Just released by Evans and Sutherland for distribution with new Digistar Projection systems in 1998
This multimedia planetarium show was produced jointly by MSU Science Theatre and Abrams Planetarium. In it we trace the history of DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) from the Big Bang to the present. This is a unique show because of its use of a multimedia planetarium system to tell a story that starts with astrophysics, which connects to concepts from chemistry which then connects to the biology of DNA and living systems. The script was written by a team made up of Science Theatre members from physics, chemistry and biology and Dave Batch, who is the director of Abrams Planetarium. This show is also unique in that everyone involved in production, except the planetarium director, was a graduate student.
The soundtrack was produced professionally, with narration by
John DeLancie ('Q' on Star Trek: The Next
Generation) and an original score. All other production was done at Michigan State University. We used Silicon Graphics workstations (in the Department of Chemistry, with much help from Paul Reed) to produce still and animated images of atoms, molecules and a supernova. We got images of cells and tissues from electron and optical microscopes from various research labs on campus. The show features the starfield and animation capabilities of the Digistar projection system, not the least of which is a 3D flythrough of a DNA molecule.
From Stardust to Life: A Cosmic Journey made its debut at Michigan State University in October of 1996. In late 1997, early 1998, Evans & Sutherland began distributing the show internationally. During February 1998 it was slated for translation into Chinese.
This show was made possible by generous support from the Abrams Foundation.
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