New Exhibit "Innovation: Earth" Invites Visitors to Journey to a Green Future

Explore the Latest Green Technologies and Natural Climate Regulation Systems Transforming Transportation, Food, Housing, and Energy Systems

BOSTON – How will we travel, eat, work, and play in a carbon-neutral world? Innovation: Earth, opening July 17 at the Museum of Science, guides visitors on a journey to find out, offering a window into a more sustainable future. The new exhibit is part of the Museum’s Year of the Earthshot, a yearlong exploration of climate action and sustainable solutions, bringing a choose-your-own-adventure interactivity to climate choices through digital and hands-on activities, state-of-the-art technology showcases, and an experiential immersive room designed in collaboration with multimedia studio Moment Factory.

From urban farms to lightweight electric vehicles to flexible solar panels, Innovation: Earth invites visitors to imagine our sustainable future through the latest green energy technologies and takes a deep dive into the many ways scientists, engineers, and local communities are working together to restore and enhance natural climate regulation systems. Pedal a bicycle to power traditional incandescent light bulbs and newer LED bulbs, comparing their energy efficiency. Then learn more about MIT’s autonomous bicycle, bringing ecologically sound, on-demand mobility to cities of the future. Visitors can explore green construction approaches with a hand-held “magic wand” that transforms the exterior of an animated building to reveal its heating, cooling, water conservation, and onsite energy generation and storage systems. 

Innovation: Earth is an experiential foray into the power of green tech to reshape the way we live. Would you rather wear a coat made of mushroom leather or shoes made of apple peels? Would you rather live near an electric vehicle charger or a bike share station? Digital interactives visualize the effects of everyday green decisions like these on virtual neighborhoods. In the immersive room, visitors are prompted to choose between more large-scale, societal innovations, the impacts of which alter coastlines, main streets, homes, and highways before their eyes. In an adjacent gallery, table-top interactives offer tactile engagement in an intimate, accessible format, with multimedia content providing a deeper exploration of the science and engineering behind each area of innovation, from emissions capture to food miles reduction. 

Nature’s “climate superheroes” feature prominently in the exhibit. Indoor oyster reef, mushroom farm, and rare earth metals displays highlight their respective roles in erosion prevention and water quality improvement, high efficiency insulation and carbon capture, and the production of wind turbines, e-vehicle motors, and solar panels. Visitors will learn more about coastal restoration and sustainable mineral extraction, and discover how engineered “trees” rapidly soak up carbon dioxide and constructed wetlands improve habitat for wildlife.

“The Museum of Science is committed to public science leadership, and to inspiring and educating millions every year about scientific innovations that are being implemented in our communities,” said David Sittenfeld, Director of the Center for the Environment. “For the Year of the Earthshot, we wanted to get people thinking about the sustainable choices they can make right now, and the green solutions they’ll soon be able to incorporate into their daily lives through emerging approaches to carbon reduction. Innovation: Earth allows us to truly envision a resilient, zero-carbon, and equitable future, and then shows us how, working together, we can attain it and make it accessible to everyone.” 

Innovation: Earth is accompanied online by the Earthshot digital series, featuring self-described “comedian scientist” and science communicator Sophie Shrand (of “Science with Sophie”) in her travels across the United States in an electric Rivian R1S. Join Sophie as she takes to the road for an all-electric look at the future of climate science, from Lake Mead to Massachusetts’ famous Garlic Festival, here. Together, the exhibit and digital series explore the most innovative climate solutions transforming the ways we live, move, eat, and work.

To learn more about the Center for the Environment, go to the Center website or sign up for the weekly Earthshift newsletter. 

Exhibit Organization
Innovation: Earth is made possible through the generous support of The McChord Foundation.

Visit the Exhibit
Innovation: Earth is included with Exhibit Halls admission. For more information, please visit mos.org. All visitors, including members, holders of MA EBT/WIC, ConnectorCare cards, and other free/discounted passes can reserve tickets in advance either online at mos.org or by phoning 617-723-2500.

About the Museum of Science, Boston
As science and technology increasingly shape our lives, the Museum of Science strives to equip and inspire everyone to use science for the global good. Among the world’s largest science centers and New England’s most attended cultural institution, we engage nearly five million people a year—at Science Park and in museums around the world, in classrooms, and online. Established in 1830, the Museum is home to such iconic attractions as the Theater of Electricity, the Charles Hayden Planetarium, and the Mugar Omni Theater. The Museum influences formal and informal STEM education through research and national advocacy, as a strong community partner and loyal educator resource, and as a leader in universal design, developing exhibits and programming accessible to all. Learn more at mos.org.