Fernbank Winter Exhibits (fridays)

From the venue:

X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out

 
Opens Jan. 11, 2025

A Fish Exhibition That’s Bone Deep.

X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out invites guests to peek beneath the scales to explore the intricate bony skeletons of fish, stingrays, eels and seahorses through dramatic, black-and-white x-rays. Discover the secrets of fish evolution, anatomy and the impact of environmental changes on aquatic species in a level of detail reminiscent of fine engraving. Guests will learn about these creatures’ evolutionary changes and the important role they have played in shaping our world.

Exhibit Page

Desert Elephants (IMAX)

Opens January 18th

Join Little Foot and her elephant family as they brave the harsh Namib Desert in Southwest Africa and embark on a journey to an oasis that remains green even through the toughest times. The resilience and familial strength of this species will leave viewers with an inspiring example of survival, adaptation and renewed hope.

In the southwest corner of Africa, the Namib Desert — one of the driest places on Earth — is an unexpected haven for a few extraordinary creatures, including the largest land mammals on the planet — desert elephants.

These elephants, once more than a million strong, have dwindled to a few hundred; despite this, hope lives on through an elephant calf named Little Foot, the newest member of a family of grazers.

As viewers follow Little Foot’s adventures, they witness the incredible abilities elephants possess that have helped them survive the harsh conditions of the Namib Desert for generations. From foreseeing sandstorms to finding underground aquifers, this film offers an inspiring example of survival, adaptation and renewed hope.

Cities of the Future

Playing Daily at Noon, 1:45 p.m., 3:30 p.m. Run time: 45 minutes

Cities of the Future explores a world where everything is possible and problems can be solved. From aerial highways and flying air taxis to cities powered entirely by solar energy, smart buildings designed to save electricity, and greener infrastructure, this family-friendly film offers an inspiring vision of how we will live 50 years from now. No, this isn’t science fiction — this is the world engineers are designing now!

Travel to Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Singapore and more, where profound change is already happening as you meet the engineers and visionaries whose human ingenuity is forging a brighter, more sustainable future that will change how we live forever.

Narrated by critically acclaimed actor John Krasinski, Cities of the Future is produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films in partnership with the American Society of Civil Engineers, the same award-winning team that created the blockbuster film Dream Big: Engineering Our World. 

exhibit page here

Giants of the Mesozoic

 
Ongoing Exhibit

Stand beneath some of the world’s largest dinosaurs as you enter this snapshot of life in prehistoric Patagonia (145-165 million years ago). Take in a scene of an epic dinosaur battle between Giganotosaurus and Argentinosaurus with a flock of pterosaurs scattering away.

Play the role of a paleontologist as you examine the terrain to discover buried and trace fossils of other plant and animal species, such as dinosaur tracks, an Araucaria tree, a crocodile and a turtle shell.*

Exhibit Page

Star Gallery

 
Ongoing Exhibit

Each star was carefully plotted on the ceiling, forming an illuminated star chart. The fibers used to create the stars vary in diameter, allowing them to shine with 22 varying degrees of brightness. More than 6 miles of fiber optic wires accurately portray the 542 stars twinkling above.

SkyWatch screens provide daily programming about constellations, planets and astronomical events.

Visitors can find the stars in the Star Gallery using the following guide:

• Stand facing the doors to the Giant Screen Theater, which is toward the south, to recognize the constellations in the appropriate direction.
• Antares in Scorpius and Arcturus in Bootes are located near the World of Shells exhibition.
• By moving away from The World of Shells exhibit toward the Great Hall, which is eastward, visitors will pass under stars visible in the early evening in the spring, summer, autumn, winter and spring again.
• Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) is easily recognized over the double doors to the Great Hall.
• Andromeda is near the center of the room.
• Orion nebula (M-42) is just below the belt stars of Orion.
• Aldebaran (in the constellation Taurus) and Betelgeuse (in Orion) are found among the winter stars on the side near the Great Hall

Exhibit Page