Labs, Lasers, and More

Appropriate for: Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Discover how cutting-edge technologies are making your food more affordable and sustainable! At MSU, researchers in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering are advancing smart agriculture to reduce costs, optimize resource use, and minimize environmental impacts in crop and livestock production. Explore innovations like autonomous smart weeding tractors, precision irrigation systems, and real-time farm monitoring using unmanned ground vehicles, drones, and satellite networks—all designed to boost productivity and sustainability. Learn how artificial intelligence is transforming agriculture. See a mobile biodigester that turns cow manure into electricity and discover conservation strategies that help protect water quality.

Learn more about Engineering Smart Agricultural Systems: Tractors, Sensors, Robots, and More!

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Visit our lab to see how we utilize "optical tweezers" that use lasers to reach out, grab, and manipulate individual swimming cells. It is a very interactive, hands-on activity with video game-like joystick action. We invite the public to use our microscope and try to catch and grab hold of live cells and interact with them. We will learn about cells from the bottom up, and about the latest in technology that allows us to see and interact with individual cells and molecules.

Learn more about Laser Tweezers: Reach Out and Grab Bacteria!

Appropriate for: Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Have you ever wondered how planetary scientists use rovers to identify rocks and minerals on Mars? Geoscientists in MSU's Earth and Environmental Science Department use Raman spectroscopy to study how rocks react with brines to form deposits similar to rocks observed on Mars. Come learn how the Raman spectrometer works and see a demonstration. We will be zapping rocks with lasers to see what they are made of, just like the rovers on Mars! Young visitors may bring a rock to analyze; it just needs to be smaller than your thumb.

Learn more about Lasers, Rocks, and Mars!

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

What does darkness offer you? Join Abrams Planetarium, the Broad Art Museum, and artist Jan Tichy for an immersive experience that explores light and darkness through the work of several labs and researchers at MSU.

Learn more about Learning from Noctalgia: The Art and Science of Darkness at MSU

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Explore the world-class Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), where nuclei are smashed into a target at nearly half the speed of light! Our tour takes you behind the scenes where nuclei are accelerated, smashed, and studied. The secrets we learn could help explain what happens in supernovae and the origins of elements that make up the human body. Adults will need to complete a permission form for any minors in their party. This tour will be limited to the first 50 visitors in line; others will be invited to a virtual tour at Abrams Planetarium.

Learn more about Tour the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

Appropriate for: Kindergarten and Pre-K, Elementary school age, Middle school age, High school age, 18 years and above

Explore a world-class rare isotope laboratory where nuclei are smashed into a target at half the speed of light! Our new 1,500-foot-long linear accelerator and the research spaces inside MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) will be revealed with images, 3D models, and animations projected on the dome of the planetarium. Our “virtual tour” takes you to many locations that would normally be inaccessible!

Learn more about A Virtual Tour of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams