life. 'The Science of Aliens' is an in-depth public exhibition combining world-famous extraterrestrial stories with new scientific research. Head of the museum, Jon Tucker says public demand inspired the museum to delve into the topic. "We do a lot of visitor research and our visitors, we know that this is one of the big questions that they ask themselves: 'Are we alone in the universe?'. I think it was really that, that inspired us to look at this topic," Tucker said. Instead of concentrating on the obvious, the exhibition combines the common fascination with life on other planets with the work of leading scientists. A group of scientists, including Professor Simon Conway-Morris from the Cambridge University, brainstormed two planets into existence and imagined how life on these planets would develop and evolve. "We are particularly looking at how environments, how different planets might shape the way life evolved and then developed. What makes particular creatures successful, what would make them go and thrive? What would they eat? How would they move? Would they fly or swim? Would they eat each other? In what order? There's so many questions. All of it in this exhibition based and grounded on scientific research and fact on how life has evolved and developed on this planet," explained Tucker. The exhibition takes the visitors through four separate zones. At the entrance to the first zone, 'Alien Fiction', visitors are greeted by the Queen Alien from James Cameron's 'Aliens' films. Film clips, collectors' items and photographs present the modern take on extraterrestrial life, made famous by television and film. The visitors are then shown creatures of the earth, in the second zone 'Alien Science', which proves that not all alien come from outside the earth. "Even on this planet, there are weird creatures living in the deep ocean, there are extraordinary bacteria, which live in boiling water. This (the exhibition) is partly to remind ourselves that even on the earth, the sorts of life that we see here, are, in point of fact, more alien than anyone realised," Professor Conway-Morris said. The two final zones, 'Alien Worlds' and 'Alien Communications' concentrate on the scientific work carried out by experts around the world on the lookout for alien intelligence, as well as the findings of the team of scientists on the imagined but scientifically credible planets. It is this combination of facts and fiction, says Prof. Conway-Morris, that makes the exhibition special. "It's as much a voyage of imagination, because it's too often forgotten that science is not dry as dust, it's not boring people in white coats, it's actually taking an adventure into an area which can lead to terrible things, like the atomic bomb, but it can also lead to the most amazing discoveries," he said. Young visitors certainly were impressed by the museum's imaginative take on the topic. "I think it was very interesting because the aliens, normally you see them like green with black eyes but that was really different and I really liked it and I really liked also the animals. It was really good," said 12-year-old Helen Khindria. "You could just examine the different types of things we've seen under the see or on the earth and stuff that you could see from five hundred million years ago. It's cool," Dylan Yem added. February 26, 2006. After debuting in London, the exhibition will go on an international tour.

ITN Source | October 15, 2005

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