Science City

Imagine a science museum where the world's scientific and technological knowledge is on display for kids and adults alike to come learn and play. Now imagine one where there are incorrect facts, and a lot of the exhibits are out of order, missing items, or, in the case of a Google Earth display, set to a Microsoft Windows error message. You are now picturing Gujarat's Science City.

Though I mock some of the inaccuracies, it actually made for a very fun place to visit. It is a venture by the Indian and Gujarati governments to highlight innovations and other projects in the field of science and technology within the region. It features, among other things, an alternative-energy park, and an "India in Space" exhibit. Unfortunately, according to the latter, Pluto is still a planet, and on a "virtual reality" visit to Mars, we were somehow able to be sucked in to a black hole, and then escape from where we came.

Perhaps the most impressive thing is a gigantic dome building that is decorated as a globe. From a distance it is striking, however, upon closer inspection one can see that the entire exterior is actually a mosaic of tiny tiles. To imagine the work that it must have taken to create a terrain map of the world in that manner is staggering.

We also decided to check out "India's first 3-D IMAX theatre," which was quite nice (and, thankfully, also quite air-conditioned). We decided to see the Tom Hanks directed "Magnificent Desolation," about visits to the Moon, which had some incredible cinematography and visual images. However, to our surprise, it wasn't in English. My only regret after the film is that the narrator's Hindi was so quick -- 'cause, ya know, that made it a bit tougher to follow.

Science city was a bit like that mythical black hole -- it pulled us in, but somehow we were able to escape in tact.