Quantum Century exhibition at Kanhangad college draws visitors

A steady stream of visitors has been turning up to view the six-day Quantum Century exhibition organised at Nehru Arts and Science College, Kanhangad, as part of the Quantum Centenary celebrations. The exhibition is jointly organised by the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) and the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad’s Luca web portal.

The exhibition offers a close look at the science behind technologies that have transformed modern life, including energy-efficient LED lights, solar panels, televisions, computers, medical lasers, MRI and PET scanners, GPS systems and electron microscopes. Through exhibits, live experiments and lectures, the organisers aim to make complex quantum concepts accessible to the public.

Open to visitors till January 9, the exhibition is designed to engage students, teachers, researchers and the general public alike. One of the major attractions is a model of Schrödinger’s Cat, conceived by physicist Erwin Schrödinger to explain quantum principles, which greets visitors at the entrance.

According to MLA E. Chandrasekharan, the exhibition has been organised in a manner that helps the younger generation understand a wide range of scientific disciplines. It also offers the public a clear conceptual overview of quantum science.

CUSAT Physics Department Head Dr. Aldrin Antony said the expo attempts to explain the periodic table—fundamentally rooted in quantum concepts—through a large model, along with displays of available elements. Highlights also include an exhibit demonstrating the presence of different elements in a smartphone, colour patterns produced when electricity passes through various gases, Van de Graaff generator experiments, and virtual reality experiences introducing visitors to CERN’s modern particle accelerators.

P. Shaiju, Director of the Centre for Science in Society at CUSAT, said experiments using liquid nitrogen at extremely low temperatures form a key attraction. Demonstrations on superconductivity, magnetic levitation due to the Meissner effect, and colour changes in LEDs at low temperatures help convey advanced scientific ideas through simple visual experiments.

Deputy Commissioner of GST, Kasaragod, Ramesan Kolikkara, said preparations for the exhibition began with efforts to demonstrate the Raman effect, which earned India its first Nobel Prize in 1930. Several university departments and research centres collaborated in developing the exhibits.