SECU Daily Planet

The centerpiece of the Nature Research Center will be the SECU Daily Planet, an immersive, three-story, high-definition, multimedia space that will link virtual to real nature and be the site of live programming on breaking science news.

At regular intervals during the day, scientists will present to NRC visitors using the cutting edge technology and media of the SECU Daily Planet and its 40-foot, high-definition screen. These presenters will discuss the science research behind current issues and their societal impacts.

Scientists will be able to use the media-rich resources and dynamic images of the SECU Daily Planet to augment their programs and to better field questions from the audience, immersing viewers into the world of the presenter’s field of research and allowing visitors to dig deeper by asking questions of personal interest to them. Live Internet access will enable SECU Daily Planet speakers to download, stream and import content.

At special times, this venue will broadcast programs via television and radio, courtesy of the NRC’s partnership with WRAL (CBS affiliate), UNC-TV (PBS affiliate), UNC public radio and a membership with the ResearchChannel.

Videos of presentations will be edited and uploaded as podcasts onto iTunes University (on which the Museum has a presence and receives 20,000 downloads per month), the Museum’s website (which receives 1 million hits per year) and to every public school and many colleges and universities in North Carolina via the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), a high-speed, Internet2 infrastructure. Partnerships are underway to expand our connectivity to other states, museums and nations through emerging technologies.

Periodic Global Town Halls will be held in the SECU Daily Planet to have global conversations with rising science researchers and youth engaged in Citizen Science projects on current science issues.

The SECU Daily Planet will have the ability to transmit programs into libraries, senior citizen centers, hospitals and any other community organizations through the Internet.