Exploratorium Pier 15

Note: A ticket to Thursday evening adult-only hours does not guarantee admission to special programs with limited seating. Tickets for limited-capacity programs will be made available to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.

Live Nude Cells!

Sex involves the exchange of genetic information resulting in evolution and specialization—and is the reason you have your father's nose. Peek into the whys and hows of sex and discover some of the surprising ways nature brings sperm and eggs together.

See sexual deception of the floral kind, tease apart the mechanics of sex toys, and find out how eggs and sperm may become the most unique and specialized cells in the body with UCSF professor Dr. Diana Laird.

Uncover the astonishing sex lives of flowers with Exploratorium emeritus biologist Dr. Karen Kalumuck, and taste honeys made from different nectars—or sample a sautéed bull testicle. Guess which sperm is human, catch insects in the act, and watch a live egg become fertilized.

Arouse your scientific curiosity in romantic love, and hear the history behind "hysterical paroxysms" from Good Vibrations sexologist Dr. Carol Queen. Explore interventions for infertility, flirt with the advantages of sexual versus asexual reproduction, and get up close and personal with dissections of gonads, ovaries, and other naughty bits.

From your own DNA to cinematic exposés, it's all on display at After Dark.

SCHEDULE

Presentations:

Sex Cells: Mergers, Dwindling Reserves, Toxic Assets, and the Competitive Marketplace of Egg and Sperm

With Diana Laird, PhD

7:30 p.m.

Kanbar Forum

The Bouquet Between Your Legs: The Scandalous Sex Lives of Flowers

With Karen Kalumuck, PhD

6:30, 7:45, and 9:00 p.m.

Bay Observatory Gallery

Circles of Engagement: What Is This Thing Called Love?

With The Really Big Questions (TRBQ) Project

8:00–9:30 p.m.

Central Gallery classrooms

We Get the Sex Thing, But What Is Love?

TRBQ Exhibit Prototypes

6:30–9:30 p.m.

West Gallery

Demonstrations:

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Orchids But Were Afraid to Ask

With the San Francisco Orchid Society

6:30–9:30 p.m.

East Gallery

Surgical Interventions for Infertility

With the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses

6:30–9:30 p.m.

West Gallery

Live Sex Show: Sea Urchin Egg Fertilization

7:15, 8:15, and 9:15 p.m.

Phyllis C. Wattis Webcast Studio

Gonad A-Go-Go

With the Explainers

7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 p.m.

East Gallery

Activities:

Sexplorations of the Mechanical Kind: Take Apart Sex Toys

With Tinkering Studio staff

With Carol Queen, PhD

6:30–9:30 p.m.

South Gallery

The Mating Game

With Explorables

6:30–9:30 p.m.

Central Gallery

Your Family Jewels: Extract Your DNA

With the Explainers

6:30–9:30 p.m.

West Gallery

Tastings (while supplies last):

Bees Do It

With the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA)

6:30–9:30 p.m.

East Gallery

Cowboy Caviar

7:30, 8:30, and 9:30 p.m.

Central Gallery

Exhibits:

Love Nest

6:30–9:30 p.m.

East Gallery

Which Sperm Is Human?

6:30–9:30 p.m.

East Gallery, Microscope Imaging Station

Films:

9:00 p.m. • Kanbar Forum

The Kiss by John Smith

Removed by Naomi Uman

Little Deaths by Ruth Lingford

Speechless by Scott Stark

Ongoing 6:00–10:00 p.m.• West Gallery

Kiss by Takahiro Kimura

Pin-Up In 3D by Kerry Laitala

Ongoing 6:00–10:00 p.m. • West Gallery, Mind Cinema

Green Porno by Isabella Rossellini

Ongoing 6:00–10:00 p.m. • Central Corridor

The Operation by Marne Lucas and Jacob Pander

Please note: Explicit content.

6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 p.m. • Phyllis C. Wattis Webcast Studio

Love Life of the Octopus by Jean Painlevé