From the Manitoba Museum - Geology and Paleontology Blog

Published by Dr. Graham Young

 gyoung@manitobamuseum.ca

Ever since the Museum’s Earth History Gallery opened in the early 1970s, visitors have been struck by the appearance of a giant skeleton near the end of the gallery. Many children (and perhaps more than a few adults) have thought that it is a dinosaur, but it is in fact a mammal from the much more recent past, a replica of the giant ground sloth Megatherium americanum.

Megatherium was a huge ground-dwelling creature, distantly related to the modern tree sloths. Ground sloths were a very successful group, with fossils known from many parts of South and North America (including western Canada), but sadly they disappeared...

Read the rest here...

VLOG - Ancient Pottery

Here at the Manitoba Museum, 99% of the work that we do goes on behind the scenes. Explore our very first vlog post as Curator of Archaeology, Kevin Brownlee talks about unearthing Cree Pottery.

If you enjoyed this vlog, let us know on our Facebook wall. We'd love to share more!

New Nonsuch Safety Lines

NEW SAFETY LINES WILL ALLOW STAFF TO INSPECT NONSUCH RIGGING

Published by knanowin@manitobamuseum.ca on November 1, 2011 in Conservation

Look up, way up… at the dust on the Nonsuch’s rigging and spars. Museum staff have not been able to climb the ship rigging since Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health regulations were amended several years ago. In order to address the stricter requirements, steel safety cables were installed in the Nonsuch Gallery two years ago. However, they turned out to be less usable than we hoped...

From a distance, the safety lines
blend in fairly well

To read the full blogpost, written by our Manager of Collections and Conservations, Kathy Nanowin, please click here.

Science Under The Big Top

STEP RIGHT UP, ONE AND ALL!!

Is it a Circus McGurkis or Science Defiance?

Experience the wonders to behold as your Manitoba Museum combines the mysteries of the Big Top with the scrutiny of science.

It’s CIRCUS! SCIENCE UNDER THE BIG TOP. The funky new exhibit opens October 7^th and features a stupendous collection of multi-station interactive exhibits.

With your museum admission, you will witness acts like Elastic Acrobatics, Animal Communications, Ballyhoo Silhouette, Human Cannonballs and more including:

The High Wire

Don’t tip the scales! Test your balancing abilities at our high wire exhibit or bear witness from below as visitors attempt to walk the nine-foot-high cable. Strap into the harness and summon your inner calm as you attempt daring feat of concentration and determination.

 

Diavolo Spectacle

The cyclist Daredevil Diavolo comes under study in this exhibit, as visitors will apply the rules of math and physics to test the daring, yet creative, stunt ideas. It’s exciting to dream big, but ultimately science will determine

Sword Swallower

Can you stomach the sight of a 22-inch sword swallowing challenge? At this station, visitors will be able to command and control the movement of a sword swallower and see the action unfold (hopefully not the sword too) inside the body where spectators can follow the path of the blade inside the body via fluoroscopic video.

October 7^th. Mark the date. It’s the amazing CIRCUS! at the Manitoba Museum 

BRIGHT FIREBALL SEEN ACROSS SOUTHERN MANITOBA

Published by scyoung@manitobamuseum.ca on August 24, 2011

On August 23 at about 9:35PM, a bright fireball was seen across southern Manitoba and several U.S. States. We are colelcting reports of the object to determine where it came from and also where any pieces might have landed. If you say this object, please email us at skyinfo@manitobamuseum.ca with the details.

Please include the following information:

• where you were when you saw it;
• the direction you were facing when you first saw it;
• whether the object was moving left-to-right, right-to-left, or up-and-down, and at what angle
• how high above the horizon it was - use the degree scale, where 0 is the horizon, 90 is straight overhead. So, halfway up the sky is 45 degrees, a third of the way up from the horizon is 30 degrees, etc.
• any other details - colour, sound, how long you saw it for, etc.

Your reports can help us track down this object, which was probably a small asteroid burning up in the atmosphere.

Our Manitoba Bold! idea

As a non-for-profit organization, The Manitoba Museum is a (proud) member of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. When the Chamber invited us to present our idea to "Build a Creative Community" we immediately knew what we wanted to share: How about creating a "Creative Cultural Campus" in the East Exchange District?

A conceptual drawing of the Creative Cultural Commons

In the last three years, The Manitoba Museum has been engaging over 200 stakeholders to help us re-thinking the role of our institution in the broader community, as well as in our neighbourhood.

We heard that it is not enough to teach something interesting: you (the visitor) want to be engaged and you also want to express your own thoughts and opinions on issues of our past, present and future.

Enter our Bold! idea of a Creative Cultural Commons: a free area where exhibitions, artists, neighbours and visitors to the East Exchange District can learn, discuss, relax and enjoy a great meal in a really cool space.

Image courtesy of Centre Venture Development Corporation

Many urban planners have pointed out that Winnipeg has an expansive downtown area, which creates challenges given our population base.

By creating a clearly defined (and branded) Creative Cultural Campus in the East Exchange District we could develop a unique downtown area that will serve the creative community as well as be a place where everyone could enjoy music, theatre, ballet, opera and every other expression of art no matter the time of the year. Think about the vibrancy of the district during the Fringe Festival, but year-round.

Centre Venture Development Corporation has been working with the creative community and the Exchange business owners in developing a Cultural District Visual Identity Plan. They are also looking into promoting the development of affordable residential developments and mix-use parking facilities. The Manitoba Museum wants to be part of this renewal through our concept of a Creative Cultural Commons.

What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas about our plan. What would you like The Manitoba Museum to be? How can we create a "creative cultural campus" in the Exchange District area?

You can also find more Bold! ideas visiting the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce website, clicking here.

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog.  You will find interesting and up to date information about the Manitoba Museum, Planetarium and Science Gallery.  You will also find links to all of other blogs by our Museum experts.

For hours and admission please visit www.manitobamuseum.ca