It is now 10 years since a number of science centres were set up in the UK and elsewhere in Europe to celebrate the new millennium. Their arrival was controversial and was not greeted with enthusiasm by many existing centres. The newcomers had access to huge amounts of public money and opened amid a blaze of publicity. How have they fared in the last decade? Could the money have been used to better effect by more experienced practitioners in the field? What lessons have been learnt? And, perhaps most importantly, what challenges do these centres face in the next decade?