Found 10 - 20 results of 32 programs matching keyword "michelson inferometer floor exhibit"
Senior Staff Scientist Thomas Humphrey invents a simple experiment to see if the Giant Mirror is spherical or parabolic, and then to see if it's perfectly spherical. By placing a Styrofoam ball at the center of curvature, he's able to prove that the mirror is out of pure sphericity by about one-quarter of one degree. Staff Neuroscientist Richard Brown demonstrates that the Giant Mirror reflects infrared radiation as well as visible light. Preview the Exploratorium's Mind exhibit, an exhibit collection four years in the making.
In Mind, you are the exhibit. Experience your own thoughts, feelings and
actions in provocative and unexpected ways in this major new
5000-square-foot collection. Discover insights into how you make decisions,
the kinds of things you do (or don’t) pay attention to, and the changing
landscapes and intriguing effects of your own emotions. Mind is made
possible with the support of the National Science Foundation. Aeolian Landscape is an exhibit in which a miniature wind-swept desert landscape is recreated by an electric fan and finely ground sand that mimics the process of wind picking up and depositing small particles. Visitors can change the direction of the fan, influencing the shape of the dunes. At the Balancing Ball exhibit, a plastic beach ball floats mysteriously several feet above a large plastic cone. Upon closer inspection, the ball is found to be floating on a stream of air blowing out of the cone; visitors interact with the ball, changing its position in relation to the air flow. Artist Sheldon Brown creates an urban/suburban/rural environment in which the visitor literally "paints" the flying landscape with highways, buildings, and automobiles. This exhibit was part of the Virtual Unreality exhibition. An clip of the Aeolian Landscape exhibit by artist Ned Kahn. Blowing air sculpts sand into an ever-changing landscape. The concept of space-time--perhaps Einstein's most fundamental contribution to our understanding of the universe--will be explored using special red lasers. Using a simple ball-bearing model, Exploratorium Senior Scientist Dr. Paul Doherty demonstrates Brownian Motion and explains how it proves the existence of atoms. Watch as the best teachers on the planet battle it out for the title of Iron Science Teacher. In this zany competition teachers will have ten minutes to create a science activity. This week’s “secret” ingredient: CD cases!
