COLD!

So it's November now, and the weather is getting cold. Also, I've been working on things relating to the cold at the musem -- namely, things for the Antarctica and Astrobiology exhibits. Just thought I would give a much needed update since the last post, so here it is:

The museum is currently in the planning stages of a couple exhibits, and I have been searching for photographs and pictures to use. The first deals with astrobiology. I actually have already had a small taste of what astrobiology is from researching some topics related to the field a while back in this internship.

To sum it all up, astrobiology is the study of biology/life beyond Earth. It is believed that life in space would look a lot like the organisms that can survive in the harshest climates on our very own planet. These organisms are called extremophiles, and I have been searching for photographs of these creatures. Most extremophiles are single celled bacteria, but the most interesting one I found was called a "methane ice worm" (pictured below)

I also have been looking for pictures that illustrate how coronagraphs and interferometry work in terms of optical astronomy. Basically, coronagraphs work by blocking out the sun/star so that you can see fainter signals in the background (i.e. a planet). Interferometry uses destructive interference to basically cancel out foreground/background light so that fainter images can be seen as well. It's been interesting to see how much I've gotten to learn about different disciplines just from searching for photographs and pictures dealing with astrobiology.

The other exhibit that may be opening soon is about Antarctica. I also worked on finding images that portray this landscape (i.e. emperor penguin, moss/lichen, protective clothing, and an arctic tern). In addition to this, I did some clerical work in helping to fill out an Excel spreadsheet containing all of the different vendors the Maryland Science Center Exhibits Department deals with. Vendors include stores/catalogs where they get their build supplies to video services and custom fabrication companies. Despite being very "office work" type stuff, it was interesting to see how many different things go into a functioning exhibits department.

Basically in recent weeks I've been doing research and computer-related things. I still have yet to see my first IMAX movie here, so I think that will happen soon. Next week is supposed to be the installation of the Antarctica exhibit so I hope to help out with that or at least check it out during its initial stages to when it opens to the public.