Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December
Shahnama: The Persian “Book of Kings”
Want to find out more about the latest research and discoveries happening at the ROM? Mark your calendars for the 33rd annual ROM Research Colloquium coming up on February 3, 2012.
Karin Ruehrdanz, Curator of Islamic Arts in the ROM’s Department of World Cultures tells us a little bit about her upcoming colloquium presentation, Shahnama: The Persian “Book of Kings”
Meteorite or “Meteor-wrong”?
ROM Earth Scientists receive dozens of requests each year to identify possible meteorites. This is especially the case when there is a spectacular fireball similar to the one which recently streaked across southern Ontario on December 12 of this year (the video was captured by astronomers at the University of Western Ontario). Do you think you have found a space rock?
“Mexico must open its windows but protect its roof”
Mexican statesman and writer Dr. Carlos Fuentes has been opening windows onto his country’s politics and culture since the 1950s. Author of numerous books and essays, he has taught, lectured and received awards and recognition worldwide.
Q&A with Robin, Certified LEGO Professional
Robin Sather, LEGO® Certified Professional at Brickville DesignWorks in Abbotsford, British Columbia talks with us about his upcoming build of a giant LEGO® Sphinx at the ROM on October 28-30.
Sneak Peek: Recreating Ancient Mayan Architectural Facades
Here at the ROM, a project team is hard at work bringing Maya: Secrets of their Ancient World to life. The exhibition opens November 19, but ROM staff have been immersed in the project for well over a year!
Emilio Genovese, ROM Exhibit Designer, is a key member of the project team. Today he is working with an artist to finalize large graphic murals that will appear throughout the exhibition. We asked him to answer a few questions about the murals and tell us a little more about his role on the exhibition project team.
The Bee Contest Winner Visits the ROM!
I love sharing the cool secrets of the ROM with visitors, so it really made my day when our Name the Queen Bee Contest winner Kaitlyn visited the ROM with her mom and her brother Kynan (who also happened to be our third place winner). I got to show them around the Keenan Family Gallery of Hands-on Biodiversity and Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, as well as introduce them to a few special friends of mine who live behind-the-scenes at the ROM.
Yellowjackets (a.k.a. Late Summer Picnic Pests)
We love picnicking outside in the summer but in August and September our meals are inevitably cut short because of wasps. What are they and what can we do about them?
Summerasuarus: Dino Storage
Recently, we visited at the Vertebrate Palaeontology Lab to see how dinosaur bones are extracted from their plaster field jackets after they are hauled back from the field by palaeontologists like Dr. David Evans.
But where does the ROM store these fossils once they are free from their rock matrix? Welcome to Vertebrate Palaeontology Collections room, housing more than 75,000 fossilized bone specimens ranging in size from small toes to an entire row of Hadrosaur skulls!
Of Quilts and Quilting
By Joan Schiff, Chair of the Programs and Events Committee, Friends of Textiles and Costume.
Summerasaurus Part V: The Badlands
Walking through the badlands is like walking through a western novel: canyons cut through the prairie, exposing layers of brown, gold, black and white sediment. Clichés keep popping up: tumbleweeds roll by, cactus pop out from unexpected places, and cattle skulls bleach in the sun. Scorpions hide in coal seams, soaking up the sun’s heat from the black rock that camouflages them. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but once you accept the fact that you’re in a place unlike anywhere else in Canada, it all becomes simple and beautiful.
