The Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space (also known as Madatech) (Hebrew: מדעטק – המוזיאון הלאומי למדע, טכנולוגיה וחלל MadaTek – HaMuze'on HaLe'umi LeMada, Tekhnologya VeHalal, Arabic: متحف إسرائيل الوطني للعلوم والتكنولوجيا والفضاء) is a science and technology museum in the city of Haifa, Israel. The museum has approximately 400,000 visitors annually.
History The museum, established in 1983, is housed in a historic building that was designed as the first home of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, until it relocated to its current campus. The architect was Alexander Baerwald, a German Jewish immigrant, who began working on the building in 1912. On a visit to the Technion in 1923, Albert Einstein planted one of the palm trees in the courtyard, which can still be seen today.
Permanent exhibitions Green Energy – since 2007 My Green Home (the "Green Energy" gallery floor) Acoustics Hall Puzzle Games Between Mount Carmel and the Sea – Taxidermy exhibition borrowed from the Shimon Angerss Nature House A Matter of Chemistry Imagine (Ilan Ramon) The secrets of life – DNA – since 2005 Smile! It's Science – (teeth exhibition) since 2009 Fly High – Aviation Exhibition Leonardo da Vinci – Scientist & Engineer Magical Science – since 2007 and returned at 2009
Past exhibitions Nobel Faces – between January and May 2008. Days of Radio The Blue Rainbow (under-water photo exhibition) Einstein – The Man of The Century Personal Communication (Orange traveling exhibition) Road Traffic Safety Exhibition The Printing Press Exhibition
Science Park In 2011, during Hanukkah, the yard between the two main buildings was reopened after going through a renovation. The yard was turned into a science park, which presents the famous scientists and inventors in history, and their discoveries which are important and enriching milestones. The park is divided into five different courtyards; each one dedicated these famous scientists: Archimedes, Daniel Bernoulli, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci and Pythagoras. Additionally, there are a number of environmental exhibits. The amphitheater can host up to 400 visitors. In the center of the amphitheater there is a fountain shaped like a wind rose and controlled by a computer, allowing water shows combined with colorful lighting. The initiative of establishing a science park began at 2008 and went through many stages of planning and preparing before constructing began. MadaTech's crew planned the park together under the supervision of MadaTech's treasurer – Dr. Tal Berman, and MadaTech's exhibition designer – Dudu Dahan. Developing and producing the exhibits was carried out mainly by the museum's workshop crew. The architectural plan was made by architects Amos Wachman and Ehud Casif.
Summer exhibitions
Since 2008, MadaTech launches a changing exhibition every summer, which remains open for about a year. As part of the process of improving the museum, a building which was used as the workshop was transformed. This building in which the changing exhibitions are presented is the education wing and apart from the exhibitions includes the movie theatre "CinematriX", school classrooms and laboratories and also serves as another entrance to the museum.
Dinosaurs: the Giants of Patagonia On 11 July 2008, MadaTech launched the exhibition “Dinosaurs: The Giants of Patagonia”. The exhibition displayed replicas of giant dinosaur skeletons which were discovered in Patagonia, Argentina. The exhibition was the first of its kind in Israel. Among the fifteen skeletons which were presented, two of the dinosaurs were Giganotosaurus carolinii. Simultaneously, an outdoor dinosaur statue display was launched throughout the city of Haifa. The dinosaur statues were identical in shape, but painted differently by different artists or other groups, such as school students or social activists. The dinosaurs received plenty of attention. The exhibition closed in March 2009, but some of the dinosaur statues are still spread around the city.
Body Worlds In April 2009 the museum began to display the exhibition "Body Worlds", which uses human bodies which were donated for use in the exhibition. The opening of the exhibition was accompanied by a public protest, among others by Rabbi Yona Metzger, Chief Rabbi of Israel at the time, who claimed the exhibition was offending the deceased. The exhibition was displayed at MadaTech until 4 January 2010. During its display, more than 300,000 people visited "Body Worlds" exhibition.
Robotic World
In summer 2010, the Robotics World exhibition was opened. The exhibition displayed animal designed robots such as a giraffe, a platypus, a cuttlefish, a bat, and a variety of exhibits from the animal world. The displays arrived to Israel from the international exhibition "Robot Zoo". In addition, the exhibition presented different robots and exhibits connected to the Israeli robot industry. In the last part of the exhibition the "Robotic Show" was displayed every 30 minutes, and in it one of the museum instructors demonstrated the humanoid robot "Nao", and the robotic dog "AIBO", and explained how they perform the different actions.
Sport Science
The exhibition was inaugurated in June 2011 and most of its exhibits were from the original Canadian exhibition, alongside some new and exclusive exhibits. The main theme of the exhibition is sport and physical activity from a scientific point of view. The exhibition includes different displays which explain and demonstrate the different scientific principle. For example, beside the explanation about the human balance system and the inner ear fluid which allows it, there is a balance measurement device is positioned and also, a balance beam on which visitors try to walk using their balance.
101 inventions that changed the world This visual display was inaugurated in July 2012 and spread across the entire hall. The display includes a 32-minute film, which is screened on 22 huge screens and presents 101 inventions in eight periods of time, 32 of them in detail on the main screen. Additionally, in the exhibition building another room continued the display and included about 50 inventions accompanied with explanations on interactive touch screens.
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