In addition to a wide range of tours, lectures, and workshops for schools and the public, the Open Days at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences also brought something new in the form of the Institute of Physics Theater Days.
The program at Slovanka offered a dozen different excursions, lectures, and workshops. Visitors were captivated by a levitating train demonstrating the properties of superconductors in the foyer. Then, in groups, they set out to discover the properties of liquid crystals, isolate DNA from fruit, examine diamonds, and learn about the microstructures of materials using an electron microscope. More advanced participants were able to visit a clean laboratory where the properties of silicon sensors for the High-Luminosity LHC accelerator at CERN are tested. The fields of science and art were interestingly linked by a lecture on the importance of the discovery of perspective for the beginning of the development of modern science in the 16th and 17th centuries.
At the Cukrovarnická workplace, visitors could learn in detail about scintillation crystals and their wide range of uses, observe the structure of butterfly wings under various types of microscopes, or use diffraction to analyze chocolate, coins, candy, and sugar. The popular outdoor section featuring experiments with liquid nitrogen, ending with a spectacular explosion, was also included. In addition to the physics circuits, the organizers prepared a guided tour of the Art Deco-style buildings, in which the FZU is located in Cukrovarnická.
A new feature of this year's Open Days program were the first annual FZU Theater Days, which included the world premiere of the original play Marťané (The Martians) starring Miroslav Táborský. The program culminated with a performance of Kodaň (Copenhagen) by the actors of the Kašpar Theater Company, who earned a standing ovation for their performance.
A big thank you goes not only to the visitors, but also to all FZU employees who participated in the preparation of the Open Days.
Photo: René Volfík, Hana Görlichová
