Why are these bison so gassy? What's hurting the chestnut trees? What's turning the coral white? In MicroRangers, a new augmented reality game at the American Museum of Natural History, you get to shrink down to the microscopic-level to investigate these mysteries and more. On Monday, I got to try out MicroRangers for the first time, …
This weekend, I caught one of the last showings of the Strandbeest at the Exploratorium, along with some work colleagues. A series of “kinetic sculptures” created by Theo Jansen since the 1990s, the Strandbeests combine his interests in science and art. Here’s a video of the Strandbeests in their native environment, the beach. As you …
This past Friday was the fourth annual Teen Science Night at the California Academy of Sciences, the nation's largest teen-organized science night at a museum. Over 1,600 teens from across the San Francisco Bay Area gathered at the Academy for an evening of science exploration and fun. I had a blast, as always, helping out at …
Give a listen to the latest episode of "Object Oriented," the podcast on digital learning in collections-based museums, hosted by Eve Gaus of the Field Museum, Barry Joseph of the American Museum of Natural History and myself. In this show, we focus on what's new at our respective institutions, and man are we up to …
The Pixar film Finding Dory takes place largely in the fictional “Marine Life Institute” whose mission is the “rescue, rehabilitation and release” of marine life. The institution is depicted in the film not only showcasing marine life for the public, but also performing veterinary services, working with injured animals to prepare them to be released back into the wild, …
Yesterday was my first time marching in the San Francisco Pride Parade. I have participated for many years in the New York Pride Parade, but San Francisco has a well-deserved reputation as an international center for the LGBTQ community. This was also the first time I marched with other museum professionals in the "Museums with Pride" …
Scientists know more about the surface of the moon than they do about the deep coral reefs. On Friday June 20, the California Academy of Sciences unveils our newest exhibit "Twilight Zone: Deep Reefs Revealed." From the exhibit description: Step inside a realm known as the twilight zone—a narrow, dimly lit band of the world's oceans more …
What would happen if you let 40 teens spend the weekend at your museum and challenged them to create digital games on complex sustainability topics? That's what we wanted to find out, so we organized the Science Game Jam last month. Over the weekend of April 24-25 at the California Academy of Sciences, nine teams of …
It took us awhile to get out our fourth episode, but we are happy to share with you "Object Oriented" #4: the Museums and the Web edition! Barry, Eve and I happened to be in the same place at the same time for the Museums and the Web conference in LA a few weeks ago. …
My co-workers surprised me with this on my desk this morning. Awww. It's nice working with a program with such nice swag.