The Art of Science: What’s a Wirbelwerk?

Wirbelwerk, 2013
Wirbelwerk, 2013

I’m crazy about Olafur Eliasson’s Wirbelwerk, an installation of colored glass, metal rods and a light source that throws constantly changing patterns over every surface of the atrium at Munich’s Lenbachhaus. Wirbelwerk, which means vortex or whirlpool, looks like a glittering, light filled cross between a tornado and an icicle. The piece combines three longtime preoccupations of Eliasson’s work: weather, light and space. Not to mention packing in plenty of engineering and optical physics for us nerds. Lots more photos here.

Monuments

Joe Hanson‘s web video series, It’s Okay to Be Smart*, went to Washington, DC to talk about the science of the US’s national monuments. While our Have Science Will Travel series has generally focused on travel to locations with a specific science focus (eg, science museums) or obvious connections (eg, national parks), it is important to remember that science is everywhere. Joe’s discussion of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonian Castle makes simple, straightforward connections with the fields of geology, biology, and astrophysics.

Continue reading “Monuments”

Have Science Will Travel LIVE

Museums Showoff 9If you are going to be in London on the 1st of October at 7:30PM, you need to go see our own Eva Amsen talk about the improbable Museum of Jurassic Technology at Museums Showoff 9.

The rest of the lineup is set to take attendees on a delightful tour through a wide-variety of museums and experiences of working in museums.

Since you are here at The Finch & Pea, I think it is fair to assume that a presentation covering art, history, culture, science, and behind the scenes minutiae while enjoying a pint in the upper room of a pub is precisely your bag, baby.

Need help finding The Black Heart? Ta da, a map.

Science Caturday: The Calculating Cat

nyer cat

And you thought your cats were just randomly knocking things off tables!

Cartoon by Jack Ziegler for The New Yorker. You can order a print of it here.

Meet the ‘Semaphore’ Frog

Green-spotted rock frog (Staurois tuberilinguis)
Green-spotted rock frog (Staurois tuberilinguis)

I am lucky enough to spend my days in a frog communication lab, but everyone on the street knows how frogs communicate-by calling (if you didn’t know that, I’m really sorry about the sad life you’ve been living. Please go outside today and sit in the grass. Maybe quit your job. Also, let your parents know you’d be better off if you were raised by wolves because at least then you’d know the glory of nature).

In general, we think of frogs calling from the edge of the pond where the only competition is from other male frogs. It gets more interesting when you consider some frogs call near rushing water and the modifications they must make to their call. Calling is energetically costly and competing with rushing water can surely be exhausting. Some frogs have developed another mode in which to signal by using semaphore. Indeed, the frogs of the genus Staurois from Borneo still call, but the streams are so loud that they modify their call and employ this semaphore in the form of foot flagging. Continue reading “Meet the ‘Semaphore’ Frog”