"Strange" exhibit ready to take shape at Montreal Science Centre with Strange
Matter

MONTREAL , Oct. 7 /CNW Telbec/ - Something "strange" is coming to Montréal Science Centre! Uncover the surprising science behind everyday stuff and get a glimpse of where materials research might take us when Strange Matter materializes on October 8th 2009.

At a whopping 6,000 square feet, Strange Matter's hands-on technologies and interactive experience let visitors of all ages investigate the structure of materials and their intriguing and remarkable properties. The exhibit captures advanced material used in high-tech fields such as the space program and cardiac surgery and reveals them in more common places, from the shoes that you wear and the dishes you eat off to the CDs you listen to and the bike or skateboard you ride.

Upon entering the fascinating, practical and occasionally bizarre world of materials science, visitor will encounter more than a dozen hands-on experiences. Discover how scientists control structure and defects to create certain properties in materials. Here are some examples of Strange Matter not to be missed:

    
    -   Aerogel foam: Marvel at a piece of - the lightest material ever made
        - and see its weight balanced by a tiny piece of glass.

    -   Bend and twist nitinol metal ribbon and watch in amazement as it
        return to its original shape.

    -   Amazing Magnetic Liquids: Want to feel something really weird? Swish
        your gloved hand around in a vat of magneto-rheological fluid at the
        pod and feel it morph from fluid to solid at the touch of a button!

    -   Sand to Supercomputers Stop by and you will touch the top of a giant,
        shining column of silicon grown from a "seed" in a lab and follow the
        painstaking process through which sand is transformed into
        microchips.

    -   Smash the glass allows visitors to crank up a bowling ball and let it
        fly into heat tempered glass to see if it will shatter.
    

The STRANGE MATTER exhibition is an excellent demonstration of the main objective of the Montreal Science Centre, either to enter science in the reality of young people by allowing them, to embrace and develop their sense critical," explains Mrs Claude Benoit , President and CEO of Old Port of Montréal Corporation.

Surprising, clever, and entertaining for the entire family, Strange Matter is scheduled to run from October 8, 2009 until March 7, 2010 at the Montréal Science. Consult www.centredessciencesdemontreal.com for more information on other activities featured at the Montréal Science Centre.

The Strange Matter exhibition is presented by Materials Research Society, a non-profit scientific organisation founded in 1973 to promote interdisciplinary goal-oriented research on materials of scientific importance. Membership in the Society consists of more than 12,500 scientists from industry, government, academia, and research laboratories in the United States and nearly 50 other countries. The Strange Matter tour was produced thanks to the generosity of the following partners: 3M, Dow, Ford, Intel, NSF, and Rio Tinto Alcan.

    
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            To download high resolution photos of the exhibition,
            please visit the http://www.box.net/shared/gnf1h1zv89
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    Information and ticket purchases :
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    From October 8, 2009 to March 7, 2010

    514-496-4724 - 1 877-496-4724 - www.centredessciencesdemontreal.com or
www.centredessciencesdemontreal.com/fr/activites/activites.htm#drole-de-matier
e

    The Montréal Science Centre: a beacon within the Montréal scientific
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    culture community
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The Montréal Science Centre, a complex dedicated to science and technology, greets more than 700,000 visitors annually. It distinguishes itself though its interactive approach, its emphasis on innovation, and the know-how of local people. The Old Port of Montréal Corporation manages the Montréal Science Centre. As such, it is committed to the positioning of the Centre as a gathering place for scientific and technological culture that is accessible to all, interactive, innovative, surprising, educational, and entertaining.

    
    Awards and citations - 2009
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    -   Cascade Award 2009, Best Exhibition, The Canadian Association of
        Science Centres, for the aggregate of its permanent exhibitions.

    -   Award of Excellence 2009, Exhibitions, The Canadian Museum
        Association, for the aggregate of its permanent exhibitions.

    -   OCTAS 2009 Award in the cultural, educational, and media sectors,
        Réseau d'action TI, for Mission Gaia

    -   Prix Lauréat régional 2009, Grands prix du tourisme québécois, human
        resources category, awarded to Josée Duhaime, tourist supervisor.
    

The Montréal Science Centre wishes to thank it major partner, the Government of Canada , as well as its sponsoring partners TELUS and HYDRO-QUÉBEC.

For further information: Julie Mailhot, Press agent, Montréal Science Centre, [phone], Cell.: [phone], [email protected]; www.oldportofmontreal.com