On 27 October, Tūhura Otago Museum held a launch event for the Solar Tsunamis public education roadshow. It is currently on display in Dunedin at Tūhura Otago Museum, but will soon “hit the road” and travel the country for the next 2 years.
After a mihi whakatau by Science Engagement Coordinator Te Wharau Walker, there were speeches by Jessa Barder, Craig Rodger, Toni Hoeta and Marijn Kouwenhoven describing the work involved in creating the exhibition and acknowledging all the many people who have made it possible.
Stories from te ao Māori, researched by Toni Hoeta, are included on many of the banners – blending Māori and Western knowledge about electromagnetism, astronomy, geophysics and atmospheric systems.
Some of the interactive exhibits include:
- The grid game – in which one player takes the role of a Geomagnetically Induced Current trying to overload the transformers, while another player takes the role of a power company trying to prevent the power to houses being disrupted
- An orrery constructed by Te Pūkenga | Otago Polytechnic engineering students
- A plasma globe
- A hand-cranked electrical generator
- A device demonstrating how eddy currents are generated in different conducters by magnets.
Read about the exhibition in the Otago Daily Times here.
