SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014; 2:00 - 6:00 PM
Learn about nanoscale science and technology during a nationwide festival celebrating the science of ultra small matter. A free family friendly event will take place at the Highland Road Park Observatory on Saturday, April 5th, as part of NanoDays, a national event of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering.
When reduced to the width of a human hair or smaller, ordinary materials often take on extraordinary properties. For example, the iridescent colors in butterfly wings are not created by pigments but instead by tiny patterns on the wings. Similarly, tinted glass in old cathedrals was made by mixing different sizes of gold particles to create a wide variety of colors. But it is just now that we are beginning to understand these fascinating phenomena and their potential uses in every day life. Nanotechnology promises advanced information processing and storage, new medical treatments, and much more.
NanoDays will feature several hands-on activities for children of all ages. Visitors will be able to see how big they are compared to nanoscale objects, understand how a Scanning Probe Microscope allows scientists to explore the nanoworld, experience the effect of reducing the size of regular objects, and learn about nanomaterials used in the manufacture of stain-free clothes. Children and adults will also have a chance to build models of nanoscale structures, play with liquid crystals, and make some fluids magically part in the middle by applying magnets to them. In parallel with the demonstrations a public talk will provide an overview of the nanoscale world. At 4:00 p.m. Dr. Phil Sprunger, Physics Department, LSU, will present "From atoms upwards: Nanotechnology for improved energy generation, storage and transmission."
Faculty, students and staff from: the LSU Center for Computation & Technology; the Department of Physics & Astronomy; and the National Science Foundation-funded Louisiana Alliance for Simulation-Guided Materials Applications (LA-SiGMA) are volunteering their time to make this event a success. NanoDays, organized by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net.), takes place nationally March 29-April 6, 2014, at more than 200 science museums, research centers and universities across the country. For more information please visit http://lasigma.loni.org or contact Dr. Juana Moreno at moreno@lsu.edu.
Come be part of NanoDays!
