TEDxDelft 2013 | Served on the side: Books and some radiation

Ideas worth sharing come in many avatars. Most popularly books. One of the most visited side events at TEDxDelft is the Pop-Up Library. One corner of the Van Hasseltzaal in the Aula at TU Delft has been set up as a temporary library. Visitors can drop off books and pick up some that interest them. We saw a copy of Being Jane Austen, some books by Jodi Picoult, and even a Dutch translation of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.

TEDxDelft blogger Ulf Winberg donated some of his girlfriend’s books to the library. They included some Dutch comic books and a training manual. “We both feel that we rarely read any book twice and to keep them around would serve no purpose other than showing off. So, we decided to donate them to the Pop-Up Library,” said Winberg.

 

If you’re a sucker for fun science, check out the RID (kernreactor), where Klazien Huitema has a quiz on radiation ready for you. Is a banana radioactive? What about a fancy glass or a smoke detector? If you think you know the answers, be sure to give the quiz a shot. Huitema also explains fundamentals of radioactivity and how it is almost omnipresent in our lives. In keeping with the theme of this year’s event, visitors can also pick up a leaflet with instructions on how to ‘Build your own cloud chamber’. All you need is a glass jar, black paint, felt, 90{95388bbb2e9df0f2b3d26445fc24fe82185b1b567dbb094bc3a45074083d0a2b} alcohol, a strong light source and dry ice. Where on earth can you get dry ice? “The winners of our quiz can take some dry ice. But remember, it’s -80 degrees, so you will need a container to carry it!” says Huitema.