The newest exhibit at the Fleet Science Center explores the underlying science behind light that we can and cannot see (infrared and ultraviolet), color, darkness and optics. Hands-on exhibits explore the visible light spectrum, optics, the effects of mixing colors and the concept that colors are created by reflected light.
Flashing lights simulate fireflies, insects also known as lightning bugs. Part of their abdomen is bioluminescent, meaning it produces and emits light. This helps females identify males of the same species to mate with. Bioluminescence is used for many other purposes, including communication, to attract prey and to deter predators.
At “Touch the Spring,” you will see how light has direction. As you peer into a hole you will see a spring, but when you put your hand into that hole, it es right through the spring — so where is the image of the spring coming from? Its light travels straight down from its source above. We cannot see that light because our eyes are not in the light’s path, just like in a movie theater where you only see the projected light when it hits the screen.
At “How Black Can It Get?” you will see two masks rotating in the darkness. If you take a flash picture of them, you will see no details on one of the masks — so are they different? That mask is covered in the world’s blackest paint: “super-black” paint that is made up of carbon nanotubes that absorb 99.9% of the light that strikes the surface. This eliminates the shadows and reflections that help us see the three-dimensional structure.
IR cameras let us “see” temperature by converting the heat of infrared light into visible colors. At a recent IMAX film preview of “Deep Sky” at the Fleet, we learned that as the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) peers into the atmospheric dust and gas in deep space, its sensitive scientific instruments gather infrared light. Scientists interpret this data that reveals spectacular images of stars, galaxies and more, dating as far back as “the beginning of time and space” — many more images than were possible for us to see with the Hubble and other telescopes that preceded it.
UV light radiates at shorter wavelengths than visible light and, like IR light, it cannot be seen by the human eye. However, when UV light is absorbed by certain materials, its energy is re-emitted as longer wavelength visible radiation (visible light). At “Pen Writer,” a swinging pendulum with a light source dangles above a spinning platform made of a phosphorescent material. The platform stores the energy from the light source and emits it slowly over time, producing patterns that we can see.
Instead of turning a hand-held kaleidoscope to see how colorful reflections are altered by its angled mirrors, at “Kaleidoscope” you actually climb inside a large kaleidoscope to observe scattered reflections of yourself.
At “Color Printing,” see how four-color printers add or subtract cyan, magenta, yellow and black to produce images in a broad spectrum of colors.
At “Color in Motion,” spin the disks faster and faster to see how the colors and patterns change, and trick the color receptors in your eyes into “seeing” colors that are not even there.
At “What Does It Mean to be Colorblind?” we learn that about one out of every 12 men and one in 200 women are colorblind, which causes them to see colors differently. The most common type makes it hard to tell red and green apart.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Fleet Science Center is one of 17 world-class museums in Balboa Park — nestled amid lush gardens and fountains, and adjacent to the world-famous San Diego Zoo. The Fleet “is dedicated to connecting San Diego to the power of science,” hosting an ever-changing variety of fascinating and educational scientific exhibits throughout the year. In addition to special exhibits, the Fleet has a newly renovated, state-of-the-art IMAX theater with all-new seats; an interactive, family-friendly science lab called “Studio X” where you can make projects to take home; a well-stocked store that includes a multitude of science-related kits, and much more. For more information, visit: https://www.fleetscience.org/.
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Copyright © 2023 by Jan Wagner – AutoMatters & More #814
