The Story
Principal Archimedes loved the Fall, with its changing of the
seasons and time to focus on inner renewal and growth. As he walked
through the science classroom, he quizzed his students.
"Who was Magnes?" he asked. Eventually one hand was raised in
the air at the back of the room.
"Yes Ms. Zwicky?"
"He was the man that discovered magnetic rocks that could be
used to make compasses." she said eagerly. "And because of that
people were able to navigate ships in the day as well as by the
stars!"
"That sounds plausible," said Principal Archimedes, "but I think
you are getting a bit ahead of yourself. The story is told that
Magnes was a shepard who found himself unable to lift his feet when
the metal in his shoes was drawn to the magnetic force in the
rock."
"Although it is a great story," Principal Archimedes continued,
"it takes liberty with the relatively weak magnetic forces found in
magnetite, or lodestone, in nature. And it would have been very
rare for a shepard to be wearing shoes that had any significant
amount of metal in them. Still, it anchors the point in history
where mankind started grappling with whether magnetism was magic or
science."
"Ms. Zwicky has already mentioned that magnetism was used in
navigation. What other progress was made?"
All hands remained down, and Principal Archimedes nodded, and
said "Oddly enough, Plato, Galen and Aristotle remained baffled,
and no serious development in the science of magnetism occurred
until over fifteen hundred years later -- in the late 16th
century. And the relationship between electricity and magnetism
that we take for granted today was not recognized until the 19th
century. And even today the research continues into the greatest
unsolved mysteries of the universe."
Marie, always curious, raised her hand. "Principal Archimedes,
what do you think the greatest unsolved mystery is for
science?"
Principal Archimedes smiled, "For me, I ponder how we live in a
universe that is mostly filled with dark matter that we cannot see
or measure. Something that must exist because the laws of physics
says that everything we can measure, the billions of galaxies
across space, are only the tiniest portions of the mass in the
universe."
"Do you mean it's like looking in the ocean and seeing
everything except the water?" Marie asked.
"Yes, or something like that." said Principal Archimedes. "Even
though scientists can observe that dark matter changes the
low-level microwave radiation in the cosmos, and even though it
appears to shape how galaxies evolve, at this point we are just
like Magnes watching his sandals stick to the rock. We see
something, but can only wonder and marvel at the
mystery."
The Field Testing
Visit the coordinates above and look for a recognizeable test
chamber. As in prior experiments, no force is required to complete
the experiment, and THE TEST CHAMBER MUST REMAIN SEALED.
The test chamber must be activated to conduct your research, and
the material to do so is available on-site. No external items are
required, aside from bringing paper and a pen or pencil to record
the information that will lead you to another site to complete your
project.
When you have finished your observation, please restore the test
chamber to its ready state for the next experiment.