California Academy of Sciences
 

I popped up to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco this afternoon and snapped a few pictures of the new renovations.

This is the new four-story rainforest exhibit. It's entirely spherical, air-tight, and completely self-contained. If you're planning a visit, you may want to wear shorts and a t-shirt because it's generally around 90 degrees with at least 75% humidity, something otherwise alien to San Francisco during December.
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Inside the dome is a wide assortment of tropical plants and animals. There are about 1,600 animals and a 100,000 gallon tank which you can walk under.
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Finally, there's the living roof. The roof of the museum has growing on it nearly 200,000 square feet of Northern California native plants which help to reduce the cost of heating and cooling, not to mention that reduce the reflected heat of the roof. The large circular ports can open, allowing hot air to escape from the museum.
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That place looks deserted. When I went it was crowded with hellspawn, which detracted from the experience somewhat.

I love the photo underneath the wales.

Awesome! I wish my upcoming trip to California included a venture up North to see it - thanks for sharing the photos.

I waited to take pics until people were mostly out of the way. I was more trying to get the animal/plant life and architecture. The place wasn't buzzing on an early Monday afternoon, but there were a lot of people there, especially in the underwater tube.

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haha great minds think alike eh? (photo from my visit) i was there for the grand reopening, which was a total coincidence, as i live on the east coast. it was packed, but it was a blast.

This is a house of lies!

Just kidding. It's beautiful. I wish there was something like this in Toronto. I think the closest thing is the Biodome in Montreal.