http://www.vimeo.com/7457522

After spending numerous meetings with Maya Lin at the Academy and seeing how she distilled the stories told by some of the most venerable figures in the field of conservation biology into a final artwork, it seemed fitting that we should give a voice to someone who took a chance to give a different perspective to science. Shaped like a giant megaphone, the “Listening Cone” unveiled September 17, 2009 on the Academy’s East Terrace is not just an art exhibit, nor is it just a memorial. It is at once a portal to planet Earth and a sounding device to the work that is currently being done to conserve its resources. Take your shoes off and step inside!

The Listening Cone is part of a multi-site memorial called “What is Missing”. To learn more about what others are doing and what you can do to prevent species and habitat loss visit a selection of the institutions and organizations that played an advisory role to the “What is Missing” project.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
National Geographic Society
Conservation International
National Resources Defense Council
World Wildlife Fund
Freedom to Roam

-Lindsay

 

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When Jonah Lehrer was in town to talk about his latest book, How We Decide, we snagged the opportunity to interview him for Science in Action. He took our Visualization Studio through a tour of the brain as we make decisions– whether in the cereal aisle or piloting a plane. Then our artists went to work, creating the brain visuals. It was a great collaboration! What do you think? Let us know.

 

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Throughout history, humans have used animals as companions and partners.  And lets face it, from dog shows to cat sweaters, people are crazy in love with their pets.  But what really makes the best pet?  A purebred, a mutt, or a miracle of modern science?

Take dogs– through selective breeding people have created a wide variety of traits, sizes, and colors.  But since selective breeding requires breeding populations from limited numbers of dogs (inbreeding), some breeds not only have distinct colors and traits, but distinct genetic susceptibility to diseases.  For instance, German Shepherds, Labradors and Dobermans have a tendency toward hip dysplasia.

Mutts offer more genetic variance, but when you get a beautiful, or unusually great mutt you have a breed of one.  A mutt is a totally unique genetic mix that would be nearly impossible to recreate (depending on how many different breeds are mixed together).  So, what do you do if your mutt great, and you would like another?

One company based in the Bay Area has an answer: cloning.  Encore Pet Science (a division of BioArts International) offers a unique pet cloning service.  The CEO of BioArts, Lou Hawthorne, even owns a pair of beautiful cloned dogs.  After spending the afternoon with the dogs, it’s truly amazing. They’re very hard to tell apart.

But, not everyone is thrilled with the idea of pet cloning.  The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) claims that cloning is cruel because it produces a lot of wasted animals for one viable result.  And the San Francisco SPCA would rather see an animal rescued from the pound than have families attempt to resurrect or copy their beloved pets.

But what’s the real science behind this issue?  Brian Simison, Curator/Head of the Center for Comparative Genomics at California Academy of Science says, “I think that the common perception of cloning is… off.” He continues on that this may be as a result of movies like Jurassic Park.  Apparently humans have been cloning organisms since the 20s or 30s (beginning with bacteria) and the sheep Dolly was cloned in 1995. (By the way, Dolly died at the age of 6 from a virus– not as a result of the cloning processas urban legend claims.)  “The argument that cloning produces a lot of organisms that are mutants and have to be put down I think is false…” Brian Simison continues, “…either the clone works or it doesn’t.”

But the controversy surrounding cloning continues.  Whatever your opinion, the cloning of pets is an amazing scientific achievement that is sure to spawn many other applications of the theories behind it.

-Ty

 

 Artificial Selection: Creating the Perfect Pet: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The effects of global climate change could be devastating: rising sea levels, melting Arctic ice, stronger heat waves, intense wildfires…and now, shrinking sheep?

(Flickr Creative Commons photo by jonesor)

 

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When deciding upon a story for Darwin’s 200th birthday, several on the Science in Action content team blurted out, “The Darwin Awards!”

I have to admit I had never heard of the Darwin Awards– website, books or movie. As I began my research for the story, I quickly became a huge fan. My phone conversations with locals Wendy Northcutt and Finn Taylor (interesting note: both of them studied science in college) had me laughing out loud, disturbing my office mates. I think Wendy truly believes that anyone can make these life-ending stupid mistakes– during our phone conversation she asked if I were a risk-taker. Klutzy, yes, risk-taker, no, but that still doesn’t leave me out of the running.

Our partners at Youth Radio quickly joined the fan club, too. It is a fun way to talk about natural selection and celebrate Darwin’s birthday.

-Molly

 

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