Mission : Plankton

Over in the UK, they had staged a re-enactment of Charles Darwin's departure at the beginning of the month. A lot of the original HMS Beagle crew came from the Plymouth area, and some of their descendants were part of the re-enactment. It's cool that the past (over 150 years!) can be so easily connected to today.

The re-enactment also launches a new scientific mission, which will be filmed and broadcast on Dutch and Belgian television. The mission of this voyage is to gauge how plankton is coping with climate change and pollution. It may seem odd to monitor tiny little algae, but this algae creates a lot of oxygen and plays a huge part in the food chain. So if the plankton isn't doing well, the fish won't do well, etc etc etc. It's an important project, and needs the attention that this celebration will bring to it.

Also, John Malkovich will be there.... and you know it's important if Mr. Malkovich attends.

Darwin's Voyage Blogified

Here is an interesting piece of history that has been given a social media twist. The Voyage of the Beagle takes entries from Charles Darwin’s daily journal and sets them up like a blog; complete with pictures and maps.

Although we’re big fans of the science of it all, the personal accounts of the discoveries and the daily routine that this captures are intriguing. This online, modern day format lends a perspective that reading pages and pages of text just cannot create.

It’s the little things are as so fascinating – His reaction to the increasing heat; his appreciation for sunset and moonrise; that he was not impressed with the Cape Verde islands (But, remember, this was back in 1831, and I'm sure Cape Verde is a beautiful place to visit today).

You couldn't travel very easy back when Charlie was going halfway around the world, and the description of the journey reminds us of what an awesome adventure it really was!

There are stories of people that had not seen Europeans yet, stories of horrible storms and shipwrecks, and of tropical jungles teeming with life.

It’s amazing that such insight came from a very long (and dreary) journey by boat.

Darwin Endless Forms

I intended to mention this earlier, but summer time seems to slow my brain and make it hard to concentrate... but there is an exhibition going on in Cambridge –(anyone have an extra plane ticket?): Darwin Endless Forms takes a look at Charlie's effect and influence on the art world.

To think that Charlie's idea started to come around when the idea of art was changing is pretty interesting. No longer was art needed to recreate the real world (camera's could do that), but artists could create their own version of the world. I think that the idea of evolution could have helped free art, and artists, from the existing, old world structure. Art for art's sake.

This site offers a wonderful social media companion to the exhibit – a podcast series, an online photo album and the chance to participate in an online “Darwin-themed” book club! There is also the ‘Entangled Bank,” an interactive opportunity for you to learn where participants are encouraged to follow how life changes over time by observing plant life and documenting the change by taking pictures and submitting them to the website.

Have you gone to this exhibit? We'd love to hear your take!

New science tunes from They Might Be Giants!

Ah, the giant genius of They Might Be Giants. Their new CD, "Here Comes Science," is an anthem of science-love for children.

On Amazon, you can preview the song "Science is Real," which explains to kids the difference between stories and science. Oh yes it does, and very well too.

On Youtube, you can see the video for "I am a Paleontologist," which uses the word "evolution" loud and proud.

I just can't wait to get my copy. The CDs ship Sept. 8th from Amazon.