Science gets silly

September 19, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

If you have ever found your frustration ready to boil over in a manner similar to a chemical reaction because of your inability to master a Rubik’s Cube, you have one huge reason to work toward allowing your aggravation to evaporate.

“There are 43 quintillion possible combinations,” observed 12-year-old Carter Burnett, a Joseph Badger Middle School seventh-grader.

Carter certainly should know: He has 12 variations of the 3-D color-coded combination puzzle, all of which he can solve nearly as fast as you can say “algorithms.”

Suffice it to say he knew and applied the right algorithms when he put together one of his Rubik’s Cubes in about 50 seconds on an outdoor stage in front of hundreds who attended Sunday’s sixth annual Silly Science Sunday in and near OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology, 11 W. Federal St., downtown.

One of the five-hour event’s crowning highlights happened when an estimated 1,500 beach balls were dropped from second-floor windows above the center. That was the first step toward setting the world record for the largest mixed crowd of humans and robots to simultaneously launch beach balls into the air.

Forty local and regional exhibitors were part of Silly Science Sunday, a main purpose of which was to introduce families to the area’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics resources, noted Suzanne Barbati, OH WOW’s executive director. To that end, the event featured a variety of interactive, hands-on STEM displays, stage shows and exhibits.

McD’s 5K SOCK RUN

The festivities also were in partnership with the McD’s 5K Sock Run/Walk and Kids Fun Run, which area McDonald’s restaurant owners and operators supported.

Proceeds are to benefit the Ronald McDonald Charities of the Mahoning Valley and Western Pennsylvania and stay in the area, noted Debra Grim, event coordinator. The organization helps entities such as Akron Children’s Hospital of the Mahoning Valley, the Rich Center for the Study and Treatment of Autism, the Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown and the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.

As challenging as a Rubik’s Cube might be for some, Carter offered a few tips for figuring it out that appeared to be as straightforward as they were logical.

“It has three layers you have to solve,” he explained. “After you solve each layer individually, remember that the center doesn’t move at all. The corners and edges move, and you orient the corners and edges around the middle.”

While Carter was impressing some with his skills, sister Elaina Burnett, 5, and 11-year-old brother, Cole Burnett, were on stage doing their best to gather and eat as many M&Ms as possible – with chopsticks.

Beforehand, the two youngsters assisted Mayor John A. McNally and Madonna Chism Pinkard, community-relations director for 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. All were conducting a science experiment in which hydrogen peroxide, potassium iodine, dish soap and a catalyst solution were poured into a large beaker, which produced a pink-and-orange foam that overflowed and rapidly grew in a manner that resembled lava flowing from a volcano.

“We love it. We come [to OH WOW] at least a few times during the summer,” said the youngsters’ mother, Stephanie Burnett.

MAD SCIENCE OF NE OHIO

Also on hand were two members of the Canton-based Mad Science of Northeast Ohio program, who performed a series of experiments. In one of them, a compound called phenolphthalein was added to a glass of water, turning it pink. A short time later, they added water to two plastic cups that contained a gel that absorbed the water, making it appear the water had magically evaporated.

In another experiment, substances that looked similar to honey and syrup were mixed and dramatically changed colors in a small cup before the chemical reaction caused the material to bubble, fizz, grow and harden – and resemble a tall mushroom-shaped milkshake.

The two members also showed their audience a chunk of dry ice, which is frozen carbon dioxide, that had a temperature of about minus 109 degrees. Participants were told that dry ice has the unique property of converting from a solid to a gas while skipping the liquid phase.

Others were intrigued by an exhibit the Cleveland-based NASA Glenn Research Center had that allowed attendees such as 7-year-old Jon-Paul Fusco of Youngstown to use their arms and bodies to control on a screen a virtual simulated mission of landing a space rover on Mars.

The process mirrored that of the Curiosity Rover, which relied on computers to safely land it on the planet Aug. 6, 2012, after the car-sized robotic rover had traveled more than 350 million miles in nine months, noted Elaine Mauro, a program specialist with the research center.

Barbati, OH WOW’s director, said the event also was the facility’s kickoff to the academic school year, adding that science also should be learned and appreciated beyond the classroom.

“Our perspective is that science happens all day, every day,” she said.

Sponsoring the free, family-friendly event were The Vindicator, 21 WFMJ-TV, First National Bank, Coca-Cola, Compass Family & Community Services, the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Talmer Bank, The Business Journal, Panera Bread, Rulli Bros., Dominion East Ohio Gas Co., Vallourec Star and Youngstown State University’s College of STEM.