Alice in the country Polytech

On May 12, an exhibition of the Alice in the Land of Sciences Polytechnic Museum officially opens in Ufa. It so happened that I was able to look there before the official opening. The exhibition is interactive, much can and should be touched, so I want to share a general impression and specifically mention a couple of exhibits that are unlikely to dwell on excursions in detail, and which are worth seeing separately and without haste. And the organizers of the exhibition want to become the center of gravity of the popular science movement in Ufa and are looking for enthusiastic popularizers.

Ufa has become the third city where this exhibition unfolded. The first version opened in Moscow, at VDNH, in May 2015. Winter 2016 exhibition was in Orsk. And from May to October 2016 Alice will be in Ufa. Here, for example, video from the Moscow version:



The theme of "Alice in the land of science" crosses the famous fairy tale with physics and biology. Three rooms talk about physics and cosmology, biology (evolution and perception) and mathematics with topology.
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In the hall of physics and cosmology, you can find out your weight on different planets, become the center of star formation (Kinect fixes the position on the ceiling), look at a visual demonstration of the Bernoulli law. One of the interesting stands behind which to stand longer is the scale of the universe:



By controlling the handle, you can project onto a wall the scale from the size of the visible Universe to the minimum length that makes sense in physics, passing through galaxies, stars, planets, cities, people, insects, bacteria, molecules and atoms.

There are such circles on the walls:


With the help of polarized glasses you can see there additional information. It will be interesting mainly for adults, children should like the fact of hidden inscriptions.

But this exhibit is unlikely to attract much attention. And in vain. The fact is that this is an expression in the material of the physics of orbital motion. Depending on the parameters, the orbit can be a circle, an ellipse, a parabola or a hyperbola. And all this is a section of a cone. Inside the cone there are explanatory labels, do not be lazy to disassemble it and see.


In the hall of biology, you can play evolution. This is more a game than a visual aid - you can change the random signs of the body, and its survival is determined by the voting of the players, but in the end you get a nice tree, a bit like an evolutionary tree.


And this stand is a kind of quest - answering questions you can move around the cycle of various compounds in nature. In the group tour it will not focus on, but if you come with your family, it will be interesting to travel slowly in a small group that fits at the screen.


And here you will be clearly shown the mechanics of anabiosis using the example of a toy frog. Nearby there is a stand where you can measure your subjective perception of time.


In the hall of mathematics, much attention is paid to topology. No wonder - this is a very beautiful and unusual thing for an unprepared brain. An excellent exhibit is a Möbius strip with magnets, which can be simply “cut” into two parts. By the way, I incorrectly remembered what would happen in the end, so I won’t say what will happen, if you come, you will find out for yourself.


Hall of Illusions. A very simple and very beautiful illustration of the fact that we do not always correctly perceive the real color of an object depends very much on what kind of light falls on it.




Again biology is not just glass trees, but a model of neurons. If you shine in the correct ball, then the rest will begin to wink, “receiving” the signal from the source neuron.


Oxytocin and Milota:


The opportunity to see the world through the eyes of cats, horses and bees:


But this unit - the race for the nerves. In the literal sense - the more you worry, the faster the ball moves on a magnetic drive. True, in my opinion, it works somewhat strangely - once won a chair that did not press the button that had to be pressed.

Conclusion

I got to train future guides. And in the introductory word the visiting developer from Moscow specially emphasized that the main thing is that children get pleasure. I did not observe testing on children, but, in my opinion, children, and many adults, should like it. On the one hand, I want the exhibits to be even more, and they were even clearer and more complicated, on the other hand, the tour takes about an hour and a half, even adults are tired, let alone children.

The museum is located on the site of the “Invoices” space in the Lifestyle center “Bashkortostan”. A lecture hall of Alexander Panchin and Alexey Vodovozov was held here recently. And earlier, according to management, they helped to organize the “Smoking Gutenberg” in Ufa. And now they want to become a center of attraction for popularizers of science and are looking for enthusiasts who could read author lectures. If you would be interested to give a lecture in such an environment, perhaps using exhibits of physics, mathematics and biology halls, contact the organizers ( website , VK group ).