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Elementa

Learn about the building blocks of the cosmos, on the third floor. Everything around you is composed of building blocks called atoms – and so are you! Go back in time to the Big Bang, learn about stars that existed billions of years ago and how they now make up our world. Discover what life actually is, and what makes life on a planet possible. View the tiniest particles using a microscope or put on a lab coat and perform your own experiments in the Laboratory.

Highlights of the exhibition

You will find these exhibits in Elementa, on Floor 3.

  • Meteorite

    This special space rock is 4.6 billion years old – it was formed before Earth existed. It weighs 47 kilos, consists mainly of iron, and it was found in Nantan, China, in 1958. Have you ever touched anything older than this rock, do you think?

  • Protect Earth

    Protect Earth from current dangers from outer space in this interactive game. Grab a shield to deflect comets, meteorites, UV radiation and solar wind. Cooperate with others to protect Earth!

  • Making life

    Amino acids are the building blocks of life. They can be easily created in the lab. Biochemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey discovered this in 1953 when they brewed a ‘primordial soup’ as part of a historic experiment. They discovered amino acids after just a week. NEMO and Eindhoven University of Technology conducted the same experiment right here in NEMO. Now, in Life in the Universe, you’ll find three follow-up experiments.

Partners

Elementa was created with generous support from