Jørn Hurum has accompanied the fossilized primate he nicknamed Ida on a world tour to fame and notoriety in the last week. The 47-million-year-old fossil is famous for its haunting completeness — the outlines of its fur and its last meal appear like a shadow around the intact skeleton. Yet Hurum has drawn fire for promoting the fossil and its potential links to human ancestors through a multi-platform media campaign alongside the release of a scientific paper that describes the fossil’s genealogy more modestly. Today, he and Ida paused in London to discuss the fallout of the publicity and the next scientific steps. Continue reading Taking a fossil primate on the road
Category Archives: Datelines
A Memorable Device
It was over drinks at a local pub in the spring of 2006 that cognitive psychologist Martin Conway of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom first told his colleague Chris Moulin about using a wearable camera for memory research. But it took more than a few pints of beer to convince Moulin that SenseCam, a camera that periodically takes still photos while worn on the user’s chest, might be a game-changer in the study of what psychologists call autobiographical memory. Although skeptical of the small device’s usefulness, Moulin did finally agree to take one for a test drive.
Lights, camera … action! Telling institutional stories through video
First, use a tripod. That was Melissa Lutz Blouin’s take-home message about making video, which she delivered during a session on the topic at ScienceWriters 2008 in October in Palo Alto. “Your production values shoot up!” she exclaimed. The cost barriers for video have dropped from the days of $60,000 shoulder-mounted film cameras, but as anyone who has shot with today’s $2,000 cameras knows, there is more to getting a professional result than just using professional equipment.
The rest of my article on the workshop is available to members of the National Association of Science Writers on their website: [html] or here [pdf]
Cambridge University Sheds Light on Darwin
The University of Cambridge rang in its 800th anniversary with church bells and a light show on Saturday the 17th. The light show, created by projection artist Ross Ashton, included specially commissioned illustrations of Cambridge alumni Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton by Roald Dahl’s illustrator, Quentin Blake. Above, a graying Darwin ponders the tree of life, whose branches recapitulate the origins of the species. Other images evoked the scientific, musical, and debaucherous achievements of 800 years of Cambridge students and alumni.
See all the photos at Science Magazine’s new Darwin blog [html].
