No Wildflowers In Spring?
Rachel Carson warned about the potential for a “silent spring” 60 years ago because of the harmful effects of pesticides on birds and other wildlife. Now botanists at Carnegie Museum of Natural History warn that spring may become less colorful, too. In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, museum scientists Benjamin Lee and Mason Heberling joined a team of international researchers to examine the impacts of climate change on North American wildflowers. They found that spring ephemerals that grow on the forest floor—such as trillium or bellwort—are particularly threatened because, if warming trends continue, they won’t get the light they need to survive and reproduce. Warmer temperatures are causing trees to put on their leaves earlier, which then blocks out the critical light early in the season that some wildflowers need to thrive.
Moon Rock at Science Center
Mars has taken over the second floor at Carnegie Science Center, but visitors can also get an up-close look at the moon. Or, at least a piece of it. A moon rock collected during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971 is now on display as part of the Mars: The Next Giant Leap exhibition that opened in November. Protected behind unbreakable glass, the 74 gram (2.6 ounce) moon rock is on loan from NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston and will remain at the Science Center for the next five years.
terra0, A tree; a corporation; a person. (DAO #01, Black gum tree, Pittsburgh PA), 2022, black gum tree, certificates of care, 501c4, smart contract, dimensions variable, courtesy of the artists; photo: Sean Eaton“If a tree had the potential to fight back when a corporation was trying to log it and its forest brethren down, that would be incredible.”
– Talia Heiman, the curatorial assistant for the 58th Carnegie International, on Terra0’s entry in the Carnegie International, titled A tree; a corporation; a person, which aims to gain legal personhood for a tree planted on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
A new podcast by Carnegie Museum of Natural History brings you stories from the frontlines of climate action and the efforts to build a more sustainable future. In the first season of We Are Nature, host Michael Pisano and museum researchers connect community climate-action stories to natural history, ecology, and environmental science. Guests so far have included Radiolab creator Jad Abumrad and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee. Listen on the museum’s website or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Lost and Found: Velvet Underground Master Tapes
You probably know the album with the iconic banana on the cover and may have listened to it countless times, but you’ve never heard it like this. In November 2022, The Andy Warhol Museum announced it had discovered rare master tapes of The Velvet Underground’s debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. The nine initial tracks on one of the most influential rock albums in history were discovered deep within The Warhol’s archives, revealing alternate versions and mixes of songs later issued on the 1967 release. “You’re hearing the album as the band originally intended,” says Matt Gray, manager of archives at The Warhol. Visitors to The Warhol will be able to hear them as part of a new exhibition opening this spring.
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