SPACE IN CAMBRIDGE, THE MUSEUM FEATURES THE GROUNDBREAKING WORK OF SCIENCE PIONEERS. ♪ >> PINK CHICKENS CHANGING THE EARTH? HOW ABOUT A DISTORTION IN SPACE TIME THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE? UNUSUAL QUESTIONS AND THE M.I.T. MUSEUM IN CAMBRIDGE HAS A FEW ANSWERS. >> WE TRY TO BE A WINDOW, GOING BOTH WAYS, BETWEEN M.I.T. AND THE REST OF THE PUBLIC. SO, ANYTHING M.I.T. IS INTERESTED IN, WHICH IS ALMOST EVERYTHING. WE’RE TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO HAVE A GLIMPSE OF HOW A WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH INSTITUTION ACTUALLY WORKS. >> TAKE ALBERT EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF RELATIVITY FOR EXAMPLE. THE FINAL PART OF THE THEORY WAS PUBLISHED IN 1915 AND DEALS WITH GRAVITY. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE CONCEPT THAT THE LARGER OBJECT IS THE MORE IT DISTORTS THE SPACE TIME AROUND IT. FROM THE MOMENT EINSTEIN PRESENTED HIS THEORY, SCIENTISTS HAVE TRIED TO SEE THE DISTORTIONS OR GRAVITATIONAL WAVES. IN 2015, M.I.T. MUSEUM DIRECTOR, JOHN DURANT TELLS US THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL. >> SOME OF THE WORK DONE HERE, ONE OF OUR PHYSICS PROCESS OR -- PROFESSOR WON A NOBEL PRIZE. GRAVITY WAVE DETECTORS ARE SOME OF THE MOST POWERFUL TELESCOPES WE HAVE IN THE WORLD. >> THE SYSTEM USED TO MEASURE SOMETHING SMALL HAS A BIG NAME. THE LASER INTERFEROMETER GRAVITATIONAL WAVE OBSERVATORY OR LIGO. ONE IS LOCATED IN WASHINGTON STATE. THE OTHER IN LOUISIANA. THEY WORK TOGETHER TO MEASURE THESE GRAVITATIONAL WAVES. A SCALED DOWN VERSION IS THAT THE M.I.T. MUSEUM. >> IT IS BIG SCIENCE. THE THAT HECTOR MEASURES ABOUT TWO TO THREE KILOMETERS IN ONE DIRECTION, AND IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. IT’S A VERY BIG THING TO MEASURE SOMETHING, VERY SMALL. >> IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT PINK CHICKENS? HAVE TO DO WITH SCIENCE THE PINK CHICKEN PROJECT HAS AN ANSWER FOR YOU. IT’S GOAL IS TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN IMPACT ON THE EARTH AND A THEORY THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY CHANGING THE PLANETS LAYERS. THIS PROJECT WOULD USE GENETICS TO EMBED A MESSAGE IN THE DNAOF CHICKENS, TURNING THEM PINK. THE BONES OF THE 60 BILLION CHICKENS KILLED EACH YEAR WITH AND ALSO BE PINK, VISIBLE IN THIS HUMAN MADE LAYER OF THE EARTH. A DISTINCT MARKER OF OUR IMPACT. >> M.I.T. PEOPLE DEAL WITH THIS, WORLDWIDE IMPLICATIONS. PEOPLE ARE WORKING ON CLIMATE CHANGE OR UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN BETTER, OR TRYING TO MAKE BETTER BATTERIES, SO THAT WE CAN POWER THE ELECTRICAL DEVICES THAT WE ARE GOING TO NEED TO DEPEND ON MORE IN THE FUTURE. >> HE SAYS THAT WHILE THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE ARE ASTOUNDING, THE MUSEUM IS MORE ABOUT THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE DISCOVERIES. >> THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF FACULTY STAFF AND STUDENT HERE. THEY DO ALMOST AN UNIMAGINABLE VARIETY OF THINGS. ANTHONY: VISITORS TO THE MUSEUM WILL SEE ROBOTS AND OTHER M.I.T. DISCOVERIES THAT THEY WILL ALSO SEE ART. SHAYNA: THE EXHIBIT IN CONCERT, GANSON & CAVATORTA, SHOWS SCULPTURES BY ARTHUR GANSON AND ANDY CAVATORTA THAT ARE FOCUSED ON SOUND AND MOTIO