July 30, 2006

NSLS Summer Sunday Draws 650 Visitors to Facility

Using gumdrops and toothpicks to illustrate molecular crystals and Marshmallow Peeps to demonstrate the power of a vacuum, about 650 community members had a sweet time at the NSLS Summer Sunday on July 30, 2006.

For eight consecutive Sundays each summer, the Brookhaven National Laboratory Summer Sunday program invites the public to see the popular Whiz-Bang Science Show and showcases a different BNL facility every week.

Visitors who came to the NSLS-designated event began their tours in Berkner Hall, where Marc Allaire, Lisa Miller, Steve Hulbert, Tony Lanzirotti, and Andrew Ackerman explained the concept of a light source and gave more detailed information about the facility and its research goals. Before boarding a bus for the quick drive to the NSLS, visitors learned more about nanoscience research at a display set up by the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, and roamed among several other hands-on exhibits.

Once at the NSLS, visitors crowded the lobby, seminar room, and front patio, where 14 hands-on displays were set up to demonstrate how the light source works and teach visitors about the science performed there. Learning about science topics ranging from light diffraction to liquid nitrogen, the NSLS guests floated from display to display, asking questions and collecting some goodies along the way.

At the "Crystals: Unlocking the Secrets of Life" display, many kids, and some adults, assembled "crystals" from toothpicks and gumdrops. Another popular display was "Sounds of Silence," where guests watched how a vacuum pump caused a balloon to expand and the sound of a ringing bell to considerably fade. Display volunteers also exposed Marshmallow Peeps to the vacuum, which expanded the Peeps when turned on and shriveled them down to a smaller size when turned off. Visitors then performed a science experiment of their own by popping the de-puffed Peeps in their mouths. Their findings: The vacuum didn't make the candies any less tasty.

At "See the Light," visitors could observe actual synchrotron light, guided to the lobby from the experimental floor by a fiber-optic cable. And by using a Skee Ball-type backboard and rubber bouncy balls, the "Electron Catapult" display showed visitors how different amounts of energy are required to propel an electron from an atom's "ground state" level to higher levels.

Standing at the lobby and second-floor viewing windows overlooking the experimental floor were scientists Steve Bennett, John Dabrowski, Susila Ramamoorthy, Gary Weiner, and Ray Raynis. The volunteers pointed out various components of the light source to visitors, using large neon numbers as reference points.

The excitement also carried over to the outside, where every half hour visitors gathered around the building's front windows or on the patio to watch a special water rocket launch in the parking lot across the street by Matt Engel, John Kuczewski, and Steve Ehrlich.

Upon entering the building, each guest received a quiz with questions that could be answered by visiting each display. Every finished quiz was handed in and redeemed for an NSLS orange Frisbee, to match the volunteers' orange shirts. In addition, one person was selected raffle-style every half hour by the enthusiastic MC Gerry Van Derlaske to receive one of two prizes - a BNL T-shirt or a tour of the experimental floor. This is the first year that floor tours were offered during the event, and visitors were excited to see the actual piping, foil and wires of the NSLS up close.

The rest of the more than 40 NSLS volunteers that made the event possible included: Kimone Antoine, Al Borrelli, Jonathan Cheung, Mary Anne Corwin, Angelo Dragone, Steve Giordano, Sarah Heins, Madeline Hughes, Steve Hulbert, Syed Khalid, Steve Kramer, Ariane Kretlow, Tony Kuczewski, Brian Kushner, Andreana Leskovjan, Sean McCorkle, Corinne Messana, Eileen Morello, Payman Mortazavi, Shirin Mortazavi, Kathy Nasta, Kumi Pandya, Meghan Ruppel, Cecilia Sanchez Hanke, Lenny Santangelo, Yusuf Siddiqui, Randy Smith, Kendra Snyder, Marie Van Buren, Adele Wang, Matt Worth, Nancye Wright, and numerous NSLS family members.

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ARTICLE BY: Kendra Snyder