Clownfish are real eye-catchers with their funny faces and are normally at home in tropical waters in the Indo-Pacific. They like to chill out in anemones, which protect them from predators. How cool is that? The special thing about clownfish is their symbiotic relationship with the anemones. They are immune to the anemones' poisonous tentacle tissue, while they themselves find protection from predators. A real win-win situation.
The most famous clownfish is of course Nemo from the film "Finding Nemo"! But did you know that clownfish are much cooler in real life than in the film? They are super intelligent, communicative and have a fascinating social structure.
Ghost insects belong to the phasmid family (Greek phasma = ghost). Their bodies resemble dry leaves or small branches. And that's a good thing. This makes them difficult for their predators to detect. Practical, isn't it?
Ghost insects are completely harmless and rely solely on their camouflage to protect themselves from predators. Pretty brave. But they have another trick up their sleeve: they camouflage themselves not only with their appearance, but also with their movements. Many species imitate parts of plants swaying in the wind. Or they hardly move at all, like our stick insects.
Really clever, these insects!
Who would have thought that the decomposition process of organisms could be so exciting? At phaeno, we show how microorganisms and insects play an important role in this process. Sounds disgusting, but it's totally fascinating.
Did you know that decomposition is a natural process that helps to recycle nutrients in the ecosystem? If you want to find out the secret of the decomposition process, why not pay a visit to phaeno? You can take a look at our time-lapse exhibit, which usually takes quite a long time.
Colourful, big, bright ... only our DNA model at phaeno is like this. In reality, the genetic information of living organisms is tiny. In the model you can clearly recognise the structure of DNA as a so-called "double helix" or "twisted rope ladder". The structure was only discovered less than 100 years ago! In the DNA itself, there are only four different "letters" (the bases) which, through their sequence, carry all the genetic information that makes up a human being, an animal, a plant, a bacterium....
The almost four metre high model is presented in more detail in the video.
Because they are very special! The coral-fingered tree frogs come from the humid rainforests of Australia. And our offspring have beautiful bright blue eyes. Frogs belong to the amphibian family. Amphi means both - they live both in water and on land during their development.
In the exhibition you will find another terrarium with colourful poison dart frogs.
In the CellLab you can discover microscopic phenomena of life. It's all about cells, the smallest "units" of living organisms. Amateur researchers can look at objects under a light microscope at 400x magnification and discover exciting details of their own hair, for example. Wearing lab coats and safety goggles, you can isolate DNA from cells.
The CellLab allows visitors to handle (real) laboratory equipment and provides an insight into the work of a modern laboratory.
👋 Hey adventurer! Questions?
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