Whisper parabola

How does the exhibit work?

Have someone stand at the other dish. Whisper your message into the ring of your saucer. Will there be a reply?

What is the science behind it?

Despite the distance, you can hear each other. This is because the dish has a special shape. If you were to cut the dish in two, it has the shape of a curved line. Not just a curved line, but a 'parabola'. The ring is the 'focal point' of the parabola.

When you talk in that ring, all the sound waves are reflected straight to the other dish and converge in the ring there. So your voice does not go in all directions, but straight to its target. That way, you can hear someone whispering from afar.

You can also see a parabola at Spinning Water.

Parabola with astronauts

Want to know what it feels like to be weightless? You can mimic that. Astronauts do so with a plane that makes a special flight. A flight in the shape of a parabola! At the top of that parabola, you are weightless for about 20 seconds.

It makes many people nauseous. That's why they call the plane the 'vomit comet'.

Parabola in radio telescopes

How do you search for aliens? This is where radio telescopes come in handy!

These telescopes consist of large parabolic dishes. These capture radio signals from space. Researchers also hope to pick up signals indicating extraterrestrial life this way.

Parabola in solar mirrors

These are large, parabolic mirrors. On it is a straight tube containing water or oil.

Thanks to the shape of the mirrors, the sun's rays all bounce towards the tube. It gets incredibly hot as a result. You can use this heat to generate electricity.