Create your own eco-car, design a super-food and journey into a future world of sustainable living at the "Science of Survival" exhibition this summer in London.
Curators of the exhibition at the Science Museum (www.sciencemuseum.org.uk) said the interactive attraction will explore how humans can survive on a changing planet, including how we should respond to climate change, diminishing resources and our other options for a sustainable future.
"Families should come away without a feeling of right or wrong, but instead with ideas of ways science and technology can help us in the future," curator Melissa Prince told Reuters.
The show is a hands-on experience that takes visitors through seven areas; Briefing, Drinking, Eating, Enjoying, Moving, Building and Future City. Each area looks at why the future will be different and what we can do about it today.
Virtual guides Dug, Tek, Buz and Eco from the year 2050 will show you new and exciting ways to find water and design a new super-food, create your own vehicle and build your own neighborhood, before seeing it come to life in Future City.
Visitors can see inventions such as the Toilet-lid Sink, which recycles the water we use to wash our hands, sending it straight to the toilet cistern; and the Q-drum, a roll-able water container which is a simple, hygienic and comfortable way of transporting large amounts of water over large distances in poorer, drier countries.
"The whole thing has a kind of do-it-yourself feel," Prince said.
Experts talk about the sustainability challenges they see in today's world, highlighting possibilities for positive change and where science and technology could help.
"I haven't come across an issue with such a global importance other than climate change," said Pushpanath Krishnamurthy of Oxfam. "If the planet gets hotter by only two degrees it will have a very real problem indeed."
Ewan Murray, who works with the Carbon Trust — a British government agency dedicated to reducing man-made greenhouse gases driving climate change such as carbon dioxide — also speaks to visitors throughout the exhibition.
"I want to inspire people to want to know more because we can solve the problem if everyone gets involved," he said.
The exhibition runs until November and then goes on a world tour.
