A team from UCR Physics & Astronomy participated in this year’s Long Night of Arts and Innovation. Our mission was to foster scientific literacy and to generate excitement for science among kids and adults who came to this major outreach event in downtown Riverside. Students from the Astro Club and the SPS brought a telescope to chase planets and other celestial objects in the night sky. The Tech Team of the Department, well known for their support in Physics2000, built a series of demonstration experiments on the concept of pressure and wave mechanics. The mysteries of magnetism and the research area of spintronics were introduced by the students of Barsukov Lab with a demonstration program involving compasses, ferrofluids, and hard drives. Despite windy conditions, hundreds of visitors were enjoying the atmosphere of the event which was concluded with a department pizza delivered by Prof. Barsukov.c
The outreach program of Prof. Barsukov's group was funded by the National Science Foundation under grant ECCS-1810541