Mind-bending displays, cyclotron tours set for IU Physics-Astronomy weekend open house
It was the Indiana University open house to end all open houses, complete with a perilous bed of nails, streaking rocket cars, imploding oil drums and soda cans ripped apart by magnetic fields. The event took place Oct. 31, 2009, courtesy of the IU Departments of Physics and Astronomy.
"We usually get between 800 and 1,000 people at the event," said physics Associate Professor Hal Evans of the annual event that this year also included a seasonally appropriate "Phreaky Physics" demonstration, a new hands-on electronics room and other hair-raising (literally, think Tesla coil) activities and events for the whole family.
Evans' contagious excitement over physics is manifested in a full cast of student and faculty physicists and astronomers who greeted the public with electromagnetic sparks, liquid nitrogen, optical illusions and other stimulating experiences.
"I have always been interested in smashing things into each other. This narrowed my career options to High Energy Physics or Demolition Derby," Evans said.
The event was based out of Swain Hall West, 727 E. Third St., and included guided tours of the IU Cyclotron Facility (IUCF) and the Kirkwood Observatory, along with designed-for-the-public lectures from astronomy Professor Emeritus Martin Burkhead on the Hubble Telescope and School of Informatics Professor Alessandro Vespignani (also a physicist) on how physics and computers are working to fight global pandemics like the h1n1 flu virus.
Area science teachers received special invitations to attend the event, which also included a teachers-only lunch shared with IU faculty where ideas and experiences about teaching science will be shared.
Prizes were offered to those who successfully match wits during question-and-answer sessions in a Swain West contest room, and an outdoor exploratorium included the perplexing Coriolis Force merry-go-round, dry ice bowling and ground-penetrating radar compliments of the IU Department of Geology.
"This open house was aimed at people of all ages and it is free and open to everyone," Evans said. "Faculty and students were on hand to assist, explain and discuss results, as well as to chat with anyone interested in a career or education in physics, applied physics and astronomy at Indiana University."
This article was originally published on Oct. 26, 2009.
