www.nellyben.com
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Did I generate Dark Energy In My Kitchen Sink?
London/Dublin/Karlruhe - first prize
Advisor: Prof. Geoff Hall, Imperial College, London working on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Kitchen physics. I try to reach the impossible: remaking Hendrik Casimir’s experiment in my kitchen. Fifty years ago this Dutch physicist predicted the existence of dark energy. He placed two Chromium plates in a highly stable environment; a near-perfect vacuum and a temperature of almost -273.15 °C. The attraction between the Chromium plates, detectable with a fluctuation of electromagnetic waves, is proof of an unknown energy. I’ll use a vacuum pump and a Gadolinium stone with its magnetic refrigeration property to replicate these conditions in my kitchen. The question of the scale of this home experiment compared to the one of the L.H.C is also part of the challenge of this project. What if I succeed in making that experiment happen? How can I make Small Science equivalent?