Beautiful Minds: New York Hall of Science explores animals’ brains

Be a Dr. Doolittle and talk with the animals — and discover just how amazing animals really are — at the New York Hall of Science’s latest exhibit, “Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think,” now through Jan. 15.

Children will learn that many animals are a lot smarter than we think. Some animals can use tools, some are able to communicate with each other, and some can even solve problems. Students learn all about the impressive skills of a variety of animals through hands-on activities, take the numbers memory test, and even see a plastinated human brain, where the organ has been preserved using a process of chemical fixation and plastic embedding.

Children then take what they have learned from the exhibit and continue the experience by going home and observing their own pets, or animals at the local zoo or aquarium.

The exhibit runs through Jan. 15. and is free with general museum admission: $11 for adults; $8 for children 2 to 17, students with valid ID, and seniors 62 and older. The Hall is open Tuesday through Thursday, from 9:30 am to 2 pm; Friday, from 9:30 am to 5 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, from 10 am to 6 pm.

New York Hall of Science [47-01 111th St. at Avenue of Science in Corona, (718) 699-0005 ext. 353]. For info, visit www.nyscience.org.