Spaced Out

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has more than its share of creative thinkers working behind the scenes, and astrobiologist David Grinspoon is most certainly one of them. An author, music lover, expansive scientist and all-around nice guy, Grinspoon is one of those folks who can plaster a big smile across the face of science and make it palatable for the rest of us. It’s no surprise, then, that along with museum space science curator Ka Chun Yu, the easygoing brainiac will host tonight’s Life Out There, a completely different sort of museum event that combines live music by the Perry Weissman 3 and Dave Watts of the Motet with state-of-the-art digital visuals, in the Gates Planetarium.

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More About

• David Grinspoon
• Denver Museum of Nature & Science
• Perry Weissman
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Sciences

“We’ve had a lot of science events in the dome, and we’ve also had some music events, and they’ve all been appreciated and well attended,” Grinspoon says. “But we haven’t really combined the two. This a first attempt to do that: First, we’ll have live musicians — and quite good ones — paired with a science narrative, but not a heavy-handed one. We’ll be using images and music to further the narrative, which is as much about inspiration as it is about education. The dome is a fantastic place to visualize our place in universe, both in time and space, and put it in perspective.” To do that, the curators will use cutting-edge software for a truly three-dimensional perspective: “What’s different about it is that we’ll have someone driving it in real-time; it’ll really be like driving through the universe.

“I think people will walk out saying, ‘Wow! I want to do that again!’ Grinspoon adds. “They’ll be impressed with the ability to use that space to really travel intellectually, visually and sonically — maybe even spiritually. We’re hoping to have some fun and maybe blow some minds as well.”

Experience a ride through space beginning at 7 p.m.; admission is $12 to $15 per person, or two-for-one. Reservations are recommended; visit www.dmns.org or call 303-322-7009.
Tue., Nov. 3, 7 p.m., 2009