Hey There’s Science In This Photo Album
Photos and videos that couldn't go into the HTSIT book but were part of the original blog posts
I’m on holiday, so the regular issue is on hold, but here is a bonus Mixture for subscribers (with a teaser for those that are not subscribed)
When I was editing Hey, There’s Science In This, I had to cut a lot of things that wouldn’t make sense to have in a paperback book. All the chapters started as blog posts, but blogs have links and in-jokes and images – and all of those had to be cut.
The photos in particular were such a shame to lose, but it just wouldn’t be worth the extra cost and effort. Still, every time I’ve done a talk about the book I’ve loved being able to show some of the photos and videos behind the stories.
That’s why I’ve collected a few in here. If you’ve read HTSIT, you’ll recognize the stories, but I’ve written brief descriptions so they stand on their own as just a nice sciencey photo album.
These are the mammoth tusks I saw at the La Brea Tar Pits in the summer of 2008, several months before they made the news. They came from a mammoth found underneath the neighbouring LACMA museum, which was dug up when they were building a new parking garage. Long before humans moved to LA to start their acting careers, this area was a hub of activity for all kinds of prehistoric animals. But due to the tar that naturally bubbles up from the ground here, many animals got stuck at this point. That’s why the La Brea Tar Pits (and the area around it) is still so full of interesting prehistoric finds.
In the chapter about scary music I briefly mention this edit of The Shining trailer that makes it seem like a lighthearted family movie. (Made by Robert Ryang in 2005). Notice how the choice of music really helps to send home the message that this is not scary at all. Part of what makes music “scary”, according to researchers, has to do with dissonance and unexpected sounds. Happy music like Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill doesn’t particularly make our brains think that we’re in danger, and here it instantly makes The Shining less scary, too.
This is a view of Algonquin Park, from the Lookout Trail. Everything you see used to be higher ground, but over the years erosion washed away the earth – except for the rocky parts like where I’m standing.