School of Physical Sciences at the Daresbury Open Week
What do jellied worms have in common with particle detectors and light sabres? All of these could be found within the School of Physical Science’s contributions to the Daresbury Open Week! The event, which saw Daresbury Laboratory open its doors to the public for the first time since 2016, saw almost 1500 school children aged between 7 and 18 visit on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th July and over 5000 members of the public attend on Saturday 15th July.
A team of over 20 staff and students from the School allowed people to get hands on with science; Chemistry facilitated the making of brightly coloured alginate worms, Maths perplexed people with a Soma cube and the travelling salesman problem, whilst Physics took people on a journey from the earliest particle trackers to modern-day detectors from the LHC and the g-2 muon experiment. A set of curiosities enjoyed by all who attended, from young children to their parents and grandparents.
Image 1: A family watches as a superconductor follows a mobius strip track.
Meanwhile, the force was strong with the Department of Physics’ QUASAR group as Prof. Carsten Welsch delivered a talk on the Physics of Star Wars and his group had a great presence at the event’s Wonder Marquee. The team piqued interest with maglev trains, medical physics experiments and the Surfatron as they represented projects including LIV.INNO and EuPRAXIA.
Image 2: Hands of experience of chromatography with the Department of Chemistry.
Finally, the Department of Physics’ Nuclear group introduced the public to state-of-the-art nuclear detectors through their sessions on Gamma Radiation and the Quantum World. People were able to investigate the radioactive world around them by building shielding solutions that could be used in hospitals and by checking out the radioactive decay of bananas.
If you would like to discuss an idea for an outreach or public engagement event, then feel free to contact School of Physical Sciences Outreach and Recruitment lead, Dr. Chris Edmonds (cse@liverpool.ac.uk).