QUANTUM & INDIGENOUS WAYS OF KNOWING
Indigenous ways of knowing say that everything is made of and is connected by energy (humans, water, rock, etc.) – neither a wave or a particle, but waves of energy referred to as spirit.
This new digital immersion gallery experience is like candy for the brain!
Immerse yourself in the invisible world of the subatomic – the quantum realm.
Within a gallery filled with floor to ceiling images, the land of parallel universes comes alive. Immerse yourself in a state of flux, a quantum state that has intriguing connections to local Indigenous world views. Quantum Sandbox might just change your view of the world … or at least open things up. And the best part is, there is no test!
The Indigenous ways of knowing expressed within this experience were gifted by Blackfoot community members. Indigenous communities across Turtle Island (North America) and around the world have unique ways of knowing because they are connected to their ancestral lands. There are 45 Indigenous groups in Alberta, over 600 across Canada and more than 70 distinct languages spoken and many other dialects. Note that Indigenous communities pre-date modern geo-political borders.
FAQ
THE QUANTUM EXPERIENCE
HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
Relationships or measurement? Many people have a desire to know by measuring. But what if the simple act of measuring eliminates the possibility of knowing? The universe is in a state of constant motion, so any attempt to stop it and measure, changes what it is that you are trying to “know.”
YOUNG'S DOUBLE SLIT
Waves and particles - two ways of seeing the same thing. Call it the ultimate subatomic identity crisis – all elementary particles in the universe behave as both waves and particles, depending on how you look at them.
HIGGS FIELD
The realm of flux and constant transformation. It's an all-pervasive field throughout every region of the universe, or the background on which the Higgs Boson interacts with other particles, which endows them with mass.
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATE
The state of subatomic harmony. How many states of matter are there? Think of the three you learned in elementary school – solid, liquid, gas. The next is plasma, which is like a gas but composed of charged particles. The fifth state of matter, Bose-Einstein Condensate, is quite special…
ABSORPTION & EMISSION SPECTRA
Widening the window of the world. Humans have a limited natural sensory range. Think about the colours we see – the visible light spectrum – like rainbows. We hear in a limited frequency range. Think about your radio dial. There is a range on the dial, but sounds exist outside of that range.
A space to play with principles of physics
QUANTUM SANDBOX CREDITS
Telus Spark Science Centre gratefully acknowledges the City of Calgary, the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada for their support of Phase One of the Good Chemistry Campaign. Le Centre des sciences Telus Spark reconnaît avec gratitude la Ville de Calgary, le Gouvernement de L'Alberta et le Gouvernement du Canada pour leurs support de la Première Phase de la Campagne Good Chemistry.
