Vienna, Austria’s capital, will witness a remarkable event this year, the exposition of a huge model of a salt crystal, magnified about one billion times, a potential world record indeed! This reports our National Focal Point for Austria, Dr. Robert Krickl. In fact this exposition is a major outreach contribution to the International Year of Crystallography, proclaimed by the United Nations for 2014.
This model consists of an over 3 m tall cube of 42,875 balls and almost 12 kms of sticks which nicely visualizes translational symmetry in 3D of a NaCl crystal. It shows the structure of the crystal and has the ambition to communicate the importance of materials exhibiting it (not just halite but also, PbS, MgO, …) and related issues like natural resources, soil salinity, science and technology. Please check worldrecord.r-krickl.com.
Official registration for the Guinness Book of Records will take place in November 2015 in Vienna – along with presentations, guided tours and projects for general public and especially school- and kindergarden-children. The model is demountable and transportable and may serve didactic purposes wherever.
This huge crystal model is a fine tool to disseminate knowledge, to raise awareness and to communicate our science. Robert Krickl would be happy to provide more information (mail@r-Krickl.com).