Professor’s highlights – science show

On 4 November 2021, ZEISS put on a virtual science show for school children in the greater Dublin area, California on the occasion of the launch of A Heart for Science. Host Zahra from the newly opened ZEISS Innovation Center in the San Francisco Bay area and entertainer Dr. Matthew of Physikanten & Co. from Germany introduced the STEM initiative A Heart for Science and put together a show full of exciting experiments and lessons from the world of science. More than 100 school children at different middle schools took part in the show online.

Laser bass: music by laser beam

A laser beam is cast onto a photocell that is connected to a guitar amplifier. A rubber band is wound around the laser beam. If you pull on the rubber band, a sound is made like a contorted ebass. Dr. Matthew plays a rock and pop song on it.

The secret behind it: The laser on the photocell generates an electrical voltage. The membrane on the amplifier is controlled by this. If the rubber band oscillates through the laser beam, the beam is interrupted in quick succession over and over again and the tension is reduced in this way on the photocell. At a similar rhythm, the amplifier's membrane is relaxed and deflected again. The oscillating membrane creates the bass.

Pickle lamp

A salty cucumber is fixed between two forks that are connected to the power supply. The pickle starts to glow.

How does it work? The electricity can flow through the cucumber because of its high salt content. The salts evaporate due to the warmth that is produced in the process and a plasma is generated because the sodium ions radiate a yellow light in the salt.