Monday, November 30, 2009

Disease Detectives

Parents and grandparents are finding it hard to drag their kids away from the new "Disease Detectives" exhibition on view at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven through Jan. 31, 2010. Visitors meet Marcus, Adam and Yolanda, each of whom is sick with a different illness. One has the flu, another food poisoning and the third malaria. Vistors examine the patients--interactive mannequins--by taking their temperature and pulse rate and listening to their heart, lungs and bowels.

By interpreting laboratory tests and diagnosing each disease, visitors learn more about infectious disease transmission and prevention. Different clinical situations highlight the various ways that disease is transmitted. A historical timeline illustrates the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases. Larger-than-life 3D microbes invite visitors to touch, explore and learn more about a disease. And afterward you can play the microbe dance game.