I don’t know about you, but I love planetarium shows. I’m not even a huge fan of space, but I could go to those things all day. And of course, the planetarium shows aren’t always about space, often they’ve got sharks or rainforests. It’s a great educational experience, and wonderfully immersive.
But I have always thought some fields were left out. I mean, how do you show the gastrointestinal tract in surround? I could imagine that getting a little…gutsy. Even so, I’ve always wondered, why is there no planetarium show about neuroscience? Perhaps there are some, but I’ve never seen them. And it’s too bad. Because neuroscience is one of those fields, to me, that really can get planetarium sized. With a whole planetarium to fill you could show neural networks, electrical activity, pathways. A neuroscience planetarium show would be so inspiring, showing people the vastness of this tiny 3 lb lump in our heads, and how much we still don’t know.
And now, there are people who are trying to make it HAPPEN! I recently heard about Neurodome, a proposed planetarium show that will incorporate space and neuroscience, trying to explain why we explore. It will show things like how we currently understand neural networks, and of course there will be lots of brain imaging (which I can understand. Mice running mazes doesn’t really get better in planetarium-size). They also want to incorporate their content into educational programs, to help more kids get education about the brain.
I think this could be a really cool project, and I’m glad to see they’ve started a Kickstarter! So if you think this idea is as cool as I do, send a few bucks their way and let them know!
NEURODOME Trailer from fisherworks on Vimeo.
