The Country of PaSay-ans: Science Entertainment (Part 2)

Here's the second part of our adventure in the country of Pasay.

Mystery Case No. 3: The Shadow-Catcher
That's Arriane again with other wanderers from different planets and nations. Starting from left is a boy from planet Yekok. Next one is from the Land of the Savannas. The girl beside Arriane came from Mount Makiling, wherever that is.
Anyway, that strange whitish panel is called the Shadow-catcher. Why? Basically because it is said to catch shadows. Arriane was asked to press her body into the panel when lights were turned on. After switching the lights off, they moved away from the panels only to reveal that their "shadows" were captured.

The Physics Behind:
Photoluminescence is a process in which a substance absorbs photons (electromagnetic radiation) and then re-radiates photons. Quantum Mechanically, this can be described as an excitation to a higher energy state and then a return to a lower energy state accompanied by the emission of a photon.

On the other hand, phosphorescence is a specific type of photoluminescence in which energy absorbed by a phosphorescent substance is released relatively slowly in the form of light. This is in some cases the mechanism used for "glow-in-the-dark" materials which are "charged" by exposure to light. Unlike the relatively swift reactions in a common fluorescent tube, phosphorescent materials used for these materials absorb the energy and "store" it for a longer time as the processes required to re-emit the light occur less often.

These "shadow-catchers" contain phosphorescent substances that absorbs photons from the source of light and then re-radiates it when the source of light is switched off. When Arriane pressed herself to the panel, it blocked the passage of photons; hence when the lights were switched off, no photons were re-radiated in the region of her sillhoutte.

Those were some of the cases we had helped to resolve. Now, here are some silly things we did while we were around the place.

 We never knew you were a scientist Meng! Look, she is holding a flask with some sort of chemicals in there. You're not trying to poison us, are you? Hmm...Better watch her actions closely. And Hey! Who's that albino you're with?

Arriane spotted some Physics! The biscuit model with the word "Maze" is actually the Quantum Mechanical model for the atom. Proposed by Niels Bohr in 1913, it depicts the atom with orbiting electrons and the nucleus at the center just like the solar system with the planets orbiting the Sun.

By the way, that's Clarabell Cow, a nomad from the Barnyard Country.

After helping solve some of the "scientific enigmas", it was time to leave. The natives were grateful to us now that they knew that nothing really haunted them. In turn, they gave us gifts of appreciation - new knowledge of Science. On to our next destination!