Today’s Clean Energy Fair will include Mad Science

In celebration of Energy Awareness Month, the Hawaiian Electric Co. is holding a Clean Energy Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Pearlridge Center’s Uptown Court.

Keiki can learn about energy, play games and enjoy live performances by Mad Science of Hawaii, Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning recording artist Hoku Zuttermeister and Kapolei High School’s Polynesian Club.

The fair is free. Call 543-7511 or visit www.heco.com for more details.

Exhibits explicate Mars from Bishop Museum

They were expected to survive only a couple of months. But more than seven years after landing on the surface of Mars, robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity were selected last week for lifetime achievement awards by Popular Mechanics magazine. Although Spirit became stuck in a Martian sand dune last year, Opportunity keeps on rolling across the red planet.

And today, Bishop Museum opens a new exhibit called “Facing Mars,” an exploration of the challenges confronting scientists and astronauts trying to study Mars: How would a human expedition be mounted? Can astronauts handle being cooped up in a space capsule for a year or two? Could you?

These questions and others are addressed in more than two dozen exhibits devoted to Martian exploration, courtesy of the designers at the Ontario Science Center. The major themes are “Supporting Human Life,” “The Interpersonal and Psychological Experience,” “The Technology of Exploration” and “The Nature of Mars and Space Travel.”

“Facing Mars” runs through Jan. 2. Admission: $17.95 (discounts for youth, seniors Hawaii residents and military, free for members). Information: www.bishopmuseum.org or 847-3511.