Science Unwrapped's 'Coriolis Carousel' is at Clark Planetarium

Science Unwrapped is a popular outreach program developed 16 years ago by the Utah State University College of Science. It consists of monthly gatherings during the school year that feature a science lecture followed by hands-on learning activities and refreshments.

Going back even further for another USU crowd-pleaser in the same vein, is Physics Day at Lagoon which turns 36 this year.

But preceding those events by decades was Farrell Edwards, who joined USU’s Physics faculty in 1959 and taught for 58 years. Farrell’s son Boyd, a current Physics faculty member, remembers when his dad would don a bright orange cape and, as a super hero, ease undergrads’ fear of physics with humor, entertaining antics and eye-catching demos.

Last year Bob and his brother John, a Computer Science faculty member, were asked to present a joint talk at Science Unwrapped’s 2024 series “Building on Basics”. They created a wooden, human-rideable, indoor carousel to demonstrate rotational forces. 

It has turned out to be a a demo of demos, depicting what is called the Coriolis effect and their “Coriolis Carousel” has drawn over 10 million views so far on YouTube. 

The Coriolis effect is a force caused by the Earth’s rotation that deflects moving objects (like air and ocean currents) to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in he Southern Hemisphere.

Salt Lake City’s Clark Planetarium is featuring the carousel as part of ‘Clark After Dark’ a monthly evening program geared to ages 18 and older. The Edwards family has donated the spinning platform to the planetarium.