Yesterday I visited the Liceo “Benedetti” of Venice, where 40 students are preparing their artwork for a project of communicating science with art that will culminate in an exhibit at the Palazzo del Casinò of the Lido of Venice, during the week of the EPS conference in July.
The project (titled “Arte e Scienza: i Colori del Bosone di Higgs” – art and science: the colours of the Higgs boson) has been discussed in more detail in previous posts here, so I will not go in details here. I visited the school during one of the meetings of the students with their art teacher, and had a nice “turn of the table” where the students explained what are the projects they are working at.
Then there were questions, and one question in particular (on the Higgs boson: “if they say the Higgs boson exists in space and permeates it, why do we need these machines to produce it?”) deserved an articulated answer. I had a set of slides that could do that quite well, so I attached my laptop and projected them on the large screen of the Aula Magna.
https://amva4newphysics.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/pointers.jpg?w=96&h=150 96w, https://amva4newphysics.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/pointers.jpg?w=192&h... 192w, https://amva4newphysics.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/pointers.jpg 593w" sizes=" 448px) 100vw, 448px" />Unfortunately I needed to point to specific areas of the slides, and the screen was big. So I needed a pointer, and there was none in sight. A student came up with an umbrella and I accepted to use it – generating hilarity in the audience, but reaching my goal. Only later did I discover that I did have in my backpack my very nice “analogic” telescopic pointer, which would have served the purpose at least as well, without making me feel a bit silly. Oh well – results are what matters!
On the plus side, I was able to understand that many students are planning interesting works. In a month or so we will put together a web page with a display of all the works, properly commented. So stay tuned! You will have a chance of commenting on which artwork you prefer, before they are preselected for the EPS exhibit…
