The Molecularium is a science education

Science education

Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The target individuals may be children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education comprises...

 project. The first major creation of Molecularium was the 2004 Riding Snowflakes, a computer-animated, chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

-themed show about nano-scale science, formatted for hemispherical projection environments or "digital domes" such as many planetariums found in science museums worldwide. It is in the tradition of musical cartoons, with atoms and molecules as the central characters and an underlying science-education theme, covering concepts such as states of matter, phase changes, and molecular motion. Its main protagonists are Oxy, an oxygen atom and one of the show's central players; Hydro and Hydra, two hydrogen atoms that bond with Oxy to create water; and Carbon, in one of 3 forms, as a crafty, brash atomic hero. The ship's computer, Mel, is the reassuring voice of certainty aboard the Molecularium, the titular ship where the entire show takes place, with an ability to warp the nature of time and space.

In February 2009, a new film, Molecules to the MAX premiered at the EMPAC center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...

.http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2537&setappvar=page(1) It will be released for IMAX, IMAX 3-D, and other giant-screen theaters. The distributor and marketer is SK Films. The animation features the same characters as Riding Snowflakes and a similar focus on the nanostructure of materials. The animation is based on scientifically accurate molecular modeling simulations provided by Dr. Shekhar Garde, head of Rensselaer’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

The Molecularium was produced by Nanotoon, in collaboration with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...

's Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering under a grant from the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

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External links

• Molecularium Official Site
• Molecules to the Max Official Site
• Nanotech @ RPI
• "Presenting the Molecularium", 2005-02-09 NSF press release