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Super K Sonic Boooum will kick off this yearʼs Manchester Science Festival, opening the
week by replicating high energy particle collisions with a sonic boom!
The incredible installation - designed by Nelly Ben Hayoun - fuses water, light, sound and
science to recreate the experience of a sonic boom, which occurs when a plane travels
faster than sound in air.
The installation is named after Japanʼs ʻSuper Kamiokandeʼ neutrino observatory, a massive subterranean scientific instrument used – amongst other things – to discover traces of exploding stars out in the Universe.
Super K Sonic Boooum is a thrilling installation recreating the effects of a sonic boom
experiment.
Visitors can take part and ride in a small boat guided by a professional physicist along a 23m river through a tunnel lined with thousands of gold balloons. Flashes of light and loud
sounds replicate the sonic boom as a physicist guide talks visitors through the science.
Visitors will be dressed in white boiler suits, protective hats and wellies by ʻsecurity chiefʼ
Nelly Ben Hayoun and then taken through the tunnel, guided by professional physicists
from Imperial College London and Queen Mary, University of London.
The Super K Sonic Boooum will be in the John Dalton Building at the Manchester Metropolitan Universitythroughout the Festival, times and booking details can be found here:
www.superksonic.com
Get on board to hear loud booms and see bright flashes of blue light – Cherenkov
Radiation - that shakes and shudders the gold balloons or ʻphotomultiplier tubesʼ. This
recreates the real Super K interactions of neutrinos with atoms of extremely pure water -
bringing to life this optical sonic boom!
Professor Dave Wark, Professor of Physics, Department of High Energy Physics, Imperial
College London said of Super K Sonic Boooum: “Nellyʼs installation produces the most direct connection between scientists and the public I have ever experienced.
"It is tremendous fun for the scientists involved, and the people who have visited clearly have a great time as well. I couldnʼt have believed that she could have made so many people excited about neutrino physics, but she has!"
Natalie Ireland, Director of the Manchester Science Festival comments: “What an exciting way to open this yearʼs Festival! The Sonic Boooum has never been seen outside of London and Nelly has even updated it for us, personally I canʼt wait to take a ride through the tunnel and learn about such a groundbreaking area of science!”
Nelly Ben Hayoun is an award-winning interactions designer who has a particular interest
in science and collaborating with expert scientists to adapt science to facilitate and
encourage surreal interactions.
Ben Hayounʼs portfolio includes a scheme for generating
dark matter in your sink, explorations of brain plasticity in snails and an installation to
experience the first 10 minutes of a space rocket lift off sequence. She collaborates with
scientists to make genuine experiments accessible to the public.
Manchester Science Festival is now in its triumphant fourth year and has quickly become
the most popular science festival in the UK! As well as exploring all aspects of science, this
year the Festival celebrates the International Year of Biodiversity. The Festival brings
together universities, museums, unusual venues and community spaces to inspire people
from across the region and learn more about why science is amazing, great fun and an
essential, accessible part of everyday life.
Manchester Science Festival runs from 23 – 31 October 2010.
For full listings visit: www.manchestersciencefestival.com
