CosmoCaixa goes through the looking glass

Science museum's new exhibit is devoted to exploring the nature of reality through mirrors

The CosmoCaixa mirror exhibit (by Ana Amat Vendrell)
The CosmoCaixa mirror exhibit (by Ana Amat Vendrell) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

April 13, 2019 01:58 PM

Barcelona's science museum CosmoCaixa opened a new exhibition on Friday that explores the nature of reality, past and present, through mirrors.

'Mirrors: in and out of reality' is the name of the exhibition that focuses on the role of these objects in various areas of science, culture, and life in general.

According to CosmoCaixa's head of science Jordi Portabella the exhibit is "unprecedented" in how it can explain the laws of mathematics and physics just through mirrors.

Running until January 2020, 'Mirrors: in and out of reality' is split into two parts: one explaining the laws of reflection, and another related to mirrors and light.

Deputy director of the Caixa Foundation Elisa Durán called the exhibit "full of surprises" and added that it shows reality from different "optics" and "points of view."

The exhibition was overseen by the Mathematics Museum and the Institute of Photonic Science, with help from the Virgo project, which has loaned a valuable mirror from its gravitational wave observatory in Pisa.