Bowling Green, Ky. - Area high school teams will compete in Western Kentucky University's Physics Olympics on April 30.

The event, hosted by WKU's Department of Physics and Astronomy, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Thompson Complex Central Wing.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's "miraculous year" of 1905, The Einstein Centenary is the theme for this year's competition consisting of challenging problem-solving activities that reward teamwork, creativity and communication.

The event begins with testing of each team's "Rube Goldberg machine," designed and built to go through multiple, convoluted steps to accomplish the task of bursting a balloon. Next the teams will place water balloons inside the devices they designed and constructed to protect a water balloon when dropped from 36 feet onto concrete.

Three additional events round out the day: a short quiz, a teamwork-based event, and a challenging, impromptu competition.

More information about the Physics Olympics is available online at http://physics.wku.edu/

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Richard Gelderman at (270) 745-6203.