Wednesday, March 31 3:08 pm
Director General of CONACYT Juan Carlos Romero Hicks and AMNH President Ellen V. Futter sign international agreement. © AMNH / D. Finnin
Last week, the American Museum of Natural History signed a historic agreement with Mexico’s Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), which for the first time will bring Spanish translations of the Museum’s award-winning Science Bulletins video presentations into Mexican universities and higher education institutions.
Museum President Ellen V. Futter and Director General of CONACYT Juan Carlos Romero Hicks sat down to sign the two-year agreement which grants CONACYT exclusive rights to distribute the Museum’s Science Bulletin content in Mexico and opens the way for further collaboration between CONACYT and the Museum. This partnership also marks two significant firsts: the first time that the latest scientific research presented in new Science Bulletins has been translated into a language other than English and the first time that CONACYT (Mexico’s equivalent of the United States’ National Science Foundation) has partnered with a foreign natural history museum.
The four Bulletins (Astro, Earth, Bio, and Human) feature breaking news of discoveries, geologic and weather events, visualizations of satellite data, astronomical images, and short video features (five-seven minutes) reporting the latest research from scientists in the field. Produced through a collaboration of AMNH’s curatorial and scientific staff, and a team of Museum video producers, designers, writers, and educators, the Bulletins set a new standard for museum exhibitry through the combination of in-depth, current science with high production values and regularly updated content. Science Bulletins are distributed to nearly 40 museums and science centers around the world, bringing the latest science to an audience of more than 10 million people.
Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the Museum.
Tuesday, March 30 3:04 pm
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Credit: Collections of the American Museum of Natural History
Four hundred years ago, Galileo began a revolution in human thought that continues to this day. His first telescopic observations overturned millennia of entrenched ideas, proving beyond the slightest doubt that the Earth revolved around the Sun, and not vice-versa. He also showed that the Sun rotates just like the Earth; that Jupiter is orbited by four moons (and hence the Earth is not the center of everything); and that the Milky Way is composed of billions of stars.
From October 3 to October 11, we’ll visit the magnificent museum in Florence where Galileo’s scientific equipment, including his telescope, is exhibited. We’ll also visit the cutting-edge Gran Sasso underground astrophysics labs near Rome. “Underground astro physics” may sound like an oxymoron, but it’s only deep under the Earth that we can filter out cosmic rays and other radiation to detect the elusive neutrinos emitted from the core of our Sun. During our trip I’ll lecture extensively about modern astrophysics, relying heavily on Hubble Space Telescope images.
There will be a final exam only for those travelers who demand it! — Curator Mike Shara, Department of Astrophysics, AMNH
More information on AMNH Expeditions can be found online.
Wednesday, March 24 3:46 pm
The Expanding Universe, a spectacular new seven-minute video produced by the American Museum of Natural History for the AstroBulletin, investigates one of the major mysteries confronting astrophysicists today: why is the universe expanding at a steadily increasing rate? When astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe was expanding in 1929, scientists assumed that the gravitational attraction between galaxies would slow the expansion rate of the universe. But in 1998, two teams of scientists discovered that the expansion rate was not slowing down but was, in fact, accelerating. Could the mysterious “dark energy” be responsible, or perhaps some aspect of gravity we have yet to understand? The Expanding Universe interviews two leading scientists, Alex Filippenko, of the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California’s Lick Observatory, and Josh Frieman, of the theoretical astrophysics group at Fermilab, to untangle this cosmic mystery.
Click to view ‘The Expanding Universe’
The Expanding Universe is just the latest feature produced for the AstroBulletin, a large high-definition screen in the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space where visitors can see the latest discoveries in astrophysics. AMNH scientists collaborated with a group of Museum video producers, computer designers, writers, and educators to produce The Expanding Universe, which is presented as part of a year-long Museum celebration commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Rose Center and marking the 75th anniversary of the opening of the original Hayden Planetarium. The AstroBulletin is one of four award-winning Science Bulletin video productions—visually stunning updates on the latest in astrophysics, Earth sciences, biodiversity, and human biology—displayed on high-definition screens in four permanent halls in the Museum. Additionally, Science Bulletins are available online.
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2:25 pm
As goods and people traveled along the Silk Road, many passed through the oasis city of Dunhuang, China, home to incredible caves that contain a treasure trove of Buddhist art. Roderick Whitfield, professor of Chinese and East Asian art and head of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art at the University of London, will discuss some of these fascinating cave murals on March 31 at the Museum. He recently answered a few questions on the subject.
Why are the caves near Dunhuang so important today? What can we learn from them?
The seven hundred cave-shrines at Mogao near Dunhuang constitute the most extensive array of Buddhist wall paintings and sculptures at a single site, not only in China but anywhere in the world. The thousands of manuscripts discovered in the Library Cave provide invaluable information on Tang dynasty literature, economic and social history, medicine, music, and more that is not available from any other source. Along with well-preserved paintings on silk, most of them were taken by Western explorers in the early 20th century and are now in museums and libraries around the world.
Geographically, why was Dunhuang an important location along the Silk Road?
Dunhuang’s importance dates back to the second century BC when Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty greatly extended the empire. It was a garrison town at the far western end of the Great Wall, controlling trade and other contacts along the several routes leading to western and south Asia. Caravans travelling along these routes could stop and make provision for their onward journey.
Why were the caves decorated? How did this tradition begin?
The very earliest caves, from mid-fourth century AD, may have been cut as places for quiet meditation. Most of the remainder were intended to secure merits for a better afterlife for the donors and their families. After excavating the gravel conglomerate of the cliff to the required size, the walls and ceiling were coated with clay plaster and painted with countless images of the Buddha, and scenes illustrating the Buddhist scriptures. Sculptures of the Buddha, other enlightened beings, and disciples, were modeled in clay stucco on wooden armatures and painted with the same pigments as those used for the murals. Read more »
12:00 pm
On March 23, more than 150 high school students gathered under the blue whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life at the Museum to participate in this year’s New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF) Finals Event. The fair, sponsored by the New York City Department of Education and the City University of New York, is the city’s largest high school research competition. The students presented a wide variety of fascinating science projects ranging from a design for a better fly trap to an analysis of new sources of biofuels. The winners from NYCSEF receive an all-expense paid trip to San Jose, CA in May to represent New York City at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), where they will compete for scholarships and awards.
Credit: Roderick Mickens, AMNH
