Ingenious Materials, a new interactive exhibition at the VIDA! Science Centre, in partnership with the Czech Academy of Sciences, showcases the amazing properties of ordinary materials, and how they can be used in medicine, industry, sports, and many other ways in the development of human society. The exhibition starts today and will run until the end of February 2026.
Throughout history, humans have been modifying and developing materials for our own use, both for survival and for quality of life. From hunting tools to jewellery, from the first machines to turbine blades that withstand temperatures over 1,000 degrees Celsius, or from materials for storing hydrogen to nuclear fusion.
“We want to show the public the ingenious, even surprising properties of materials that we commonly encounter or that directly affect our lives,” said Jan Klusák from the Institute of Materials Physics at the Czech Academy of Sciences, one of the authors of the exhibition.
Visitors to the exhibition will see 18 exhibits, covering various materials and interesting facts about them. They will learn, for example, that iron oxides are not just rust, but also a material being developed for the treatment of cancer. That material fatigue can break a train axle, or that implants can be made exactly to measure for a specific individual using 3D metal printing. Many of the exhibits are interactive, and visitors will be able to touch them.
“For example, using the photoelastic phenomenon, people can try out for themselves why some components will always break in the same place,” said Klusák. They can also play with a levitating cube or a carousel hammer.
Some stations are dedicated to composite or compound materials, whose properties are more than just the properties of the individual components. Humans found inspiration for composites in nature, such as in the structure of wood, snail shells or bones.
“Composing materials into composites adds a new dimension to the development of materials, just as the use of various musical instruments brings a new dimension to composing musical works,” added Klusák.
The unique properties of composite materials allow their use in the aerospace industry, in nuclear power plants, or even for fun in high-quality sports equipment. Visitors will also see the detailed beauty of crystals, and the internal structure of materials in electron microscope images.
The Ingenious Materials exhibition is open from 9am to 6pm from Tuesday to Friday, and from 10am to 6pm at weekends. Admission to the exhibition is included in the price of a ticket to the entire VIDA exhibition. From Tuesday to Friday between 4pm and 6pm, tickets are discounted to 90 CZK.
