Real‐time seismic displays in museums appeal to the public
Meagan Smith, John Taber, Michael Hubenthal · Eos · 2006
Technology provides people with constant access to the latest news, weather, and entertainment. Not surprisingly the public increasingly demands that the most current information be available for immediate consumption. For museums striving to educate the public and to maintain and expand visitor interest, gone are the days of passively conveying scientific concepts through static displays. Instead, science museums must find creative ways to capture the public's interest—successful advocacy for research funding, solutions to environmental problems, even future generations' scientific innovation depend on this. To this end, the continuous collection and dissemination of real‐time science information by the scientific community offers museums an opportunity to capitalize on visitors' data addiction and increase the public's interest in, and understanding of, the Earth system.