A scientific world

We went to visit the Pavilion of Knowledge – Live Science Center, a true scientific and technological educational space, thus awakening our curiosity and creativity in the fascinating world of science.

The Pavilion of Knowledge is located in the beautiful Parque das Nações (Park of Nations), about eight kilometers from the historic center of Lisbon in Portugal.

Location map of the Pavilion of Knowledge

The Pavilion of Knowledge was in 1998 a space that hosted one of the great events of the International Exhibition of Lisbon (Expo 98) under the theme of the Oceans. At that time was called Pavilion of Sea Knowledge related to the history of exploring the seas, being one of the pavilions with the greatest number of visitors during the exhibition.

After the International Exhibition in Lisbon, the same space in 1999 becomes what is currently the Pavilion of Knowledge promoting scientific knowledge in a fun way. It also should be noted that the building has an outsanding architecture, so it has won several national and international awards.

On the way to the Pavilion of Knowledge accompanied by a “little cold” The exterior area of the Pavilion of Knowledge. Behind the fullerene a carbon molecule in a soccer ball shape

As for the entrance to the Pavilion of Knowledge, it provides an engaging space for observations and attractions.

Inside the buidling the Water Vortex device. Through the manual wheel it is possible to calibrate the spiral effect of the vortex. The spiral movement of the Water Vortex

A long the corridor the Giant Table elucidating the perception of scale In the illusion corridor the manifestation of oblique anamorphosis, a phenomenon of projection of distorced images. It is possible to observe the image of the distorced cube

In the Atrium 1, the robot welcoming us to the Pavilion of Knowledge Lazer Harp. Laser beams replace the strings. When playing on this, the notes reproduce the various sounds of the harp

General view of the nave with some challenging devices for rack brains A picture of one of the women scientists in Portugal

As we continue our visit, we enter the Explore exhibition room. It is an extremely interactive site where we had the opportunity to experiment and observe the results in a fun way.

On the way to Explore Room Fluvial storm. When rotating the sphere at different speeds, the sand grains settle to the bottom of the water thus, observing a series of dunes. It is a similar process as the wind creates sand dunes on the beach.

Plasma Sphere. The effect is electrifying when touching your fingers on the sphere.

Columns of Angels observing the effect of illusions of background figures. First the images are seen as columns and then are seen as silhouettes (shade)

Tornado simulation device Upward rotating air current from a tornado

Magic Wand. Following the instructions of the newest instructor. Through the agitation of the wand it is possible through light reflection to obatin the image in space Chaotic Pendulum related to the motion after small variations in its axis. A typical example is on climate change. Small changes in atmospheric pressure or wind can cause major changes in the climate. A sunny day can turn into a rainy day

Pool tables with different geometric shapes. In this case the table is hyperbolic. Then the geometric reflection is used to insert the ball into the hole which in this case seems to have been straightforward without using the table walls! Pins Screen. In an attempt to raise the nails (it doesn’t hurt!) to reproduce the rainbow by the pheonomenon of light reflection

Turbulent Sphere. When spinning the sphere with fluids it produces flow patterns. One of them is the so-called turbulent flow, a phenomenon that manifests itself in Jupiter due to its high speed of rotation Lariat chain device. The visitor is invited to touch the current that is oscillating and then observing its effect of wave interference

Touch in Spring. But is the spring physically present or not? A puzzle to discover Sound wave device. I seem to be hearing different sounds if I change their frequencies. I can also read their frequencies through a digital reader

For those who like adventures riding a flying bicycle is no doubt a good time of relaxation.

In the central nave, the magic of riding a flying bicycle six meters from the ground Halfway through the flying bicycle

The Tcharan showroom is the fun room for the little ones and for those who are entertaining!

View to the entrance of Tcharan

General view of Tcharan leisure space

To the sound of music challenging those who best reproduce images of animals and flowers Jumping and producing musical notes

Testing balance in rotating motion The Hercules Puppet (clown) working as a pulley system – who goes up or down

Competing by shacking the seats to the sound of music. From left to the right it looks like someone is going ahead as shown by the light blue waves Air Cannon to move the crystals up

Device that allows to heat the air in the balloon and make it rise. The heated air becomes less dense and lighter A little climbing exercise to finish off in the Tcharan room

On the lower floor of the nave there is a giant pendulum of 250 kilograms with a wire of 35 meters long. It is the Foucault’s Pendulum illustrating the earth rotation.

The temporary Viral exhibition room is also in the lower floor with themes related to the bacteria and viruses in particular how they can be transmitted and what to do for protecting ourselves. It has twenty interactive modules.

The Foucault’s Pendulum - is it the pendulum or the Earth rotating? It gives the feeling that it’s the pendulum but in fact it’s the Earth as shown by the overturning of the pins arranged circularly and thus demonstrating the Earth’s rotation. In fact the pendulum always oscillates in the same direction relative to the stars Here’s the million-dollar question – “how are we going to live with the coronaviruses”? Two hundred personalities responded to this challenge. We will know the answer in 2030!

General view of some interactive modules in the Viral showroom.

Representation of the SARS-Cov2 virus (micrometer-scale) What is the weight of bacteria and viruses in our body? Don’t worry because we have “good” bacteria and viruses in our body.

Interactive game of possible ways of contagion of viruses Entrance to the Doing showroom

Last but not least on the ground floor is the Doing showroom where there are a series of practical activities related to technology.

General view of Doing showroom Interactive space using robots

The challenge of putting objects flying through the tube Saying good-bye to the Pavilion of knowledge at Park of Nations

After the fun visit to the Pavilion of Knowledge in order to restore some energy we went lunch to The Parq restaurant with a pleasant outdoor. The chosen dish was wolowina black angus.

Outdoors of the restaurant The Parq

Wolowina black angus.

In addition to being fun, our visit to the Pavilion of Knowledge was very educational with several scientific and technological topics. Also quite interesting is the temporary Viral exhibition with a current topic (coronavirus) that has changed our lives as well as its important knowledge about it.

We hope that our readers and travel lovers will one day visit the Pavilion of Knowledge at Park of Nations which we liked very much.

References Pavilion of Knowledge

Thanks to Manuel Manero for blogging recommendations

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