Things that go bump in the night

October’s when Chicagoans become more aware of the dark. There are fewer hours of daylight, our shadows get longer and, by month’s end, it seems everything’s awash in creepy blackness, just in time for Halloween. But this moody, gloomy ambience also makes it the perfect time to open an exhibit all about darkness, according to Jill Riddell, vice president of exhibits and strategic initiatives for the Notebaert Nature Museum.

On October 3, the museum unveils “In the Dark,” a 4,000-square-foot interactive exhibit that examines different environments of darkness and the life forms that inhabit them. “Darkness is so mysterious to us,” Riddell says. “Animals make extraordinary adjustments to the dark, but it’s an aspect of nature where humans are out of their element. Getting both kids and adults thinking about darkness in a different way at this time of year is intriguing.” The exhibit, produced by the Cincinnati Museum Center, is made up of five walk-through dioramas.

Darkness Deep Within Caves walks you through a re-creation of a Kentucky cave inhabited by animals looking for temporary darkness during the day (a.k.a. bats) and by creatures whose ancestors wandered deeper inside and never reemerged (such as blind cave fish). A computer game challenges visitors to “fly” out of a virtual cave maze by mimicking a bat’s sonar sense rather than relying on sight.

Darkness of Night is where visitors walk through simulated, nocturnal versions of the Great Smoky Mountains, Sonoran Desert and a Louisiana cypress swamp to learn about creatures that get busy once the sun goes down. Here, you can try to decipher a firefly’s flashing signals on an electronic screen or re-create how snakes use heat-sensing to track their prey at night.

Darkness of the Deep Sea plummets to underwater depths, where the environment is eternally murky and life begins for tube worms, shrimp, clams and other creatures that use bacteria instead of light as an energy source. Take a deep-sea dive (via computer) to check out life forms on the ocean floor and bioluminescent beings that emit light to match the light around them.

Darkness Within the Soil invites you into a Midwestern backyard where moles, worms and slugs thrive deep beneath the dirt. Try to navigate through a termite colony and feel a tactile pad that simulates the vibrations a star-nosed mole—which has fleshy tentacles at the end of its snout to help it identify food by touch—senses underground.

Darkness and Humans is an urban residential setting where visitors can learn about the history of making light and how humans have created adaptations to the dark that affect the natural world, disrupting the instincts of some animals. Satellite images display the ways people have lit up the world with the help of technology, including radar, infrared and image enhancement, and the exhibit shows how some animals—such as sea turtles—get confused when our artificial lights mess with their nighttime navigation. Visitors can try out devices that help humans see in the dark, rely on their other senses and test tools developed especially for the blind.

“In the Dark” runs at the Notebaert Nature Museum (2430 N Cannon Dr, 773-755-5100, naturemuseum.org) October 3–January 11.

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