Updated July 16, 2025
Scores of interactives on science and health topics were created for MSNBC.com between 1996 and 2012. Some of them have fallen out of date, but many more are just as useful and entertaining today as they were years ago — that is, if the software works.
Click on these links to give the interactives a spin, bearing in mind that your computer has to be capable of running a Flash player. And that can be complicated. You may have to give permission for your browser to download and run the Flash file (technically, it’s known as an SWF file).
In late 2020, most browsers eliminated and blocked Flash plug-ins due to security concerns. Basilisk is one of the few browsers that still allows Flash files to be opened in a browser window.
It’s possible to play these interactives even if Flash content is blocked on your browser. First, download the SWF file. Then you can use a Flash Player alternative to load and play the interactive. Here’s a list of 15 Flash emulators you can try.
Alternatively, you can download an archived copy of the Flash Player, which works as a standalone program to play the interactive. When you have the player running, navigate to the SWF file and open it.
For the sake of convenience, here are downloadable files for the Flash players. Use the files at your own risk; we make no guarantees, but we’ve found that the Windows version works quite well. (If you’re a Windows user, right-click and save the linked file.)
- Flash Player Projector Content Debugger for Windows (.exe)
- Flash Player Projector Content Debugger for Mac (DMG)
- Flash Player Projector Content Debugger for Linux (GZip archive)
You may find it convenient to widen your browser window, or even expand the window to full screen, in order to make the interactives larger and more readable.
For more information about playing Flash interactives, check out this article from Online Tech Tips. It’s also possible to convert Flash files to up-to-date formats such as HTML5. If you do so, feel free to contact alan@cosmiclog.com.
- Asteroids – Below the belt: Close encounters of the asteroid kind
- Astrobiology: Calculate the odds for aliens with the Drake Equation
- Brain – A road map to the mind
- Christmas – What was the star of Bethlehem?
- Climate – Antarctic meltdown (Not functional, for archive purposes only)
- Climate – Engineering a cooler planet
- Climate – The greenhouse effect
- Climate – Melting mountains
- Climate – What sea level rise could mean for America’s favorite places (AP)
- Climate – The water cycle
- Cosmology (inflationary) – Beyond the Big Bang
- Cosmology (string theory) – The symphony of everything (Click “Back” to beginning)
- Dark matter – Why does dark matter matter? (Click “Back” to beginning)
- Dinosaurs – Are dinosaurs alive?
- Dreams: What do our dreams mean?
- Earthquakes – The next Big One: When? How much damage?
- Earthquakes – What causes earthquakes?
- Eclipses (lunar) – Inconstant moon: What causes a lunar eclipse?
- Eclipses (solar) – Moonshadow: What causes a solar eclipse?
- Electromagnetic spectrum – Why is the sky blue?
- Engines – The road to cleaner, higher-mileage diesels
- Evolution – Before and after humans (if pop-up appears, click OK)
- Fireworks – The inner workings of fireworks
- Genetics – Genetic fingerprints
- Geological ages – Earth’s timeline
- Heart – How heart attacks happen
- Hubble Space Telescope – The long view (plus pre-servicing version)
- Hurricanes – Birth of a hurricane
- Hurricanes – Hurricane briefing
- Internet (space) – The interplanetary Internet
- Large Hadron Collider – The Big Bang Machine (Use a standalone Flash Player rather than Ruffle)
- Large Hadron Collider – Big Bang nightmares and dreams (Not fully functional; for archive purposes only)
- Linguistics – Language ancestors of the Americas (Click “Continue” button repeatedly, then click “Start Over” to get to the beginning frame)
- Military – How the National Missile Defense system would work
- Meteors (Leonids) – A look at meteor showers and how to view them
- Nuclear power – How nuclear plants work
- Physics – Why are things weightless in orbit?
- Planets (extrasolar) – Other worlds: The search for extrasolar planets
- Quantum physics – Cats and qubits: The challenge of quantum computers
- Relativity – Putting Einstein to the test
- Sleep – Stages of sleep
- Snoring – Why we snore (with audio; click on “Snoring Off” button to silence snoring)
- Spaceflight – How the International Space Station was built (AP)
- Space history (space shuttle) – Shipshape shuttle
- SpaceShipOne – How SpaceShipOne works
- Tornadoes – Birth of a tornado
- Viruses – Understanding viruses
- Volcanoes – Anatomy of a volcano
- Voting technology – How it works: Voting technologies explained (Not fully functional, for archive purposes only)
- Whales – Swimming with whales
- Wildfires – Fighting fires, fixing forests
- Wildfires – Suiting up for wildfires