Science Show Uses Computer Graphics

A new visual and audio program using computer graphic animation from companies around the world and an original score by British musician Thomas Dolby is being shown at the Griffith Observatory.

“The Gate to the Mind’s Eye” follows a futuristic science fiction story line with scenes ranging from a family of eyeballs watching television to Hovercraft speeding through a Blade Runner-like city.

The program is presented in the planetarium theater at 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. (213) 664-1191.

HEALTH/MEDICINE

* A free community seminar, “Relief From Carpal Tunnel Syndrome,” will be offered at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey at 7 p.m. Thursday . Preregistration is required; call (800) 356-2824.

SCIENCE FOR FAMILIES

* Caring for the Earth and its plants and animals is the focus of “NatureKids,” a free program for children ages 5 to 10 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. (805) 682-4726.

* “Brain Teasers,” an exhibit of puzzles from giant jigsaws to mind-bending number games for all ages will be at the Launch Pad, a hands-on science center for children in the Crystal Court Mall across from the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, through Sunday. (714) 546-2061.

Kids of all ages can learn about carnivorous insects, such as ladybugs, and birds of prey, including a visit with a live bald eagle, in workshops offered at the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena this weekend. “Ladybug Ladybug” will take place at 2 and 3 p.m. Saturday; “Birds of Prey” will be offered at 3 p.m. Sunday. (818) 449-9144.

ENGINEERING/TECHNOLOGY

United Airlines Capt. Al Haynes, who piloted a disabled DC-10 to a crash landing near Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989, will discuss the flight and how the crew regained control after the plane’s hydraulic system was knocked out by an engine explosion, at 10 a.m. today in the USC Annenberg School for Communication Auditorium (Room G21). (213) 740-4457.

* “Tall Buildings, Bad Welds, Large Earthquakes, Big Problems,” will be discussed by John F. Hall, associate professor of civil engineering at Caltech, at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium. (818) 395-4652.

ORNITHOLOGY

* John Cox will discuss Cox’s sandpiper, once thought to be a new bird species but now identified as a hybrid, at the meeting of the Los Angeles Audubon Society at 8 p.m. tonight in Plummer Park, West Hollywood. (213) 876-0202.

ENTOMOLOGY

* Entomologist Keith Dobry will discuss the growth and metamorphosis of butterflies at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Soka University in Calabasas. Reservations are required; call (818) 878-3763.

SCIENCE POLICY

* “Visions of Theory: Fashioning Biomedicine as Expert System,” will be the topic for Timothy Lenoir, history professor at Stanford University, at the Caltech Seminar on Science, Ethics and Public Policy at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Judy Library. (818) 395-4652.