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Boys playing with SPEED

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February 9–May 11, 2008

This colorful celebration of movement translates the thrills and challenges of going fast and faster into twenty hands-on activities to demonstrate the science and technology of record-setting speed. The exhibit comes to Berkeley as part of a national tour. SPEED is open through May 11.

Arranged in five thematic areas, SPEED uses virtual simulations, hands-on exhibits, and firsthand accounts from the speediest people on Earth, including pilots and racecar drivers.
Push!
Take off on a virtual ski trek. Design and build your own roller coaster out of modular parts. How do you get speed, and how do you keep it?
Stop!
Send a penny hurtling 270 miles an hour to investigate the consequences of rapid deceleration. Hear a racecar driver describe what it's like to hit a wall.
Go!
Build a car to see what features enhance or retard speed. Race family and friends to see whose design wins.
Drag!
Move a vehicle across a slippery surface in the shortest amount of time. Spin your wheels to find out what's key about the first seconds of a race.
Zoom!
Create a sonic boom. It's just one of the strange things that happens at extremely high speeds. Discover some others.
SPEED was created by COSI Columbus with support from the National Science Foundation and in cooperation with the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative.

A sample of what you'll find in SPEED—

"A drag race is really two races in one. Often, a fast start is more important than a high finishing speed in determining a winner."

Drag Race Car

"Speed Machine"

As part of the exhibit see this Oldsmobile Cutlass pro stock car, which was driven by champion Jeg Coughlin, Jr. This Cutlass reaches speeds of over 200 mph, covering the quarter-mile in less than seven seconds.