Access All Areas

Episode 15 – Be My Guest: Star Wars

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:46:00 +1000

Be my guest as we gatecrash another special exhibition event, this time at Scienceworks. A long, long time ago (in 2005) in a Museum of Science far, far away (in Boston) some exhibition people got together with a crowd from LucasFilm Ltd and joined forces to create an exhibition called Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination. It’s designed to ignite interest in science and technology and interestingly one of the scientists interviewed in the exhibition mentions that Star Wars inspired her to study robotics!

May the fourth is international Star Wars Day, but every day is Star Wars Day at Scienceworks for the next 5 months while this travelling exhibition is in Melbourne. So go forth with the force that is science and imagination.

Electrostatically yours, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode15.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

C-3PO is enjoying being adjusted for display. Photo: David Collopy | Storm troopers and clone trooper welcoming patrons to the preview night Source: David Loram D.D.L. Photographics Pty Ltd. | Nick Crotty with an R2D2 version of Mr Potato head and Robbie a robot who features in the Scienceworks collection store tour. Source: Dr Andi

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination
From MV news http://museumvictoria.com.au/about/mv-news/2009/may-the-4th-be-with-you/

More information

Star Wars Australian fan club http://www.starwalking.net/about.shtml
The Exhibition as featured on ABC TV show Collectors http://www.abc.net.au/tv/collectors/segments/s2515991.htm

Voices

Nick Crotty – Collection manager, History and Technology, Scienceworks
Daniel Avano – Programs Co-ordinator, Scienceworks
Han Solo, Darth Vader and C3PO – Lucasfilm Ltd
Kerrie Dougherty – Curator Space and Technology, Powerhouse Museum
Genevieve Fahey – Manager Scienceworks
Daniel Robertson – Programs Officer, Scienceworks
Patrons and fans at the special preview night

Production

Dr Andi Horvath – Senior Curator Science Communication, Museum Victoria
Arch Cuthbertson – Podcast Recording Services
Sally Lowenstein – Assistant researcher

Episode 14 – Exposure to the Elements

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:46:00 +1000

Have you seen Wolfram|Alpha? It’s not an internet search engine, even though it seems like one, but rather a computational knowledge engine. You ask it a question, and it actually computes the answer. Seems the perfect way to double-check if the meaning of life is really 42, like Douglas Adams wrote in A Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy.

However, it occurred to me that the answer should actually be 94 not 42. Here is my theory. Things that have meaning …matter, all life is made up of …matter, therefore the meaning of life is …matter! Since there are 94 types of matter naturally found on Earth, the number 94 must be the secret to ‘Life, the Universe and Everything’ and the periodic table of the elements must be the map!

Nobelium-ly yours, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode14.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Lauren Bartlett (also known as Lawrencium to her brother) with her lithium battery collection. Photo Andi Horvath | Drink with the table. Photo www.campusgifts.co.uk | Dan Robertson has time for Caesium. Photo Andi Horvath

Show notes

More information

A ’youtube’ version ‘Song of the elements’ by Tom Lehrer
Since March 2008, as well as Caesium, other elements have got into the act of time keeping for planet earth.
The periodic table of videos is a must for element lovers like us.

Credits

Interviewees in order of appearance
Lauren Bartlett – Programs Officer, Scienceworks favours Lawrencium, Krypton and Lithium
Pennie Stoyles – Public Programs Manager, Scienceworks loves Sodium and Iodine
Daniel Robertson – Programs Officer, Scienceworks has time for Caesium
Michelle Sanders – Senior Programs Officer, Scienceworks makes Hydrogen her No 1
Bronwyn Quint – Program Coordinator Physical Science
Vera Gin – Program Manager, Science
Avantika Banerjee – Programs Officer, Scienceworks
Daniel Avano – Program Coordinator, Science

"Song of the Elements" by Tom Lehrer (1959)
He recites the names of all the chemical elements known at the time of writing, up to number 102, nobelium. The song is sung to the tune of the Major General's Song from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Production

Dr Andi Horvath – Senior Curator, Museum Victoria
Arch Cuthbertson – Podcast Recording Services

Episode 13 - Be My Guest: Dinosaur Walk & Talk

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:42:00 +1000

Be my guest is a new series of podcast adventures that gatecrash Museum Victoria exhibition openings. Forget trying to get onto the VIP invite list, just sneak in with me and we’ll munch finger food with the A-list guests, pop a cork with curators and ask the critics what they think of the exhibition.

In this episode we find out what a teenage Mongolian Tarbosaurus has to say about the world, eavesdrop on an Amargasaurus on its mobile phone and take a joy ride on a flying Quetzalcoatlus. Yep, we will be chatting with fossils, walking with dinosaurs and dancing with ancient wolves.

Be my guest, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode13.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Toy dinosaurs walking off the shelf at the shop. Photo Andi Horvath | Kate Phillips, Senior Curator holding fossilised dinosaur poo, or coprolite. Photo Rodney Start | Tarbosaurus bataar greets visitors at the start of the exhibition. Photo Andi Horvath

Show notes

Museum Victoria resources

Visit the Dinosaur Walk web site
The Science and Life Gallery blog goes behind the scenes of making exhibitions

Credits

Interviews and voices

Hon. Lynne Kosky MP – Minister for the Arts, Victorian State Government
Kate Phillips – Senior Curator, Science and Life Gallery
Wayne Gerdtz – Curator Science and Life Gallery, Quetzalcoatlus
Museum visitors – General Public
Anthony Balla – Tarbosaurus
Caz McLennan– Amargasaurus
Dr Andi Horvath – Your date and podcast host

Technical

Archie Cuthbertson – Podcast Recording Services

Episode 12 - McCoy's specimens: zoological illustrations of Victoria

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:22:00 +1000

Superb 19th century zoological illustrations of natural history specimens are a visual delight and it may seem like an odd topic for a podcast as it take us to the limits of the audio medium. At Access all Areas we aren’t scared to go there, trust me when you hear the stories and dramas behind these 19th century pictures you’ll never look at these zoological illustrations the same way again. The best thing about the audio medium is that it captures, not only the telling of the ‘1000 words behind every picture’, but the passion that people have about their museum work.I hope this podcast paints a world of wonder for you.

Yours in sound and vision, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode12.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Fredrick McCoy | John Kean and Bec Carland | Unpublished Drawing Number 209 of a Tasmanian Blenny Parablennius tasmanianus, pencil, watercolour and ink on paper by lithographer Arthur Bartholomew 1861

Show notes

Museum Victoria resources

Visit Caught and Coloured where you can immerse your self in the fabulous Prodromus images

Find out about Sir Frederick McCoy's Medals and this page will also take you to other links about this fascinating man.

Find our about ‘The Artists’ who worked for the Museum back in the late 1800s

More information

The Thomas Ramsay Sciences and Humanities fellowship is awarded to an applicant whose research proposal creatively connects the science and humanities. (Soon to be updated on the MV website)

Credits

John Kean – Producer, MV studios and former Thomas Ramsey fellow
Bec Carland – Curator, History and Technology department
Robert Menzies – reading of Fredrick McCoy’s account of the white pointer shark

Technical

Archie Cuthbertson – Podcast Recording Services

Episode 11 - It's International Year of Astronomy

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:20:00 +1000

I am always delighted to discover that it’s International Year of <insert cultural topic or natural feature here>. There have been some great ones in the past like the International Polar Year 2007-08, the International Year of the Potato 2008, the International Year of Volunteers 2001.I can remember the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981which started a new awareness of access to public buildings which today is now mainstream design. International years of <whatever> often have ripple effects as they make us take notice of our world.
In this episode I hang around the Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks for a day asking staff about their favourite celestial bodies, what visitors thought about the planetarium shows and playing with the acoustics of the dome theatre in between shows.

When I asked Trish, an education officer, about her favourite celestial body she said, ‘My favourite celestial body has to be the Moon. I see it as a bit of a reality check because we can get busy with things that are happening in our lives but when we look up and see the Moon we remember we that we are on this amazing spherical earth and there is this moon orbiting our earth. We are actually apart of huge universe full of lots of things like nebulas and black holes and stuff we don’t know about.’

So take extra time to marvel at our place in space this year and catch a planetarium show at a museum near you.

Cosmic waves, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode11.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Source: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. The Galileo spacecraft took this image of the Moon on 7 December 1992 on its way to explore the Jupiter system in 1995-97 | Melbourne planetarium visitors | Animation of a black hole from a planetarium show

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

The Melbourne Planetarium produces Skynotes every month for those of you who live at the southern end of the planet .

Check out the various award winning planetarium shows and information about the actual dome.

More information

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.

Credits

Dr Andi interviews ...

Martin Bush - Curator Science Communication and Planetarium programmer

Trish Christies - Education Program Coordinator, Astronomy

Dr Tanya Hill - Curator Astronomy

David Newton - Presenter Scienceworks

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Episode 10 - Evolution: The Seafood Diet

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:19:00 +1000

I’ve been attending the ‘Evolution, the experience: past, present, future’ conference here in Melbourne, and scientists have been asked to speculate about what life on earth will be like when we celebrate Darwin’s 300th birthday in a hundred years time.

David Karoly, scientist and commentator on climate change, suggested we may lose a third of the present species on earth and it is possible that prawns and shellfish will only be available from farming operations. Their disappearance from the sea can be predicted from the complex interchange of events surrounding pollution and climate change. Sadly, over fishing and dredging in certain locations has already endangered certain species of fish and seafood well before the effects of any climate change.

We still have opportunities to save the demise of our seafood. In this episode, Mark Norman, Senior Curator of Molluscs, turns our attention to the ethics of the seafood diet and the real power of the ethically- informed consumer and restaurateur.

Eat ethically, Cheers Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode10.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Maori Octopus Photographer: Mark Norman | Dr Mark Norman dissecting a giant squid | Orange Roughy Photographer: David Paul. These fish can live for over 140 years but overfishing has depleted many stocks

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

Giant Squid
The Museum Victoria Marine portal has many other links too.

More information

Tim Winton, the Patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society says “I joined the Australian Marine Conservation Society because they're the real deal. For 40 years they've been fighting for our seas and getting results: Ningaloo, Great Barrier Reef, are new marine protected areas. If you're worried about overfishing, if you're angry about pollution and rapacious coastal development, if you're anxious about endangered species then why not add to the effort? Let's join together and get results.”

Credits

Voices

Dr Mark Norman, Senior Curator of Molluscs,

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Episode 9 - Evolution: Life on Earth in 7 courses

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:59:00 +1000

In this episode, you, the listener, will gate crash the gala event of the century: Darwin’s 200th birthday party at Melbourne Museum. It’s a spectacular celebration of the evolution of life on earth called Evolution – the dinner.

You’ll love the menu; we get to eat our way up the evolutionary tree course by course. The menu starts at the Precambrian earth 4.5 billion years ago represented by arancini balls with crusty textures of proto earth over hot fillings. The early oceans of primeval soup 3.6 billion years ago will be superb servings of seafood bisque. The menu offering then moves to the Cambrian explosion of life on earth which saw the origins of molluscs and crustaceans like prawns and scallops. The era of bony fishes is a serving of salmon and caviar. The menu then celebrates life emerging on land with reptilian crocodile skewers.

You know that old chestnut of which came first, the chicken or the egg? We can answer that; life on, dry land was only possible due to emergence of the hard-shelled eggs which came well before the chicken! The dinosaur era course will remind us that the chicken drummettes we eat are identical to the pattern of bones found in Tyrannosaurus leg, only thankfully smaller.

Enjoy this edible version of access all areas pod cast adventures.

Watch out for chocolate meteorites,

Cheers, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode9.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Brain Choo a palaeontologist about to submit his PhD thesis, Darwin impersonator Bernard Caleo, and Dr Andi Horvath | Darwin’s 200th birthday cake, Galapagos tortoise ornament made by Museum preparators | Chris Darwin (the great great grandson) and Dr John Long signing books for dinner guests

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

Museum Victoria’s Darwin portal
Documenting Change by Martin Gomon
John Long's Science prize for fossil discovery
Ancient Gogonasus advances evolution

More information

Celebrations in Melbourne across 2009 see 'Evolution the experience'
Australian Fish Biodiversity site

Glossary

Arteodactyl mammals – animals with hooves

Credits

Voices

Dr John Long - Head, Sciences
Wayne Gerdtz - Curator, Science & Life Gallery
Dr Martin F Gomon - Senior Curator, Ichthyology
Shannon Henriksson - Multimedia assistant & virtual dinner MC
Dr Jane Melville - Senior Curator of Terrestrial Vertebrates

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Episode 8 - Charles Darwin: The Interview

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:05:00 +1000

2009 marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s publication of On the Origin of Species: the book that made scientific sense of life on earth. It’s the sesquicentenary for the theory of evolution! (Advice: use the word sesquicentenary in print only because when said out loud one never sounds sober).

As well as being a behind-the-scenes tour guide for podcast enthusiasts, I develop exhibitions for Museum Victoria. I recently had the curatorial mission to create a showcase about the genius of Charles Darwin.

There were a series of complications. We had no Darwin-related objects in the Museum Victoria collection (the finch we have was already on display elsewhere); a microscope in the collection ascribed to ‘Charles Darwin’ did not really belong to the evolutionary theorist, it was a fake, and the museum's stuffed chimpanzee was too fragile to display. Then we realised the foyer light levels were prohibitive to accessing loans from other museums and collectors … So we had to take a rather ‘creative’ (but not desperate) curatorial approach. The display which now stands in the Melbourne Museum foyer features an interview with Charles Darwin. Yes, an interview … No séances, no monkey business, just some academic research, curatorial interpretive power and a dash of wondrous imagination.

I have evolved a podcast version of the interview for you here.

Stay fit, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode8.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

An image of Darwin from a Museum Victoria lantern slide | The Melbourne Museum Darwin showcase | Charles Darwin (as played by Bernard Caleo)

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

Museum Victoria’s Darwin portal

More information

Celebrations in Melbourne 2009 see 'Evolution the experience'

Credits

Voices

Bernard Caleo – Conduit for Darwin, Actor & Programs officer, Melbourne Museum

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Episode 7 - Flockumentary

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:47:00 +1000

Whilst cleaning my home the other day I had an insight. (Yeah, I was glad too, it had been a while). Perhaps it was not so much an insight but a prediction or even a theory. I think I came up with this because I have a newfound appreciation of birds since talking to Museum Victoria staff about the world of birds.

My theory is that people have at least three effigies of birds in their homes. Don’t believe me? Well ... check the bathroom ... do you own a rubber duckie? How about decorative birds in the lounge room? (e.g. the retro-classic of three ceramic birds in flight.) Look in the garden: maybe you have a rooster wind vane, some terracotta geese, or those crazy wooden birds whose wings spin around in the wind? Safari into the kitchen (too easy) and check the oven mitts and tea towels.

I bet that someone in your household has depictions of feathered friends on their pyjamas. I have sleepy penguins on mine. Even my laundry cleaner is a toilet duck!

Got to fly

Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode7.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Visitors marvelling at the Elephant bird skeleton and egg.| Eggs in the specimen lab.| Rory with his bird preparations.

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

The Satin Bowerbird (the male is the collector of blue things)
Information on birds and bird watching
Great Elephant bird egg
DNA and the modern museum

More information

My new cubicle buddy Tracey Ann Hooley is a curator and blogger for the new science and life project , plus she is a bird nut. I have noticed she subscribes to a magazine called Wingspan.

Glossary

Pleistocene glaciation – Pleistocene is an epoch 1.8 million to 10,000 years before the present and this term refers to the recent period of repeated glaciations (also known as the current ice age).

Credits

Voices

Mr Paul Cabras, Customer Service Officer
Mr Rory O’ Brien, Assistant Collections Manager, Ornithology & Mammalogy, Sciences
Dr Janette Norman, Senior Curator Molecular Biology, Sciences

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Episode 6 - Knee deep ... Knee deep

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:37:00 +1000

It happened a long time ago but I still remember studying for my Biology 101 exam at my friend Tim’s house. After chatting about the kidneys of salt water fish and many other zoological marvels (which seemed not so marvellous cos we were cramming for an exam) it was time for a coffee break. Tim made the coffees and as he opened the fridge door I caught a glimpse of a row of jars containing frog specimens! Yikes … (Tim’s Dad was a frog researcher.) Whilst I have accidentally grown scarier things in fridges, this was a surprise.

Leapfrog into the future to today and I have finally met the man responsible for this unforgettable experience; he is Associate Professor Murray Littlejohn who is a legend in the frog world for recording frog calls since the late 1950s. He is an honourary fellow here at Museum Victoria and his collection of frog sounds has been digitised for the Museum web site.

Let’s get “knee deep knee deep” once again into the world of frogs.

Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode6.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Murray Littlejohn with his new book Frogs of Tasmania.| Portable windup reel-to-reel recording equipment used to record frogs in the late-1950s. | Litoria littlejohni: a frog named after Murray Littlejohn. Photo of Littlejohn's Tree Frog taken at Minchin Track, Victoria.

Show notes

Museum Victoria Resources

Discover Victoria wonderful frog sounds in Bioinformatics

More information

Murray Littlejohn’s book is Frogs of Tasmania
Other field guide books for frogs try www.frogsaustralia.net.au/frogs/field-guides.cfm

Credits

Voices

Associate Professor Murray Littlejohn – Honourary fellow Museum Victoria

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Episode 5 - The Pond-cast

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:53:00 +1000

I don’t actually own a pair of gumboots. That’s how much of an apartment-living, non-outdoor type of city gal I am. So when the PhD students who study Victorian frogs suggested I come on a field trip with them to a large frog pond I released a slow, drawn-out, reluctant, unsure but polite “okay”, thinking: I can still get out of this.

Yes, yours truly – the daring reporter, who intrepidly goes behind the scenes, ventures into hazardous laboratories and dares to go into collection stores where only a few museum staff and contracted cleaners ever go – was not keen about anything beyond Map 58 of the Melbourne road map directory. But this was a rare opportunity to go with tomorrow’s expert herpetologist where no “Access all Areas” had gone before.

So I confessed to the students the only frogs I am brave enough to hold are the chocolate ones I can buy from the I.T. staff canteen and went looking for gumboots. Luckily Dr Jo from marine invertebrates group found me a pair (thanks honey!).

Well … what a great night … I didn’t get to kiss the frog prince but I did get to hold hands.

Frog Princess for a night, Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode5.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Josh looking for frogs in the pond.| Katie makes contact with the Southern Brown tree frog (Litoria ewingi) | Andi holding hands with Katie and Litoria ewingi (the frog prince).

Show notes

More information

The Amphibian Research Centre (ARC) breeds a number of species of frog that can be purchased, either as tadpoles or frogs. The ARC provides information about enclosures,food, general care and licensing. School visits and support for your project can be arranged with the ARC (ph. 9354 4718). You will also need to obtain a licence from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE). An application form ‘Application for Wildlife Permit – Schools’ can be obtained from the DNRE website.

* The collection of frogs and tadpoles from the wild is prohibited in Victoria.

Museum Victoria Resources

Discover Victoria's wonderful frog fauna in Bioinformatics
Zoological Illustrations of frogs from Colonial Victoria in Caught & Coloured
A range of information sheets on Frogs of Victoria

Credits

Voices

Josh Hale – PhD student, Museum Victoria & University of Melbourne
Thesis topic: Human-induced changes in the genetic structure of amphibian populations (Growling Grass frog, Victorian common Froglet, the Southern Brown tree frog)

Katie Smith – PhD student, Museum Victoria & University of Melbourne
Thesis topic: Historical change in a hybrid zone: Evolution of the Hylid frogs, The Southern Brown tree frog (Litoria ewingi) and Plains Brown Tree frog (L. paraewingi).

Geoff Heard – PhD student, Museum Victoria & Latrobe University
Thesis topic: Conservation biology of the endangered Growling Grass frog (Litoria raniformis) in urbanising landscapes.

And thank you to Mr Ian Blair the owner of the urban frog pond

Technical

Archie Cuthbertson – Podcast Recording Services
Eleanor Brignell – MV volunteer and fabulous pod cast assistant

Music

"Goo Goo eyes” by Jules Jordan 1905, Edison Cylinder Recording, from the Museum Victoria collection.

“MyNeedle” by Melbourne band The Orbweavers staring Marita Dyson, Assistant Collection Manager, History & Technology, Museum Victoria.

Episode 4 - Lizards of Oz

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:14:00 +1000

Like most adult inner-city dwellers I rarely encounter reptiles and, when I do, they are usually in the form of lollies, like the impulse-buy giant multicoloured pythons at convenience store counters. Then there are the packets of jelly snakes often supplied at corporate training sessions, interdepartmental brainstorms and kids’ parties.

When faced with a bowl of jelly snakes, I still dive in for a red one first, I still stretch them out until they snap (or almost snap depending on mood) and gobble them head first with gusto and childish delight.

Mental note to self: okay to do at kids’ parties but not so impressive with senior museum managers.

In this episode of ‘Access all Areas’ we visit a chameleon who has a special permit to be an Australian citizen, a skink couple, the skink wrangler, lizard researchers and a real (not jelly) snake handler.

Join us in an audio encounter of the reptilian kind.

Dr Andi

P.S. Sing “We’re off to see the lizards … the wonderful lizards of Oz because because because because because … because because!”

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode4.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Leela, Veiled Chameleon. Photographer: Alan Henderson, Source: Museum Victoria| Dr Jane Melville identifying a snake (Elaphe dione) in Kazakhastan, Central Asia. Source: Museum Victoria | Sign at Scienceworks. A few tiger snakes have crawled on the campus. (Dr Andi)

Show notes

More information

Find out more about Jane Melville and her students' research projects; visit her website Herpetology Research at Museum Victoria

Jane’s paper on new dragon lizard species:
Doughty P., B. Maryan, J. Melville, and J.J. Austin. 2007. A new species of Ctenophorus (Lacertilia: Agamidae) from Lake Disappointment, Western Australia. Herpetologica 63(1): 72-86.

Leela the veiled Chameleon has her own facebook account.
Otherwise check out these sites that show X-rays of Leela’s pregnancies:
Why is our chameleon getting so fat?
Pregnant Chameleon?
Chameleons Unveiled

Alan Henderson, Deanna Henderson and Jessie Sinclair from Museum Victoria Live Exhibits laboratory have written a book together called Bugs Alive! A guide to keeping Australian Invertebrates.

Credits

Voices

Carolyn McLennan - Project assistant, History and Technology and Veiled Chameleon
Alan Henderson - Coordinator of Live Exhibits
Dr Jane Melville - Senior Curator of Terrestrial Vertebrates
Susie Maldonado - Science Honours Student (MV & University of Melbourne)
Angela Muscat - Coordinator Science & Astronomy, Public programs, Scienceworks

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Music

"I want to go back to Michigan" Edison Cylinder Recording, from the Museum Victoria collection. (And stay tuned for more from this wonderful collection in the coming weeks!)

Episode 3 - Celebrity Rocks

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:21:00 +1000

Hello pod adventurers!

As it nears lunch-time here at work and my brain starts to resemble a slow-moving lava lamp, I know I only have to synthesise two simple thoughts: discovering the weather conditions outside the window and therefore deciding which of the local cafes gets my lunch money and patronage.

But wind back a million years ago to the same window vista and all I would see is volcanic smoke as Victoria (Australia) was a volcanic frenzy! And the only option for lunch would be smoked anything sandwiches. Okay I made that last bit up! So how do we know there was lava flow long ago? You guessed it, the rock-solid evidence of rock specimens: they map the story of our planet.

What blew me away in this pod episode was even though geology and mineralogy have been around forever as scientific pursuits, there are still rocks left unturned, and geoscientists are finding new minerals every year.

I pod, therefore I have rocks in my head and you will too when you hear what Pyrite and Pumice have to say about being museum specimens.

Rock on, Dr Andi.

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode3.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Beautiful Birchite. (Dr Andi) | The Bunyip Gold Nugget — This 50-ounce nugget was found near Bridgewater in the Loddon Valley and acquired by Museum Victoria in 1977. (MV Photographer Frank Coffa) | Dermot Henry clutches a special rock... (Dr Andi)

Show notes

More information

Find out more about Museum Victoria's Mineralogy collection, our gold nuggets and our famous meteorites.
"Birchite", the blue mineral pictured is named after Museum Victoria's very own Bill Birch - read all about it!

Credits

Voices

Genevieve Fahey - Manager, Scienceworks
Dr Bill Birch - Senior Curator (Geosciences - Mineralogy and Petrology)
Dermot Henry - Manager, Natural Science Collections
John Bosworth - Volunteer, Mineralogy
Prof. Timothy Darvill - Visiting UK archaeologist,Bournemouth University
Margaret Griffith - Public Programs Manager, Melbourne Museum and Pyrite
Shannon Henriksson - Multimedia assistant and Pumice

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson - Podcast Recording Services

Music

"Black Diamond Rag" Edison Cylinder Recording, 1908 from the Museum Victoria collection. (And stay tuned from more from this wonderful collection in the coming weeks!)

Episode 2 - Dinos of a Feather

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:43:00 +1000

Hi there and Hej! (hello in Swedish).

I've been doing a bit of travel recently - I've been in Washington, Toronto, Stockholm and I'm on my way to Copenhagn today. What makes cities round the world really feel like foreign places to me is not the architecture, the language on the street, or the different flavoured kiosk snacks... It's the amazing range of bird life. As a Melbournian I got very excited at seeing a gaggle (love that word) of geese out the bus window on the freeway in Toronto and yelled "look everybody - geese!". I got that quick bemused smile from my fellow travellers. In Sweden I keep seeing an unusual (well unusal for me as a Melbournian) grey brown bird (it could be the same one that is following me).

Anyway, what is even more extraordinary is that the ancestors of all this bird life around our planet were therapod dinosuars. Now that is exciting to all of us on the bus!

Cheers and chirps, and enjoy this month's episode - Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode2.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Archaeopteryx, A bird's eye view of the dinosaurs at Melbourne Museum, Chef Sean serves up a tasty dish at the cafe. (all images by Dr Andi)

Show notes

More information

Find out more about Museum Victoria's vertebrate palaeontology collection.
Feathered Dinosaurs: The Origin of Birds by John Long - available from CSIRO Publishing.
The Melbourne Museum Cafe is run by Peter Rowland Catering - drop in and check out the ~~dinosaur~~ chicken special!
Don't forget to visit the special Melbourne Museum exhibition Hatching the Past: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies - it's on until 24 August 2008.

Credits

Voices

Dr Tom Rich - Senior Curator, Vertebrate Palaeontology
Dr John Long - Head, Sciences
Tony Biggs - guest "feathered dinosaur"
David Pickering - Collection Manager, Vertebrate Palaeontology
Priscilla Gaff - Program Co-ordinator, Science
Brian Choo - PhD student and vertebrate palaeontologist
Sean Flynn - Chef

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson, Podcast Recording Services

Music

'While the Birds are Singing to me' Edison Cylinder Recording, 1905 from the Museum Victoria collection.

Episode 1 - Bee Nice to Curators

accessallareas@museum.vic.gov.au (Museum Victoria) — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:00:00 +1000

I have had a mortal fear of bees and bee stings ever since I was a kid, having seen and heard one too many neighbourhood chums howling after being stung.

So far I’ve managed to avoid getting stung myself, so it is with great fascination (and relief at maintaining my safety record) that I can view a bee hive from behind glass at Melbourne Museum.

It’s truly an amazing sight to see the bees clambering over the comb and doing their thing: they must be among the busiest hardest working public servants around (except perhaps the drones – you’ll find out why in the pod cast).

Having pondered the notion that we must surely know everything about bees by now - well apparently not so, as we find out from entomology researchers ‘what still needs investigating’. I also ponder the notion: if the Museum specimens could talk, what would they say? I ponder, therefore I pod or rather, I podcast.

Bee nice to the curators and museum staff: they do important work! - Dr Andi

podcasts/access_all_areas_episode1.mp3

Download MP3 | Subscribe via RSS

Images: Simon the entomology enthusiast (Source: Dr Andi), Female worker bees 'working for reward' (Source: Museum Victoria), Luke is manager of live exhibits and 'King Bee' (Source: Dr Andi)

Show notes

More information

Find out ‘When is a bee not a bee?’
Find out ‘Which bee is which?’
Go to information on the bee hive exhibit currently on display at Melbourne Museum.
Learn about how bees are one of the most social insects...

Glossary

Buzz pollination - or sonication, is a technique used by a few species of bees to release the pollen from a flower’s antlers. The bees move their flight muscles really fast causing vibrations to dislodge the pollen.
Varroa mites - are parasitic mites that attack honey bees. They suck on the bee’s body weakening the bee. These mites can wipe out whole honey bee colonies.
Bar-coding - is a technique which uses a short segment of DNA to identify and track a particular species. Check out the CBC story 'Barcoding' the latest buzz in bee tracking for more information.

Credits

Voices

Mr Simon Hinkley, Information officer (& Entomology enthusiast)
Dr Ken Walker, Deputy Head of Sciences, Terrestrial Zoology
Mr Peter Lillywhite, Collection Manager, Entomology & Arachnology
Ms Lucinda Gibson, Project Officer, Entomology
Mr Luke Simpkin, Manager, Live Exhibits
Ms Sarah Edwards, Discovery Program Manager (& worker bee)
Ms Stella Young, Programs Officer (& Queen Bee)
Mr Anthony Balla, Senior Indigenous Public Programs Officer (& Drone)
Dr Andi Horvath, Senior Curator, Science Communication

Technical

Mr Archie Cuthbertson, Podcast Recording Services

Music

'Little Girl' Recording from a Violano-Virtuoso (Courtesy of our museum friends at The Musical Museum, London)

The Violano-virtuoso is a coin activated 'violin and 44 note piano' machine developed by the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago in 1905-6. Museum Victoria is presently restoring our own violano-virtuoso for future activation. Can’t wait to record it!

'Honey Boy' Edison Cylinder Recording, 1902 from the Museum Victoria collection.