Natural History

Monthly Archive: December Natu

Biodiversity Series wins award!

Posted: March 29, 2012 - 10:57 , by ROM
Categories: 
| Comments () | Comment

Last week, the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects recognized the City of Toronto Biodiversity Series of booklets with their Service to the Environment award. The award is “In recognition of the recipient’s ongoing contribution in supporting sensitive, sustainable stewardship of the environment.”

Science, Art and Technology: An Interview with Deborah Samuel

Posted: March 28, 2012 - 16:19 , by ROM

An x-ray of the lower body of a lizard.

Lizard.I © Deborah Samuel 2012/Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Does a mild winter mean more insects?

Posted: March 26, 2012 - 15:27 , by ROM
Categories: 
| Comments () | Comment

Given our warmer-than-average winter this year, ROM entomologists have fielded numerous enquiries about whether mild winter temperatures will result in more bugs this spring and summer. Unfortunately, there is no simple “yes” or “no” answer to this question  — the best response is “It depends”.

Age Before Beauty: The Acasta Gneiss and Jack Hills Conglomerate

Posted: March 22, 2012 - 13:11 , by royal
Categories: 
| Comments () | Comment

Submitted by Vincent Vertolli, Assistant Curator Geology

The Jack Hills Conglomerate, a 3,000 million year old sedimentary rock from which the oldest, at 4,200 million years, terrestrial minerals have been found. The Jack Hills Conglomerate occurs in the Mt. Narryer and Jack Hills area of Western Australia.

Dr. A. P. Coleman (1852-1939)

Posted: March 19, 2012 - 11:25 , by royal
Categories: 
| Comments () | Comment
Geological Map of Toronto

Submitted by Vincent Vertolli, Assistant Curator Geology

Jade-Foolery: How to Recognize Minerals Disguised as Jade

Posted: March 16, 2012 - 11:57 , by royal

A girl looks at a mineral through a magnifying glass.

March Break visitors inspect the minerals before deciding if they are jade.

Bobdownsite; an honour to honour

Posted: March 12, 2012 - 16:41 , by royal
Categories: 
| Comments () | Comment

A close up of the mineral on a black background.

Bobdownsite.

Tales from the Synchrotron

Posted: March 6, 2012 - 09:41 , by royal
Categories: 
| Comments () | Comment

I’m currently at the Argonne National Laboratory just outside of Chicago, Illinois at the Advanced Photon Source (APS). This is a research facility funded by the U.S. Department of Energy that over 3,500 scientists from all over the world comes to use the instruments here for their research each year.