Month: September 2016

The iconic blue whale model that hangs in the American Museum of Natural History is the institution’s crowning jewel—and one that needs to be shined every once in a while.

The 94-foot-long fiberglass and polyurethane replica is getting its annual cleaning this week; a process that takes one man, two days, and a whole lot of vacuum power. When we stopped by on Wednesday morning (September 7), Trenton Duerksen was hard at work vacuuming the layer of dust that had accumulated on the whale over the course of the year. While he was largely focused on the animal’s head at the time, the entire 21,000-pound model will eventually get the soft brush treatment.

Aside from the annual dusting, the blue whale also received some comprehensive surgery when the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life was renovated in 2003. While it’s been an awe-inspiring display since its installation in 1969, the replica has had its issues. It’s hard to believe, but during the time when the project was conceived and executed, few people had seen a blue whale (the first full-body photos of a live animal wouldn’t be taken until the mid-1970s), so specimens from whalers had to be used as models. That led to bulging eyes and other inaccuracies in the shape and color of the mammal.

“In 1969 we’d walked on the moon, but no one knew what a blue whale looked like,” said Melanie Stiassny, Axelrod Research Curator in the Museum’s Department of Ichthyology (a.k.a. fishes).

All that and more was corrected during the early aughts renovation (which Stiassny oversaw), so now the giant blue whale just needs an occasional cleaning.

Duerksen is a first-time blue whale duster, and while it might seem like a pretty straightforward job, a previous cleaner told us the task requires strong shoulders and arms, and a good sense of spatial reasoning. Well worth the effort to keep a New York landmark—and what it symbolizes—shining bright.

“It’s a denizen of the open ocean, it brings the whole ocean together,” Stiassny said. “And everything on the planet depends on the open ocean.”

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NASA’s asteroid sample retrieval spacecraft is ready for launch. OSIRIS-REx is an ambitious mission to the asteroid Bennu, a mountain-sized “near-Earth object” that scientists believe holds the secrets of the solar system’s origins. Today, September 8, at 7:05 p.m. EDT (weather permitting), it will launch into space and begin a two-year journey to Bennu. The mission team will eventually choose the most scientifically interesting spot on the asteroid and direct the spacecraft to make contact and take a physical sample. It will return to Earth in 2023 and eject the sample capsule, which will parachute down to Utah’s west desert.

The science objectives of OSIRIS-REx are right there in its name: Spelled out, it is the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security-Regolith Explorer. The vehicle carries a payload of five scientific instruments and a sample collection arm called the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) to help it accomplish each of the key words or phrases in its name. Each instrument and its purpose is explained below.

1. ORIGINS: BRINGING A TIME CAPSULE FROM THE BIRTH OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM BACK TO EARTH

“This is really what drives our program,” Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator of the mission, said on Tuesday, September 6 at a press conference held at Cape Canaveral, where OSIRIS-REx will launch from. “We’re going to asteroid Bennu because it is a time capsule from the earliest stages of solar system formation, back when our planetary system was spread across as dust grains in a swirling cloud around our growing proto-star.” Bodies accumulated in the cloud, many getting water ice and organic material—key compounds that led to the habitability of Earth and the origin of life. Bennu is one such body. By taking a hopefully carbon-rich sample of the asteroid and bringing it home, planetary scientists will be able to study in a laboratory setting a pristine cache of the building blocks of Earth.

Lauretta describes sample return as being the forefront of planetary exploration. If Bennu is a time traveler from the distant past, sample return is time travel to the distant future. As new laboratory techniques and technologies are developed, they can be applied to the samples. Scientists today will be able to study the samples at the parts-per-million level. Fifty years from now? Who knows what technology will have been developed. To appreciate how massive an advance might be in store, consider that 50 years ago, computers were only just being introduced to the field of geology. Now we can study the composition of many bodies in the solar system.

2. SPECTRAL INTERPRETATION: ANALYZING BENNU’S COMPOSITION

Since Bennu’s discovery in 1999, scientists have used the best telescopes on Earth and in space to study the asteroid. As such, they have an extraordinary data set from which to work, and believe they have a pretty good handle on the asteroid’s composition. The spacecraft, up close and personal with the asteroid, will use its spectrometers and cameras to provide “ground truth” to the distant observations of telescopes. Scientists will be able to see how well their predictions matched reality. What they got correct will have confirmation; what they got wrong can be used to refine their models. All of this can then be applied to thousands of other objects in the solar system.

3. RESOURCE IDENTIFICATION: EYEING FUTURE MINING OPERATIONS

Lauretta tells mental_floss that when OSIRIS-REx was first conceived, resource identification was “cool science fiction.” The idea of going to asteroids and mining them for material was the sort of thing people in some Jetsons-like future would be able to do, but not us. Today, however, companies are lining up for the chance to begin celestial mining operations. OSIRIS-REx will be pioneering the technologies and capabilities necessary to provide detailed global analysis of an asteroid’s surface. They will be able to focus on composition and mineralogy with an eye toward identifying regions of interest. It will be, in other words, creating the sorts of prospecting maps once seen in the Old West—only this time for an off-world ore-rush.

4. SECURITY: STUDYING BENNU’S TRAJECTORY TO AVOID POTENTIAL ASTEROID COLLISIONS

Earth’s orbit around the Sun is startlingly perilous. Bennu, to name only one near-Earth object, has small-but-not-small-enough chance of colliding with this planet in the 22nd century. (The odds are 1 in 2700, which is about the same as your odds of dying by exposure to smoke or fire. That’s a pretty terrifying figure when you consider the destruction and damage that such an asteroid impact might cause, and that people die in house fires all the time.)

Scientists will use the data returned from OSIRIS-REx to study something called the Yarkovsky Effect. As asteroids go about their orbit, they absorb energy from the Sun and emit that energy as heat. That emission essentially acts as a small, natural asteroid thruster, and changes an asteroid’s trajectory over time. In the seven years that scientists have known about the existence of Bennu, the Yarkovsky Effect alone has changed the asteroid’s position by about 100 miles. If they can get a grip on the phenomenon and its causes and effects, they can apply it not only to Bennu but also to thousands of objects throughout the solar system. If something bad is coming, we can know about it—and perhaps find a way to stop it.

5.REGOLITH EXPLORER: UNDERSTANDING HOW SURFACE PARTICLES BEHAVE IN MICROGRAVITY

Regolith is the blanket of dust and gravel on the surface of many celestial bodies. Scientists don’t quite understand random mechanics in a microgravity environment. Even if Bennu’s sample collection arm was unsuccessful, “By the act of putting our [Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism] device on the surface of the asteroid to collect the sample, in and of itself we are performing a fantastic science experiment,” says Lauretta.

The science begins in 2018. The journey begins today.

When you hit the open road, it’s important to bring your manners with you. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety [PDF], 56 percent of fatal accidents involve at least one form of aggressive driving, and nearly 80 percent of drivers admitted to engaging in dangerous, road rage-fueled behaviors (ramming into another vehicle, confronting another driver) at least once in the past year.

Next time you’re stuck on a congested highway, try following the etiquette tips below, culled from The Wall Street Journal, the scientific journal Annals of Neurology, the California DMV, and other sources by the website AutoInsurance Center. They’ll help you keep your highway conduct—and your safety—in check.

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In August, we reported that New York City was trying to reclaim its title as the oyster capital of the world by building a massive oyster bed in Jamaica Bay. Now, in collaboration with the Billion Oyster Project, the city is using 5000 old toilets to create a cozy—if slightly gross—home for its new mollusk families.

The toilets were donated by public schools around the city, as part of a collaboration between the Department of Education and Department of Environmental Protection. In return for their inefficient old toilets, public schools received new, water-saving models.

In a statement, the Mayor’s Office explained that the 5000 toilets, smashed into small porcelain chunks, will give free-floating oyster larvae something to latch onto as they grow. While the oyster bed consists of an initial 50,000 oysters, the city hopes the mollusks will successfully spawn and attach either to the shells of other oysters or bits of porcelain.

The oyster bed will do more than bring delicious shellfish back to the city, The Washington Post reports. “This oyster bed will serve multiple purposes—protecting our wetlands from erosion, naturally filtering our water, and providing a home for our sea dwellers are just a few,” Mayor Bill de Blasio explained. “More broadly, this oyster bed is a small but necessary step in our broader OneNYC commitment to create a more sustainable and more resilient City.”

[h/t The Washington Post]

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Now that we’ve unofficially entered the fall season, we can start to look forward to sweater weather. People in the United Kingdom are about to get an extra cuddly welcoming with “Wool Week,” an annual event thrown by The Campaign for Wool. This year, the organization is planning fun activities all around London, including the first ever bed and breakfast made entirely out of wool.

On October 10, guests can check in to the ‘Baaatique’ Hotel at the Design Centre in Chelsea Harbour. The ultra-cozy bed and breakfast offers up all sorts of wool-made amenities. This includes wool bedding, pillows, decor, and wool-filled mattresses. There’s even wool pajamas available. The supremely comfortable inn will be taking guests until October 16. The pop-up B&B is designed to showcase just how versatile wool can be (and hopefully, won’t be too scratchy in the process). 

You can follow along on The Campaign for Wool’s website for more updates. 

[h/t Creative Boom]

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The words “Antonin Dvořák” are often followed by phrases like “New World Symphony” or “folk music meets classical Romanticism.” But when the Czech composer wasn’t at his piano or conducting a symphony in Prague, he was often doing something quite different: obsessing over trains.

Born in Bohemia on September 8, 1841, Dvořák came of age alongside the railroads that changed life in Europe forever. As a child in Nelahozeves, a village between Prague and Dresden, the arrival of the railroad that connected the two cities also changed his life. Workers from all over the Austro-Hungarian Empire made their way to the village during its construction, and the young boy watched soldiers and celebrities fly by on the trains, pulled by newly constructed steam locomotives, from a house across the street from the train station.

The train may have ended his town’s sleepy way of life, but it also inspired the young musician with a love for technology and progress. Eventually he followed the train to Prague and, as a young and increasingly famous composer, crisscrossed Europe on steam trains. His home base of Prague was a rail hub and the site of not one but two impressive train stations. Dvořák, who lived within walking distance of the Franz Josef I station, spent much of his spare time there, befriending railroad workers and reportedly escaping boring concerts to watch international express trains depart and arrive. He became obsessed with the arrivals and departures of the trains, memorizing their extensive schedules and becoming a bona fide trainspotter.

Dvořák’s obsession even showed up in his personal life: At one point, he asked a student who was dating his daughter to note the number on an international express train, then jokingly told his daughter he would forbid her to marry him because he botched the task. And when he visited the United States, he continued his trainspotting [PDF], though Grand Central Station apparently disappointed him due to its lack of opportunities to watch trains pass one another. His love of trains was so great that he once declared: “I would give all my symphonies for inventing the locomotive.”

You’d think that someone so into trains might have made more train-like music, but it’s hard to find locomotive influences in Dvořák’s folk-inspired songs. That’s not to say he didn’t find inspiration near the tracks: At one point, the composer was waiting for a festival train at the Prague station when he came up with the theme for the opening movement of his Seventh Symphony. And weirdly enough, his “Humoresque” was used as the background to a popular joke song in the 20th century that transposed potty humor about train toilets over the classic melody. It’s even said that trains eventually killed him—while standing at the Prague train station during a trainspotting trip, the composer caught a chill. He died soon thereafter.

Trains fascinated Dvořák so much that he rearranged trips to see them and begged acquaintances to describe their rail journeys to him. But why? He himself told a student that he loved the ingenuity with which each train was built. “It consists of many parts created by many different components,” he said. “Everything has a purpose and role and the result is amazing.” Kind of like a symphony.

It’s fun to travel with other people, but going solo can be an exciting and enriching travel experience. When you’re on your own, you can set your own schedule, pursue your own interests (rather than following the crowd), and set aside time for individual reflection.

But without a travel buddy, you also become more of a target. All solo travelers, but especially women, should keep additional safety precautions in mind when in a foreign place. We asked travel experts and writers how to stay safe when you travel alone.

1. BLEND IN.

You want to fit in as much as possible when you travel, and that’s especially true when you’re traveling by yourself. Travel writer and blogger Ashley Christensen, who has been on multiple solo trips, including to New Orleans and Cambodia, tells mental_floss, “For safety’s sake while traveling alone, I try to be as inconspicuous as possible. I dress modestly—that means no short shorts, no cleavage, no high heels.” She also avoids wearing jewelry and expensive items.

But fitting in is about how you act as well as how you look. “I talk in my indoor voice at all times,” Christensen says. “I don’t run around, act a fool, or behave in a way that would make people look at me. In all honesty, this means I don’t get drunk.” In fact, Christensen says she rarely drinks at all while traveling, and most of the travel experts we talked to echoed this advice.

2. RESEARCH WHERE NOT TO GO.

You want to conduct a fair amount of research before any trip, and when you’re traveling alone, that means knowing which areas might be off-limits. “When I check into a hotel, the first thing I ask is what neighborhoods I should avoid and what the area’s safety is like,” says travel expert and Forbes correspondent Katie Lara. “I ask what time I shouldn’t be on the streets alone after. Cities vary widely on this. I have been in hotels where the desk staff told me to never really wander alone after dark in neighborhoods that I would have never guessed [were dicey].”

3. BOOK YOUR HOTEL STRATEGICALLY.

Speaking of hotels, you want to vet carefully, says travel writer Suzanne Wolko. Depending on your location, some hotels or lodging hosts will take care of coordinating nearly every aspect of your trip, from transportation to activities. “I like to book hotels or stays in the center of town so I can walk to attractions,” Wolko says. “I have the hotel book airport transfers in various countries so I don’t have to deal with language barriers or late night worries … I take the hotel business card and take photos of the hotel and landmarks in the area so I can easily find the location or the taxi can.”

Beth Santos, founder and CEO of Wanderful, suggests booking a room on the hotel’s third floor. “This way it’s easy to evacuate in case of emergency but difficult to climb up from the outside.”

4. MAKE SURE SOMEONE KNOWS YOUR PLANS.

You want to stay connected to friends or family back home, and that means more than just Instagramming the sights. Keep a point person apprised of your travel plans so they know where to find you in case of an emergency. In the U.S., the State Department makes it easy to do this with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). You register your trip with your nearest Embassy or Consulate, and STEP not only helps friends and family reach you, but will also keep you up-to-date on travel alerts and advisories for your destination.

And before you head out to explore on your own, “make sure someone always knows where you’re going,” Santos tells mental_floss. “If you’re taking a walk by yourself, tell your hostel or hotel concierge, especially if it’s at night. Give them an estimated time of when you’ll return. Never walk around at night to discover an area—make sure to explore it on foot during the day to get a feel for your new neighborhood.”

5. TRUST YOUR GUT.

If you get a sense that something isn’t right during your solo travels, it’s best to err on the side of caution and follow your intuition, says Diana Edelman, a travel blogger who has visited more than 30 countries alone. “If a situation doesn’t feel right, remove yourself from it,” she says. “Your gut instinct is something you should trust … Keep your eyes open and remember that generally people are kind and want to help; but avoid putting yourself in situations that can be avoided, like walking alone at night.” Edelman also recommends taking the time to read up on common local scams, and what you can do to foil them.

Lara agrees that it’s important to keep your wits about you. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of visiting a new, unfamiliar place, but “common sense is always the most important thing to bring with you on any trip,” she says.

6. SPLURGE ON SAFETY.

We all like saving money on travel, but one area you shouldn’t be afraid to spend a bit extra on is safety, Wolko says. If you feel significantly safer at a pricier hotel, for example, it’s worth it to shell out more for your lodging. Or, instead of taking the subway at night, you might consider hiring a driver.

Wolko says she also books private guides to show her around unfamiliar areas. “It’s nice to have a driver and meet locals,” she adds.

7. BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST.

“The first thing I do before any trip is Prepare for the Worst,” Lara adds. “Make sure you have copies of your passport or ID card, credit cards, and any other important documents. Also send yourself electronic copies, so even if your bags are lost, your life line is only an internet cafe away.”

She suggests keeping emergency contacts on hand, too, as well as bank and credit card information in case your wallet is lost or stolen. “I keep this in my email as well. That way, even if I lose everything, I’m just one internet connection away from having all the information I need.”