Science rocks in Lead, July 7-9

The annual celebration of science in Lead, South Dakota, takes the leap from outer space to the deep underground from July 7 to 9. Events include a South Dakota Public Broadcasting Science Caf? on July 7, a special radio broadcast on July 8 and the fourth annual Neutrino Day science festival on Saturday morning, July 9, at the Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake.

The science begins on Thursday, July 7, with a Science Caf? Social Hour from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at The Roundhouse in Lead. The gathering, sponsored by the Lead Chamber of Commerce, includes a wine and hors d'oeuvres bar ($15 cover), followed by the SDPB Science Caf?.

The Science Caf?, beginning at 6:30 p.m., heads for outer space, featuring Thomas Durkin, Deputy Director of the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He will talk about the end of the space shuttle program - the last launch is planned for the next day - and what the future holds for space exploration. The Science Caf? program is free. Attend the live event or join online at SDPB.org/sciencecafe at 6:30 p.m.(7:30 CDT). On Friday, July 8, SDPB Radio goes almost a mile underground to present an exciting one-hour Innovation, at Noon (11 MDT) featuring Sanford Lab researchers working 4,850 feet below the surface.

On Saturday, July 9, the Sanford Underground Laboratory presents Neutrino Day, a free Saturday morning science festival that celebrates new experiments being installed 4,850 feet underground in the former Homestake gold mine, where Nobel Prize-winning neutrino research was done from the 1960s to the 1990s. Visitors can talk live, via the Sanford Lab's high-definition videoconference system, with scientists working a mile underground. The Saturday adventure begins at the Homestake Visitor Center at 160 W. Main Street in Lead, at the Open Cut. Science buffs can take a shuttle up the mountain to the Sanford Lab surface campus, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Shuttles run about every 15 minutes until 12:30 p.m. While you wait for the bus, visitors can learn about geology and gold panning from Sanford Lab geologists. The last shuttle returns to the Visitor Center at 1 p.m. The free activities also include:

  • Fascinating science demonstrations, featuring nanotechnology, by SDPB's Science Guy - Steve Rokusek.
  • Mini-lectures every hour:
    • Photography Underground, Where Photons Are Scarce (9 a.m.) Steve Babbitt, Black Hills State University
    • Building Mega-Caverns Bigger Than Mount Rushmore (10 a.m.) Dr. Bill Roggenthen, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
    • Detecting Signals from Supernovas (11 a.m.) Dr. Peggy Norris, Sanford Underground Laboratory
    • The Worldwide Race to Detect Dark Matter (Noon) Dr. Dan Akerib, Case Western Reserve University
  • Hands-on activities for the young and young at heart. A chance to meet scientists, engineers and technicians building the Sanford Underground Laboratory.
  • Tours of the Yates Hoist Room, where visitors will don hard hats to see the massive motors and giant cable drums that carry people and equipment up and down a 5,000-foot shaft.

For more information go to http://www.sanfordlab.org or contact Sanford Lab Communications Director Bill Harlan at bharlan@sanfordlab.org or at 605 722-4025.

Neutrino Day sponsors include the Sanford Underground Laboratory, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, the Lead Chamber of Commerce, Black Hills State University, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and South Dakota's Dakota Digital Network. SDPB's participation in Neutrino Day activities is supported by a grant from the John T. Vucurevich Foundation.

About South Dakota Public Broadcasting

South Dakota Public Broadcasting is a statewide multi-media network offering quality entertainment and lifelong learning via Television, Radio, Internet and Education & Outreach. For information about SDPB and the Friends of SDPB, go to SDPB.org or call 800-456-0766