Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December
A Rare and Beautiful Bird
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”
A Maya Inspired Holiday
It seems that Maya: Secrets of Their Ancient World has inspired some really interesting holiday activities. Meet the Futterer Family! Inspired by Maya, they built the temple at Chichen Itza out of gingerbread as their traditional gingerbread house this Christmas.
The idea was suggested by 25-year-old Allie Futterer, designed by 28-year-old Max Futterer, and baked and executed by both of them and Max’s girlfriend Jennifer Funk, age 28.
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Here for ROM for the Holidays, it’s the long-awaited return of the Earth Rangers Studio Winter Wonderland in Life in Crisis: the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity!
Next Stop Mars! New NASA Rover Launched
By Brendt Hyde, Mineralogy Technician
Things to know when you meet a Maya High Priest
By Justin Jennings, Associate Curator, Department of World Culture.
Winter Visitors in Hands-on Biodiversity
It’s that time of year! ROM for the Holidays is finally here, and we’ve been hard at work in the Keenan Family Gallery of Hands-on Biodiversity (HOB for short) getting some new hands-on activities ready to go.
First up is the brand-new, never-before-seen touch table that we put together in honour of our lost baby bison.
Green with Envy
Every day at the museum is a good day, but when a new object-specimen gets added to the collection, it is a great day. It was a particularly stellar day in Earth Sciences when we were able to acquire this lovely princess cut, 23.24 carat peridot from Myanmar (Burma).
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?
6 Holiday Gift Ideas for Museum Lovers
‘Tis the season of giving, so we thought we’d share some of our favourite ROM-themed gift ideas with you!
1. Wrap up a ROM membership