Put Your Mind to the Test in Hands-on Biotech This Spring!

At the Hands-on Biotech exhibit, visitors are used to exploring science with their hands — pipetting liquids, examining microscopic life, and experimenting with the tools researchers use every day.

Soon, they’ll be able to explore science with their minds, too.

Opening in late February, a new interactive experience is coming to The Lawrence. Mindball invites guests to sit across from a partner, place sensors against their foreheads and attempt to move a small ball across a table—using only their brain activity.

The Lawrence’s Learning Designers, Lee Bishop and Jacqueline Ryan, helped bring the activity to Hands-on Biotech and describe it as a playful introduction to brain-sensing technology.

“It has these little sensors that sense your brain waves and can tell if you’re relaxed and focused—sort of in the zone, like meditation,” said Bishop. “You can move a physical ball with your mind. You’re trying to out-relax the other person.”

Rather than rewarding intense concentration, the game challenges players to quiet their thoughts. As participants relax, the ball slowly rolls toward their opponent. The calmer someone becomes, the more control they gain.

The result is often surprising, especially across age groups.

“She assumed a little kid wouldn’t be able to relax because they’re so high energy,” said Ryan, recalling a colleague’s earlier experience with the exhibit. “But seeing him try to calm himself down and use different methods was really powerful. Adults have a lot of stress, so it can be surprising who’s actually more relaxed.”

While Mindball feels playful on the surface, it reflects a rapidly evolving area of biotechnology. Biosensors are already embedded in everyday life, from fitness trackers to smart watches that monitor heart rate, sleep and physical activity.

“There’s a lot of wearable tech that collects data about your body,” Ryan said. “This is a cool way to experience biosensors in a fun, hands-on way that might feel more relatable to visitors.”

The exhibit also opens the door to deeper questions about how brain-sensing technology could be used in the future.

“If you can sense brain activity to move a ball, think about what else scientists are working on,” Bishop said. “That’s an ongoing area of research that’s only going to become more important.”

Those conversations align with the broader goals of Hands-on Biotech, which explores how studying living systems from microbes to humans can help solve real-world challenges, from disease treatment to climate change.

Alongside Mindball’s debut, visitors will also see the return of a favorite activity: pipetting rainbows.

Using pipettes—scientific tools designed to transfer precise amounts of liquid—young scientists fill small well plates with brightly colored solutions. By following templates or creating their own patterns, they transform laboratory techniques into colorful designs.

The activity introduces visitors to the precision scientists use in research settings, while leaving room for creativity.

“You see a pattern and then make the same pattern out of liquid,” Bishop said. “It’s something you don’t usually get to create in your life—color designs made from science tools. People take it even further than our templates and create designs they’re really proud of.”

Together, the two experiences showcase different sides of biotechnology: the microscopic precision of laboratory work and the emerging technologies that connect directly to the human body.

Mindball and pipetting rainbows debut in Hands-on Biotech Feb. 28. Visit this spring to move a ball with your mind, experiment with real lab tools and explore the science shaping our world from the inside out.