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This is the Science on a Sphere installation in the new Global Ocean Systems exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. The sphere uses four projectors to wrap images around a six-foot diameter sphere. We visited the exhibit only a couple of days after it opened. There were four short videos on ocean system science that seemed to hold the audience's attention. The small theater containing the sphere is a beautiful space - somewhat intimate but still connected to the broader exhibit.

What best describes the ocean? Ever-moving body of water? Dramatic, yet hidden and slowly changing landscape? Source of at least half of Earth’s oxygen? Chemical mix of every element? The ocean is all this and more.

The multi-media experience—“Science on a Sphere”—includes four programs that highlight complex aspects of the ocean.

This huge, interconnected system comes to life on a six-foot sphere at the center of the Global Ocean Systems gallery. The multi-media experience includes six programs that highlight complex aspects of the ocean. Data from global ocean observations play on the sphere's surface, providing a space-age perspective on the ocean.