Monday, December 19, 2016

Madd Max Visits An Astronomy Lab

While volunteering at PP, Maddie and Jess met Abby, who offered to show Maddie around her lab at CalTech when she heard Maddie had an interest in astronomy.  (Maddie has a solar system model, solar system calendar, a request for a telescope for Christmas, etc.)
She showed the chips in the microscope they were testing to see the background radiation from the Big Bang.
She explained the equations on the board that seemed like fake TV set dressing.
She showed the kids the liquid helium that kept the telescope at .25 degrees above absolute zero.
She did this by freezing a banana in it, and then allowing the kids to shatter it on the floor.
Science rocks!

No comments: