Northern Star

Physics club haunts laboratory

By Jamie Luchsinger | October 23, 2003

An eerie fog made with liquid nitrogen and water fills the air. Beach balls levitate above fans, and black lights glow in the dark. These are a few of the many sights demonstrated at NIU’s haunted physics laboratory.

The event is from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday on the first floor of Faraday Hall.

This is the first haunted laboratory the NIU Physics Club and the Frontier Physics outreach program has sponsored. Pati Sievert, coordinator of Frontier Physics, sent out notices to 35 grade schools in DeKalb County and said she hopes a lot of kids attend the event.

“Since it’s our first year doing this, it’s hard to know how many people will show up,” Sievert said.

Although the activities are designed for children ages 5 through 12, NIU students are welcome to attend, Sievert said.

However, she wants older students to understand and respect that the activities are mainly for children, she said. Sievert suggests NIU students bring a child along to enjoy the fun the haunted laboratory will offer to younger students.

Graduate and undergraduate students will help with the event’s activities, Sievert said.

By hosting the haunted laboratory in celebration of Halloween, the NIU Physics Club and Frontier Physics hope to get children interested in physics, she said.

“We’re hoping it will pique the kids’ curiosity and show them that physics can be fun,” she said.

In keeping with the haunted theme, the lab will be darkened and black lights will accent glow-in-the-dark materials, such as children’s face paint, Sievert said. Among the festivities will be optical illusions with mirrors and explanations of mysterious things.

Children, accompanied by an adult, will have the opportunity to make kaleidoscopes and draw on their faces with glow-in-the-dark paint and crayons, Sievert said. Visitors also can make drawings that only look normal when reflected in a cylindrical mirror.

There is only enough material to make 144 kaleidoscopes, Sievert said, so she suggests coming early if making a kaleidoscope is of interest.

Despite the haunted theme, the haunted laboratory is promised to be an “un-scary family event,” according to the press release.

The event is free and parking is available at the NIU parking garage on Normal Road, one block north of Lincoln Highway (Route 38).

Faraday’s south entrance will be used and signs will lead the way. If needed, the west entrance is handicapped-accessible.

“The haunted laboratory will have a lot of fun little things for kids to see and experience,” Sievert said.

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