Super Sunday

I know everyone thinks that Super Sunday is next week, but our open house yesterday was pretty super, too. Thanks to everyone who helped out!

We had perhaps the biggest turnout ever. So big that we ran out of liquid nitrogen. (Sorry Dr. Carkner, we didn't save you any.)

The demos went really well. Of course, everyone loves the LN demos - from superconductivity to duck-smashing to explosions.

And the kids love to make a mess with our weird fluids: feeling the oobleck act like a liquid and a solid, and making psychedelic paintings in milk by breaking its surface tension.

I didn't get to spend much time in the optics room, but from the hallway I could hear the gasps of awe of those watching the diffraction of red and green lasers.

I didn't get the general relativity cart set up until about half-way through the open house. But once I did, I had a dozen kids waiting in line for a ride. I only pulled them about a meter or two, but several of them said that the acceleration felt like a roller-coaster. I'm glad we put the windshield on the cart. Seems a lot of kids think it is the wind that blows you back when you accelerate forward.* Busted that myth!

Any response from the rest of you who were working at the open house? What went well, what didn't? Were there some interesting comments or observations by the visitors?

By the way, when Super Bowl Sunday does come, be sure you celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Stephen Colbert's call to all of us to "unleash nerd fury!"

_{*This guy turns into that guy just from the wind? I don't think so. From www.sky-chaser.com/ coasters.htm. Look at the pretty pictures, but please don't read his description of g-forces.}