Off I go



Here I am at the NRC

Hi Ems. Hope you are having a good day where you are! Today started out wet and windy but then the sun came out and it was sunny and windy.  That meant I had to be very careful when I ventured outside.  Today I was invited to go visit the National Research Council or NRC.  The NRC is this big campus here in Ottawa where a whole bunch of scientists and researchers work. 



The big silver ball



So my host and I jumped in the car and drove over. As we got near the NRC I saw the most weirdest thing. Just outside was this big silver ball and I mean it was big, and silver. So of course I had to go and see it. After all if this was a place where scientists worked why would they have something as boring as a big silver ball

Well it turns out this is not just a boring big silver ball. According to the sign that was in front of it this is called the "sphere" and was made in 1966! How old is that? Older than me! The sign then said the sphere was meant to be a symbol of the type of work the scientists do here.  When I went inside I asked the nice man who showed us around what that meant. He said that the sphere repersents a ball bearing which was a very important invention and that without it we wouldn't have things like cars and planes.  Hard to believe that a simple little ball of steel is so important, but it is.



The Atomic Clock



Next I had a chance to see an atomic clock. When I saw it I thought it looked like a simple old digital clock.  But I was wrong.  Apparently this is one of the most accurate clocks in the world and is not like any clock I had ever seen before. In fact it turns out that what makes this clock work is soft metal called Cesium and that the machine the made the clock work was downstairs. So I asked if I could go and see what the "inside" of an atomic clock looked like. So away we went and boy was it neat. 









"Inside" the Atomic Clock



  Turns out that the atomic clock is located in this big metal room, and inside is this big metal tube that holds the Cesium.  Pretty cool huh? Anyway that was my day, or at least some of it. I have some other pictures and stuff to tell you, but right now its late and I have to go to bed so I will post them latter.  Till then be good Ems.

Don't think it will fit on my wrist! 



Me with some Cesium