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Celebrate science with explosions

It is a scientific fact that explosions are awesome. It makes sense, therefore, that St.
BOOM! – Science Director Jennifer Bawden of the Telus World of Science grins as she presumably contemplates the explosive fate of the 1
BOOM! – Science Director Jennifer Bawden of the Telus World of Science grins as she presumably contemplates the explosive fate of the 1

It is a scientific fact that explosions are awesome.

It makes sense, therefore, that St. Albert’s Karin Dowling is pumped to get the chance to see a particularly large one happen at her workplace this Thursday as part of Edmonton’s largest science experiment.

“It is the largest thing I think the science centre has done,” said the Telus World of Science employee, who has worked at the science centre for 32 years. She and her two kids plan to witness it.

“We’re going to have a great day of non-stop science.”

This Thursday is the first annual International Science Centre and Science Museum Day. Organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council of Museums, the event is meant to promote how science centres can address global sustainability. Information on how science centres engage with the public on this day will be presented to the Science Centre World Summit next year in Tokyo.

The Telus World of Science has a host of activities planned to celebrate, including environmental-themed movies, guided tours, and live sugar gliders, lizards and tarantulas, said science director Jennifer Bawden.

“We’re also participating in a NASA citizen science project called GLOBE Observer,” she noted, referring to the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program.

Humans are better at identifying short-lived cloud patterns such as contrails, Bawden said. Using an app, guests at the Telus will take pictures of and identify clouds that will later be matched with photos of the same clouds taken by satellites. The aim is to help scientists better understand cloud patterns and their influence on climate change.

But the main event will be at 2 p.m. when centre officials perform what they’ve dubbed Edmonton’s largest science experiment.

“We have 1,500 ping-pong balls,” Bawden explained.

“We’re going to put them in a tub with some liquid nitrogen and we’re going to make them explode.”

Nitrogen is a gas at room temperature and has to be cooled considerably before it liquefies, Bawden said. If heated, say, by exposure to warm water, liquid nitrogen expands explosively to seven times its former volume.

The plan is to place the 1,500 balls, many of which will have messages written on them by guests, into a 32-gallon trash can filled with warm water outside the science centre, Bawden said. Officials will drop a sealed one-litre plastic bottle containing about a cup-and-a-half of liquid nitrogen into the water and stand back.

The expanding nitrogen should cause the bottle to explode, creating a burst of gas and water vapour that propels the balls skyward. The balls will probably survive and clatter on the pavement in a musical fashion, Bawden said.

Dowling said experiments and events like this demonstrate the true purpose of science centres: inspiration.

“It can just take that one moment to make a change in someone’s life,” she said, and encourage them to think differently or try something new.

“Kids today, they can watch everything on YouTube. It’s not the same experience as being able to come in and actually see something happen, feel it, touch it, taste it, ask questions why and get that immediate feedback.”

Guests are encouraged to arrive before 1 p.m. to sign one of the balls in the experiment. Visit www.telusworldofscienceedmonton.com for details.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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