SAINT LOUIS SCIENCE CENTER WINS NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE EVENT

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis and its award-winning Saint Louis Science Center have won a national competition to host SciFest 08: International Science Festival/St. Louis. Festival organizers selected St. Louis from a list of cities that included New York City, Boston and San Francisco. Local experts predict the festival will bring an estimated 90,000 visitors to the city and $4.7 million in tourism revenue in its first three years.

SAINT LOUIS SCIENCE CENTER’S DR. CHRISTINE ROMAN RECEIVES UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ALUMNI AWARD

College of Liberal Arts Names Science Center Director Alumnus of Notable Achievement

 

ST. LOUIS— The University of Minnesota announced Dr. Christine Roman, PhD has been named a 2008 “Alumnus of Notable Achievement” for its College of Liberal Arts (CLA). Roman is a 1975 graduate of the University, and currently is the Associate Director of Emerging Technologies for the Saint Louis Science Center.

SAINT LOUIS SCIENCE CENTER UNVEILS “NANODAYS 2008”

What’s larger than an atom but smaller than bacteria?…The world of nanotechnology, and it’s part of our everyday life…from flooring materials to your last visit to your dentist, nanotechnology is entering many areas of our life.  Today’s stain resistant clothing, sunscreen lotions, computers, bicycles, and even our daily vitamins are affected by nanotechnology.

The Saint Louis Science Center is one of more than 100 science centers around the country celebrating this phenomenon in a small way this week with NanoDays.

 

Taiwan Winds Soar in St. Louis

The Saint Louis Science Center and the Greater St. Louis Chapter of the Taiwanese Association of America (TAA-STL) present Taiwan Winds Soar in St. Louis, an outdoor, heritage festival on Saturday, May 3.

The highlight of the day, which celebrates Taiwanese American Heritage Week, comes when internationally recognized kite-maker Buteo Huang flies, for the first time, his new masterpiece, a prehistoric pterosaur kite with a wingspan of more than 20 feet that will be placed on permanent display at the Science Center.

NASA Deputy Administrator Visits St. Louis for Future Forum

ST. LOUIS – On Tuesday, March 25, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale will present the keynote address to launch a daylong event at the Saint Louis Science Center celebrating the space agency’s 50th birthday. NASA’s St. Louis Future Forum focuses on how space exploration benefits Missouri’s economy and is part of a yearlong series. Media are invited to attend the day’s events, as well as a media-only question and answer session at 10:30 a.m.

Astronaut Carl Walz, director of the Advanced Capabilities Division in NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, will provide an overview of the agency’s plans to return to the moon and explore beyond. Retired astronaut Tom Jones also will participate in the forum. Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder will deliver the luncheon address.

POLAR-PALOOZA National Tour Dates Announced

POLAR-PALOOZA is a national tour featuring public presentations entitled “Stories From a Changing Planet.” These tales of adventure and science are told by a charismatic “cast” of characters, using HD video and authentic props — such as a piece of ice core 2,000 years old, or a caribou parka — to bring polar research to life. Each stop on the tour will include special programs for schools, workshops for K-12 educators and museum volunteers, briefings for local news media and business leaders, and camp-ins for Girl Scouts and Boys and Girls Clubs.

• March 13-14, 2008 — Washington, D.C.
• April 17-19, 2008 — Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah Museum of Natural History
• April 21-22, 2008 — Norman, Okla.: Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
• May 4-6, 2008 — Anchorage, Alaska: Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
• May 8-10, 2008 — Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Museum of the North
• May 24-25, 2008 — Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
• Sept. 12-13, 2008 — Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• Sept. 19-20, 2008 — Chicago, Ill. : Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the Adler Planetarium
• Oct. 22-24, 2008 — Richmond, Va. : Science Museum of Virginia
• Oct. 27-29, 2008 — St. Louis, Mo. : St. Louis Science Center
• Nov. 11-12, 2008 — Boise, Idaho: Discovery Center of Idaho
• Nov. 14-15, 2008 — Denver, Colo. : Denver Museum of Nature and Science

For more information about the Polar-Palooza events, visit http://passporttoknowledge.com/polar-palooza/pp04.php.

BODY WORLDS 3 Sprints to the Finish Line with 63-Hour Marathon

Saint Louis Science Center Open Around the Clock for FInal Three Days of ExhibitionWhat:
Due to overwhelming visitor demand, the Saint Louis Science Center is keeping the BODY WORLDS 3 exhibition open for 63 continuous hours starting at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, February 29, and concluding at midnight Sunday, March 2 (technically Monday morning).

Body Worlds 3, Only Few Weeks Remain for Saint Louis!

Body Worlds 3, the amazing exhibition at the Saint Louis Science Center will leave Saint Louis in a few short weeks.  The exhibition of real human bodies that have undergone the Plastination process has brought record crowds to the Science Center over the last few months.

Checking with the Science Center staff, there are still many tickets available but it is expected that more popular times will sell out as the curtain draws to a close.

For those who have not seen the show it is awesome and well worth the price of admission – definitely one of those opportunities in life you don’t want to miss.

Background on Body Worlds 3

Throughout the ages, medical scholars and students have strived to understand how our bodies function through exploration of real human specimens. Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS, the most highly attended touring exhibition in the world, takes this tradition one step further by presenting a new look at the human body.

Take an eye-opening journey through the inner workings of the human body, exploring specific areas including the locomotive, nervous, respiratory, circulatory, cardiovascular, digestive and reproductive systems. See muscles, bones and tendons that help us move; study the parts and organs that allow us to fuel our bodies; view the complex pathways of our vascular system; and realize how human life is made possible.

This original and unprecedented exhibition of real human bodies features about 200 authentic human specimens, including whole-bodies, individual organs and transparent body slices that have been preserved through the process of Plastination, a revolutionary specimen preservation process that was invented by Dr. von Hagens in 1977, which replaces bodily fluids and fat with reactive plastics. The specimens on display were generously willed by body donors during their lifetime for the express purpose of Plastination and educational enlightenment. BODY WORLDS 3 offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see and understand our own physiology and health and to gain new appreciation and respect for what it means to be human.

Saint Louis Science Center Named one of America’s Most Visited Museums

Science Center is only Missouri Museum Included in Top 25 List from Forbest Traveler

ST. LOUIS – Forbes Traveler has named the Saint Louis Science Center as one of America’s 25 Most Visited Museums. The Science Center is the only Missouri museum to make to list, which is based on 2006 visitor counts, with the Science Center’s totaling more than 1.2 million.

Joining the Saint Louis Science Center on the list are many of the Smithsonian Institute’s 19 museums; the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.; the Metropolitan Museum in New York City; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center in Los Angeles; and the Field Museum in Chicago. The American Association of Museums estimates that there are approximately 600 million visits to U.S. museums annually.

Body Worlds St. Louis Tops 100,000 – Breaks Previous Records

BODY WORLDS 3 on Record-Setting Pace; Tops 100,000 Tickets Sold

Travelers at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport get a Sneak Preview of BODY WORLDS 3
Incredible “Six Meter Woman” plastinate installed in airport main terminal ticketing hall

ST. LOUIS, November 20, 2007 ? The blockbuster exhibition BODY WORLDS 3 is on a record-setting pace at the Saint Louis Science Center, more than doubling the previous tickets sold in the first month of any prior presentation.
 
More than 100,000 tickets to BODY WORLDS 3 were sold as of Monday, November 19. It opened exactly one month ago. By comparison, ticket sales of Titanic in 2001?the previous record-holder?totaled 45,000 in the first month of public display. The popular Grossology exhibition opened in 2000 and sold 42,000 tickets in its first month.
 
“BODY WORLDS 3 has proven to be everything we thought it would be in Saint Louis and more.” said Doug King, President & CEO of the Science Center. “Our patrons are fascinated, amazed, and enthralled by this thought-provoking exhibition.”
 
The reach of BODY WORLDS 3 is expanding as air travelers making their way through Lambert-St. Louis International Airport over the busy travel weekend will get a special sneak preview of the highly-acclaimed exhibition. BODY WORLDS 3 has installed an incredible Six Meter Woman specimen in Lambert?s Main Terminal Ticketing Hall. The specimen will remain in the airport through the run of the exhibition, which ends on March 2, 2008.
 
The Six Meter Woman is a transparent, plastinated body comprised of 83 slices representing all of the body?s regions.  Placement of the body slices at 12 cm intervals permits viewers to look more deeply into the body.
 
Created by Dr. Gunther von Hagens, BODY WORLDS 3 is the culmination of the German scientist and physician?s 30-year career in anatomy. Like its predecessors, BODY WORLDS 3 presents more than 200 authentic specimens, including organs and whole body specimens, that have undergone Plastination?von Hagens? groundbreaking method of halting decomposition and preserving the body after death for medical study, which he invented in 1977.
 
Tickets to BODY WORLDS 3 are available and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or by calling 314-421-4400. Advance purchase is recommended and group rates are available.  For full ticket information, including a listing of extended hours, visit slsc.org.

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About BODY WORLDS 3
BODY  WORLDS 3 is a collaboration between donor, anatomist, and visitor. It is the only public anatomical exhibition that relies on the generosity of body donors?individuals who willed that upon their death, their bodies could be used for the education of many. Excluding a small number of specimens from museum anatomical collections and anatomy programs, the plastinates on display stem from a body donation program begun in 1982 by Dr. von Hagens, now managed by the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg. The exhibitions have now been seen by more than 20 million people around the world. For more information visit www.bodyworlds.com.
 
About the Saint Louis Science Center
The Saint Louis Science Center is one of the top five science centers in the United States, serving 1.2 million visitors annually. Recently named one of America?s most visited museums by Forbes Traveler, the Saint Louis Science Center complex includes a four-story OMNIMAX® Theater, the air-supported Montgomery Bank EXPLORADOME®, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, and the state-of-the-art Taylor Community Science Resource Center. The goals of the Saint Louis Science Center are to educate, inspire and motivate visitors of all ages and engage the community in public dialogue about science-related issues of the day. For more information about the Saint Louis Science Center and its programs, visit slsc.org
 
About Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert is the 33rd busiest airport in the U.S. as ranked by Airports Council International-North America. Lambert serves more than 15 million passengers a year with 360 daily departures to 77 national and international destinations. For more information on flights and services at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, log onto www.lambert-stl.com.