Our next stop was the Mid-America Science Museum, two hours away in Hot Springs. Our main goal was to see
the star of the Museum - the Tesla Coil.
Also known as Caged Lightening.
It is a lightning-bolt-spitting
invention perfected by Nikola Tesla.
It sits inside a
floor-to-ceiling, 2.5 ton Faraday cage (Caged Lightning) which is lined with
metal screens to protect viewers.
The operator turns a key, a transformer hums to life, and
purple bolts of plasma shoot out. It's like a lightning storm inside a cage inside a
building. It was quite loud.
You might notice the neon sign on the right side of the
cage. It lit up too. The presenter had Mark come on stage to hold
up the electrical plug to prove the sign wasn’t plugged in.
The presenter did not tell us his name but he was very
entertaining. Mark and I were the only
people that spent the extra $3 each to watch the program.
There was also a
Plasma Lamp. The presenter held up
various neon and light bulbs to see which ones would light up from touching the
Lamp.
He had me come on
stage to show how our bodies are conductors of electricity. Every time I put my hand on top of the light bulb
it came on. It was a fun program and we
enjoyed it very much.
There is a LOT to see in the museum. They will be opening a
dinosaur exhibit later this year but so far there were only a couple of
dinosaurs completed.
The museum is separated
into several galleries. The Marvelous
Motion Gallery (a study of the basic concepts of physics) was our first stop.
Peanut Fountain
There was a gallery on
memory and how we remember things.
The “Fluid Motion
Workshop” is a two-story interactive water tower. You can throw small plastic balls into the
vortex of water. Mark hit it every time!
Vortex of Water
You can probably tell
that Mark tried out every hands-on exhibit!
Gravity Well
On the way to the Bob
Wheeler Science Skywalk there were several exhibits.
Invisible stained glass:
Now you don't see it ...
Now you do!
The Bob Wheeler
Science Skywalk is 40 feet in the air.
Ok. I have to go there. I would be like Mark and look at every hands on exhibit.
ReplyDeleteI know you would! Just can't help touching things.
ReplyDelete