A silver anniversary open house at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory on Saturday, Feb. 18 was attracting big crowds. The event had several new features to make the occasion even more festive.
Outside the lab, an Elvis impersonator led visitors, who were impersonating electrons, in a wild dance around the nucleus of a replica copper atom. Inside the lab, there were demonstrations involving the world's most powerful magnets, as well as a virtual visit to Anarctica and the outer limits of a black hole. That offering came courtesy of the National Science Foundation, which was making its first open-house appearance at the Lab. Even though one of its team members, Holly Brown, is an FSU alum. By the time the open house was over on Saturday, the final visitor tally was around 10,000.
