Seahorses are some of the many puppets in Luna's Sea, which makes its New York premiere at the Museum on May 12. Photo courtesy of Linda Wingerter
This Mother’s Day weekend, travel from the shores of Africa to the deep-sea habitats of bioluminescent creatures with a live puppet theater production that makes its New York premiere. Luna’s Sea tells the story of a girl named Luna on a magical journey through the world’s oceans using dance, puppetry, optical illusions, and black-light theater. Luna’s Sea will hold performances at the Museum on Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13. The show’s creator, Linda Wingerter, recently shared the history of Luna’s Sea as well as some of the details about how the production’s spectacular puppets are made.
How did the idea for Luna’s Sea come about?
Linda Wingerter: I’m a children’s book illustrator by trade with a background in puppetry. Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium and the Cornerstone Playhouse in Mystic asked me if I would write, create, and build a stage show based on animals at the aquarium.
What kind of research did you conduct at the aquarium?
Wingerter: The aquarium gave us unlimited time to spend on site with our puppeteers to study the animals. We brought some of our in-progress puppets right to the tanks and had our puppeteers move them alongside the animals. My co-puppet-builder, Jen McClure, and I would then make adjustments. Read more »
Firefly larvae are voracious predators, feeding on snails, slugs, and earthworms and keeping ecosystems in delicate balance. Many are stocking up on food for their whole adulthood, throughout which they will never eat. Some climb trees in pursuit of arboreal snails. Others have gills like fish that allow them to dive for aquatic snails, whose shells they then use for protection like hermit crabs. In parts of Asia, a large mollusk called an apple snail has ravaged important crops such as rice, and firefly larvae are being explored as a potential form of biocontrol to protect those nations’ food supply.
“Just think how poetic it could be if we had fireflies control snails in these agricultural systems as larvae and produce entertainment as a byproduct as adults,” says Marc Branham, an entomologist at the University of Florida.
Researchers are still investigating whether firefly numbers are dwindling. “If you ask anybody out there, they will tell you that it seems like there aren’t as many fireflies out now as there were 10 or 20 or 40 years ago,” explains Branham. The lack of data on older population numbers makes verifying their decline difficult. “But it’s pretty clear that there are some locations where people used to see many fireflies, and now you don’t see any.” Read more »
In a podcast from this March, Director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses his new book, Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier. With his trademark humor and sharp insights, Dr. Tyson offers an eye-opening perspective on the importance of space exploration for America’s economy, security, and morale in the 21st century.
Dr. Tyson’s talk took place at the Museum on March 15, 2012.
Museum President Ellen V. Futter recently spoke about the Museum’s digital initiatives on the talk show “Digital Age,” hosted by Jim Zirin. Watch the full interview below.
Call it the ultimate space camp: for one week this summer, a group of middle school students will learn how to use the Museum’s Digital Universe Atlas, a three-dimensional, scientifically accurate map of the cosmos, and discover how the atlas is built from data gathered by scientists around the world. Then, using gaming laptops, the students will create their very own digital tour to a favorite spot of the universe, which will be shown in a special evening program in the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater on Friday, July 13.
Digital Universe Flight School is open to students entering grades 6, 7, 8, or 9 this fall. For more information about the course, which runs from Monday, July 9, through Friday, July 13, click here.
