Cité des sciences

Science (and) Fiction – imagination meets reality is a thrilling exhibition focusing on the interaction between science and science fiction. As you snake through the 1,600 square metres of the exhibition areas, you'll discover authentic objects and costumes from cult movies and TV series, a real working robot, film posters, pulp comics from the 1940s and 50s and rare manuscripts by early sci-fi authors. Surrounded by screens showing iconic movie scenes, you can experience heightened reality and test interactive installations where you're the hero. All of this, along with documentaries and information panels, will help you grasp just how much science has influenced science fiction – and vice versa!

Exhibition produced with the support of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
 

Fakes, replicas, imitations, forgeries and pirate copies are all around us. From foods, drugs and toys to household appliances and digital media, the number of products affected by counterfeiting is mind-boggling. To many people's surprise, the phenomenon extends well beyond luxury goods to affect all economic sectors and all consumers. In this ground-breaking exhibition you can test your ability to tell a genuine product from a fake, guess which artist or musician copied another, and answer a revealing quiz about downloading. The exhibition reveals the sheer scale of counterfeit manufacturing, highlights the threats it poses to the economy and our health, explains what is being done to fight it, and shows us – the consumers – how to be on our guard.

After Grossology and Sex - wot's the big deal?, both huge hits with our young visitors, this new exhibition at the Cité focuses on what we eat. Featuring around thirty entertaining activities, it shows youngsters how they can enjoy a balanced diet, good eating habits and happy meal times !
Exhibition co-produced with the Leonardo da Vinci Science and Technology Museum (Italy), the Huereka Science Centre (Finland) and the Technopolis Museum (Belgium).

Earth is a raw material ! For thousands of years man has used it to build houses, even in France. Largely shunned since the arrival of its close cousin concrete in the 1950s, earth is now back in fashion as its ecological and aesthetic benefits attract the attention of contemporary architects. A whole host of experiments will allow you to grasp the hows and whys of building with earth. What better opportunity to learn more about the substance beneath your feet ?

Exhibition in three languages : French, English, and Spanish

If you're a motorcyclist or enjoy a high-risk activity like snowboarding, you need to be well protected. This exhibition showcases the history of body protection from the earliest armour to the newest technologies used for high-risk sports or to protect astronauts. Exhibition designed in partnership with Dainese, a leading manufacturer of protective clothing.

For the tenth year running, the Cité hosted this major design showcase presented by Industrial Design Promotion Agency APCI. The best of the year's design, featuring 183 products, environments and services from every economic sector.

A museum director has been found murdered in his office. There's no sign of the killer. The police have been called in, the crime scene has been examined, clues have been found and sent to the forensic science lab… This was the scenario awaiting visitors to the exhibition. And it was up to them to carry out their investigation and identify the killer. In doing so, they gained a fascinating insight into the work of forensic scientists and the different technologies involved.

The exhibition was designed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and produced in partnership with the Gendarmerie criminal research institute IRCGN.

Based on the book Willies: A User's Guide by Zep and Hélène Bruller, this exhibition focused on the questions youngsters ask about love and sex and explained everything they wanted to know, tactfully, clearly and scientifically. The emphasis was on mutual respect, consent and sexual equality, but the situations presented were amusing and light-hearted.

A flashback through 50 years of space exploration. Visitors were able to relive some of the milestones of this great human endeavour, in displays recreating daily life in the Soviet Union, America, Europe or China, from the 1960s to the 21st century. A fascinating trip through time and space.

Matter can now be manipulated on an atomic or molecular scale, opening up numerous perspectives in medicine, energy, textiles, automobiles, communication and many other fields. This exhibition focused on the exciting possibilities of nanotechnologies, as well as the complicated issues they are raising.

Experts fear the world’s water resources will become insufficient by 2015. Managing and protecting this essential natural resource is a major priority for the 21st century, and we are all concerned. This exhibition illustrated man’s constant efforts to obtain and decontaminate water, and the solutions being implemented – at local, national and international levels – for conserving and sharing it.