Stories tagged science museum of minnesota
President Obama appointed the Science Museum of Minnesota's very own president, Dr. Eric Jolly, to the National Museum and Library Services Board. Here's all the pertinent information. Congratulations Dr. Jolly!
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The Finishing Touches: When last we saw the mammoth, the base had been completed but still had to be painted and the tusks had to be attached.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Specialized Inserts were Created for Each Tusk: This is the view from the underside of the mammoth's left tusk.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Attaching the Mammoth's Left Tusk: A bolt is attached to the tusk and is threaded through the insert inside the tusk cavity.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Tightening the Bolt from AboveCourtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
The Insert for the Right Tusk is Built into the Skull's Actual TuskCourtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Attaching the Right TuskCourtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Tightening the Screw for the Right TuskCourtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
The Finished Skull: Check back to see how the skull is installed for exhibition!Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Seeds from our Three Sisters Ethnobotany garden (10 kernels of Dakota Corn, 10 Magpie Beans, 10 Lakota Squash, and Tobacco) permanent collections will accompany NASA's last space shuttle flight STS-135 on Friday, July 8. These seeds were deaccessioned to take part in an experiment to test the extent of their germination in a microgravity and soilless environment. Our ethnobotany interns will conduct ground control experiments at the Science Museum. 
Sifting the Seed Crew Members: Jim Rock, Scott Shoemaker, and Roxanne Gould choosing seeds that fit within the strict size parameters for the project.Courtesy Science MuseumMuseum staff are working with John M. Cassanto, President Instrumentation Technology Associates Inc., who designed the cell chambers that will germinate our seeds on NanoRacks carriers aboard the space shuttle. Jim Rock(Dakota astronomer, educator and longtime collaborator at SMM), Scott Shoemaker and Tilly Laskey carefully chose seeds meeting NASA's strict space requirements.
In a note to NASA, Jim Rock said,"these are very old heirloom seed ancestor-relatives, like our dearest mothers and grandmothers who will be flying in your care and company as fellow crew members and specialists."
Last week while Scott Shoemaker was busy working and planting in the Science Museum of Minnesota's Ethnobotany Garden, Michelle Obama was doing the same thing. The First Lady and Scott were each hard at work planting a Three Sisters garden. A Three Sisters garden is composed of beans, corn and squash. 
Obama Three Sisters: Michele Obama and Jefferson Keel planting a Three Sisters garden.Courtesy The White House The three plants work together and form a symbiotic relationship where the beans fix nitrogen in the soil, the corn acts as a trellis for the beans, and the squash, serves as a natural shade and helps hide the beans from predators. Since 2004, the Science Museum has planted a three sister's garden in the Big Backyard. This year Scott planted a wide variety of corn and beans including 1000 year old Seneca roundnose corn, Iroquois hominy corn, Delaware blue corn, cranberry beans, Potawatomi rabbit beans, and squash. 
Planting SMM's Three Sisters Garden: Scott Shoemaker hard at work planting the Science Museum's Three Sister's garden.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
This is the first year that the Mrs. Obama has planted a three sisters garden at the White House. The planting is part of Mrs. Obama's latest efforts to battle childhood obesity Let's Move! In Indian Country, which promotes the use of "culturally proficient" approaches to create food and fitness programs to make tribal communities healthier. 
Watering the Garden: Scott watering the garden the day after planting.Courtesy Science Museum of MinnesotaThe First Lady was joined by Jefferson Keel, President of the National Congress of American Indians, and numerous American Indian children from a wide variety of tribes. They planted Cherokee White Eagle corn, Rattlesnake pole beans, and Seminole squash seeds that were provided by the National Museum of the American Indian. You can read more about Mrs Obama planting the White House's Three Sister's Garden at Obama Foodorama.
"Non Negotiable", The Science Museum of Minnesota's Newest Accession
Ojibwe painter Jim Denomie talks about "Non Negotiable", one of SMM's newest accessions made possible with a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
There's a great article on the Science website that brings up the issue of taxonomy. Taxonomy is the science dealing with the description, identification, naming and classification of organisms. Due to declining funding and a lack of professional practitioners, the article proposes that amateur taxonomists could make significant contributions to understanding the Earth's biodiversity.
The article highlight's the Science Museum's own "professional-amateur" entomologist Ron Huber. Ron's been volunteering his time at the museum since September 1964 and has written a number of scientific publications based on his research on the museum's collection.
Ron HuberCourtesy Rebecca Newberry, SMM
With 1.4 million animal species scientifically described and with an untold number still to be discovered and described the role of taxonomy is more critical than ever. But there definitely is debate as to whether amateurs are the solution to the problems facing taxonomy. What do you think?
Behind the wall: The wall protecting the bottom floor of the museum is made of two rows of cement barriers with dirt packed between them. Next door at District Energy, they're using sand. I wonder which will work better?Courtesy JGordonIf you've been following Science Buzz (of course you have!) you know that St. Paul is gearing up for a flood!
It's still unclear as to how high the water will rise, but given all the snow we got this winter, the Science Museum is preparing for the worst. The worst is unlikely, but even not-quite-the-worst would be pretty bad, so the museum is building some defenses against the water.
A red tailed hawk keeps an eye on the proceedings: Which, frankly, is ridiculous. What do hawks know about flood management?Courtesy JGordon
The hawk takes flight!: Good riddance. What were we even paying him for?Courtesy JGordon
Our Science House is being surrounded by a wall of thick, solid concrete blocks, like a fort. And we're building a wall of Jersey barriers packed with dirt through the Big Back Yard to protect our first floor, should the water get that high. The museum's first floor, by the way, is not where you enter. The first floor is way below that, and it's where we build exhibits and keep all of the machinery that maintains the climate in the building, so it's important that it doesn't get too wet down there.
Here's a slide show of the pictures I took of the construction this afternoon. For descriptions of what's happening in each, click on the photo (or go right to the Flickr photoset).
Wire Mesh Forms the Base: Most of the time, fossils that paleontologists find are incomplete. In this case, about half of the skull was missing. In order to provide a better understanding of what the skull looked like, paleontologists reconstruct the missing portions based on other similar specimens.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Sculpting: Plaster and other materials are sculpted on to the wire base.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Sculpting Foam: To recreate larger sections, foam pieces are sculpted.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Comparing the sides of the skull: Measurements for the reconstructed side are based on the preserved half of the skull. The preparators try and make the skull as symmetrical as possible.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Finished FoamCourtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Covering the foam: The foam is painted with grit to make it appear like a fossil.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Tusks: The actual tusks are too heavy for the skull to support. Lightweight foam tusks were made and will be attached to the skull.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Front of the Nearly Finsihed SkullCourtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Back of the Nearly Finished SkullCourtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Field Jacket is Half Off: Last week we left off with the skull at the beginning of the cleaning /preparation process. This photo shows what the skull looks like when half of it has been cleaned! Once the whole skull has been cleaned the skull will be ready to be oriented in it's anatomical position.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Attaching the Mount: In order to get the skull upright, a special mount is created. The mount is attached to the skull via steel pins which are embedded in plaster. This photo also shows the reconstructions of one of the skulls molars and portions of the reconstructed maxilla.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Raising the Skull: Once the mount has been firmly attached to the skull the entire apparatus has to be lifted with a forklift so it can be oriented correctly and attached to the mount’s base.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
The Upright Skull: The mounted skull has been securely attached to its standing platform. Check back next week to see the mount disappear as portions of the skull are reconstructed in the final blog post of this series.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
How does a fossil go from being discovered to being a part of the Science Museum’s collections? In this first in a series of three posts, we’ll track a mammoth skull from being discovered in the field through the initial cleaning and processing at the museum. Check out the photos and the brief description of the process.
Lyle Excavation: In 1997, William Lyle discovered a fossil eroding from an embankment on his farm located just outside of Albert Lea, MN. Museum staff were contacted and a salvage excavation was conducted.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Mammoth Skull: A close inspection of the skull reveals that it’s a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). The skull is believed to be from an adult male due to the large size of the skull and tusks, the large number enamel ridges on its molars, and the concave slope of the forehead.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Field Jacket: Once the skull and tusks have been excavated, they have to be prepared for safe transport back to the museum. A plaster field jacket is wrapped around the skull and the adjacent sediment.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Removing Field Jacket: Back in the lab, the first step is to cut away portions of the plaster field jacket.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Removing Matrix: Next, museum volunteer Neva Key removes the loose sediment matrix that surrounds the skull. This is often a very labor intensive job and can take months to finish.Courtesy Science Museum of Minnesota
Check back next week for part two of the three part series on the Lyle Mammoth, when the challenge of creating a mount for the skull to stand upright will be discussed.
