Nature news reports today on a study of algae that could be used for cleaning radioactive waste–research done by regular MASI contributor Minna Krejci! The algae, called Closterium moniliferum, are members of the desmid order, known to microbiologists for their distinctive shapes, said Minna Krejci, a materials scientist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. But [...]
Archive for March, 2011
Congratulations to Minna Krejci!
Posted in Uncategorized on March 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Museums and Conservation: Reconstructing Everyday Life
Posted in Uncategorized on March 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
If there’s one impression that a visitor might get from your average Ancient Egyptian exhibit, it’s of a culture obsessed with preservation. Mummies, carefully replicated clay tools, records on parchment… Then again, future archaeologists may well get the same idea from modern industrial culture. After all, we make even the simplest objects from materials that [...]
Museums and Conservation: Walk Like an Egyptian
Posted in Uncategorized on March 30, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Post by Minna Krejci What does it mean to “walk like an Egyptian,” anyway? The 80s song by the Bangles is clearly referring to the somewhat awkward-looking figures depicted on Egyptian wall paintings. But why do they look like that? If you’ve ever tried to imitate the pose of one of these figures, you know [...]
Open Question: Museums and Conserving the Past
Posted in Museum, tagged astronomy, Theme: Museums & Conservation on March 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Post by Ruthanna Gordon My parents would never have considered visiting a city without checking out the museums. So I suspect I got exposed to them rather younger than most. On the other hand, a friend just announced proudly that his not-quite-2-year-old loves the chick hatchery at the Museum of Science and Industry. So maybe [...]
Museums and Conserving the Past – Emily Teeter: Re-Imagining History
Posted in Museum, tagged Emily Teeter, Interview, Oriental Institute Museum on March 28, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Interview Conducted by Henderson Dr. Emily Teeter has been in love with museums ever since she could remember. Her mother, a docent, would take her children from museum to museum and expose them to the newest wonders of the ancient world. One of the most memorable of these visits came in 1962, at the [...]
Next Week: Museums & Conserving the Past
Posted in Art, Museum, Science on March 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Join us for in-depth discussions next week on Museums and Conserving the Past. The Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago is a world-renowned showcase for the history, art, and archaeology of the ancient Near East. Dr. Emily Teeter joins MASI on Monday to discuss her role in re-imagining how our ancient ancestors lived, [...]
Art Meets Science in Chicago
Posted in Art, Chicago, Science, tagged Theme: Art & Place on March 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Post by Vijayalakshmi Kalyanaraman We started this week with a tour of public art in Chicago. It’s easy enough to find art, walking along the city streets, but what about science? Often the combination is what draws people in. Above, Buckminster Fuller poses with students in his geodesic dome at Chicago’s Institute of Design. You [...]
Under the Microscope: Glendon Mellow
Posted in Art, Making Art, tagged interviews, paleontology, Theme: Art & Place on March 24, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Post by Ruthanna Gordon Welcome to MASI’s new occasional series highlighting work by our favorite science-inspired artists. We’re starting with Glendon Mellow, AKA Flying Trilobite. Mellow builds fantasies from fossils, ranging from the namesake piece that heads his blog to fuzzy pink dinosaurs. I talked with him about two of his more unusual pieces. Haldane’s [...]
Art & Place: Open Question
Posted in Art, Science, tagged Theme: Art & Place on March 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Some art could be made anywhere. Other pieces are closely tied to the place and time of their creation. How is your art influenced by where you live? And is scientific research affected the same way?
Art & Place: 21st Century Graffiti
Posted in Making Art, Technology, tagged graffiti, Laser Tag, Theme: Art & Place on March 22, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Post by Minna Krejci Art, or vandalism? Or maybe a platform to show off some crazy cool technology? Amidst continuing efforts by public officials to crack down on graffiti in most cities, the graffiti culture continues to evolve. In Chicago, no-nonsense “graffiti blasters” erase the work of writers within days or even hours, which has [...]
