Globe takes Detroit Zoo visitors out of this world

ROYAL OAK (AP) -- The Detroit Zoo is taking visitors on a virtual ride to see the wild, wide world. The zoo has installed Science on a Sphere. It's an animated, hologram-like globe that displays the Earth's atmospheric, oceanic and land activity as it would be seen from space. The permanent exhibit uses computers and video projectors to present the images of the planet's activities onto a six-foot sphere. Zoo officials say it will give people the effect of hovering hundreds of miles above Earth. The Detroit Zoo is the second zoo in the country to install the attraction. The other is the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The system was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study environmental data. Published: Mon, Jul 11, 2011