{"news":[{"uid":4041,"title":"Exploring the Universe's Stage","teasertext":"In November, the Physics Olympiad camp received a visit from the NCCR PlanetS and the CSH at the University of Bern. Now you can read what the participants experienced! In part two, Jehan Alsawaf teaches us a trick to easily unlock the secrets of gravity in your classroom or home.","short":"In November, the Physics Olympiad camp received a visit from the National Center of Competence in Research PlanetS and the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern. Now you can read what the participants experienced and learn some fascinating facts about planets yourself. In part two, Jehan Alsawaf teaches us a trick to easily unlock the secrets of gravity in your classroom or home.","body":"
Metal balls, a round table, and a sizable fabric sheet. With these seemingly ordinary ingredients, anyone can unlock the understanding of basic concepts of the universe. Flip the table upside-down, drape it with a tightly stretched fabric sheet, and voil\u00e0\u2014 an interactive gravity table materializes. In physics, spacetime is a fundamental concept that merges three dimensions of space with one dimension of time into a unified four-dimensional continuum. In the Swiss Physics Olympiad, spacetime is a hands-on gravity table that represents spacetime interactively.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Are you a teacher looking to introduce your students to the fascinating science behind planets? Apart from making your own gravity table, you can find a number of teaching materials<\/a> on the website of NCCR PlanetS.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Of course, you might think: how can a three-dimensional representation truly capture the intricacies of a four-dimensional model? The answer is, well, it can't. The gravity table is an analogy, not a description. Similar to studying circles to learn about spheres, or studying squares to learn about cubes, we visualize spacetime in three-dimensional models to learn about gravity. It is an effective educational method that offers a broad introduction to complicated concepts and serves as a starting point to deeper exploration as it becomes a playground for those who haven't ventured beyond the notion of gravity as just pulling things toward Earth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n