Our Senses: an Immersive Experience Opens This Fall 2 News at the Museum 3

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Member Magazine Fall 2017 Vo. 42 No. 4

our senses: an immersive experience opens this fall 2 News at the Museum 3

From the As you hold this issue of Rotunda and read this why our brains evolved the way they did and Our Senses: An Immersive Experience Opens This Fall message, maybe even sipping a cup of coffee as how their complex systems work. President you do so, you are probably not thinking about Through highly interactive, fascinating, the extremely complex process that allows you and fun experiences, visitors to Our Senses will Ellen V. Futter to take in information—in this case how the paper be able to test their own perceptions and learn feels between your fingers, what the words how their senses function. What happens, and pictures say, how the coffee tastes—and for instance, when our senses disagree? How make meaning out of it. do other animals perceive the same objects? I’m alluding to the senses, of course, the Why can’t we perceive some things, like electrical amazing systems through which we perceive fields? And how do our brains even sort through and understand the world around us. and prioritize the unrelenting onslaught This fall, the Museum is presenting the major of stimuli in modern life? exhibition Our Senses: An Immersive Experience Our Senses will answer all of these questions, that will explore how our sensory organs and and perhaps encourage you to think a bit more our brains work together in processes that have about how you receive and process information adapted over millennia to help our ancestors and using extraordinary evolutionary adaptations us survive. This exhibition builds upon the highly that enable us humans not merely to exist but successful Brain: The Inside Story, which explored to enjoy life and thrive.

Table of Contents

Close-Up 4 What you see depends on the light. This illustration reveals what the cover, shown as if under red light, “hid” from view.

Unlocking New York’s Rocks 6 Those bunches of yellow flowers you passed by this morning at the corner deli? member preview days 6 8 The muffled announcements you strained to hear on your train this morning? Friday, November 17 More than Meets the Eye 8 The sour-sweet wafts of garbage on New York City sidewalks? Every day, Saturday, November 18 we perceive the world around us through some or all of our senses—including Sunday, November 19 The Sound of Silence 12 sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste, and balance. But as it turns out, “reality” isn’t 10:30 am to 4:30 pm ever exactly what it seems to be. Next 14 The new highly experiential exhibition Our Senses: An Immersive Experience delves into how our brains work with sensory organs to shape and reframe 2017 By the Numbers 20 our perceptions of everyday encounters. And it reveals how, until recently in our evolutionary history, humans have been oblivious to nature’s other Origami Menagerie 22 crucial signals, including UV light and electrical fields. Our senses are only part of the story, anyway. What we do sense is shaped 12 22 by our brains into perceptions, often through an active process of knitting together information from sensory organs and filling in gaps from memories of past experience. Human brains are wired in part based on what helped our ancestors survive: noticing movement and paying attention to faces, for example. Other species’ brains prioritize other signals: dolphins use more of their brains for hearing, because they navigate by sonar, and coyotes pay more attention to signals from their nose, since they depend on scent to find food. Visitors will be able to compare and rotate 3D images of the brains of a coyote, dolphin, and human. American Museum of Natural History ISSN 0194-6110 ; photo © AMNH/D. Finnin Chairman Lewis W. Bernard USPS Permit #472-650 Curator Rob DeSalle, whose recent exhibitions have included Brain: The President Ellen V. Futter Vol. 42 , No. 4, Fall 2017 Inside Story and The Secret World Inside You, curated this uniquely experiential See Our Senses: An Immersive Experience Vice President of Development and Membership Laura Lacchia Rose Rotunda is published quarterly by the Membership Office of the American exhibition, which features a virtual garden that visitors will explore through the before it opens to the public! Director of Membership Louise Adler Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY eyes of a bee or a snake; an audio-collage challenging visitors to test their skill 10024-5192. Phone: 212-769-5606. Website: amnh.org. Museum membership at tracking individual sounds; illusions that make flat surfaces appear rippled; A weekend of exclusive Member Preview Days Magazine of $75 per year and higher includes a subscription to Rotunda. © 2017 and a section featuring a live presenter who will examine why our senses are begins on Friday, November 17, for Members Editorial Director Eugenia Levenson American Museum of Natural History. Periodical postage paid at New York, NY essential to our survival, how the senses and world views of other species differ Contributors Joan Kelly Bernard, Ian Chant, Jill Hamilton, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: please send address changes at the $115 level and above. Animalia n.1 by Carnovsky, 2010 Eliza McCarthy, Karen Miller, Elena Sansalone to Rotunda, Membership Office, AMNH, at the above address. from ours, and what’s truly unique about human perception. Design Hinterland, www.hinterlandstudio.com Tickets are available starting November 1 Please send questions, ideas, and feedback to [email protected]. Our Senses is generously supported by Dana and Virginia Randt. by calling 212-769-5200. Photos AMNH/D. Finnin and R. Mickens except fish eye (D. Gruber)anechoic chamber (Karen Kasmauski/Getty Images) © Illustration

Rotunda / Summer 2017 / AMNH.org 4 Close-Up at the Museum 5

Timely Distinction The Kawah Ijen sulfur pieces were the youngest Seismic Sentinels specimens in the hall when it opened in 1999, just a year after the “birth” of the sulfur deposits. Stand in the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth in front of the topographical bronze The oldest specimen in the hall was a zircon crystal globe of Earth, and you can’t miss the two bright yellow forms a short distance from Australia, a portion of which is nearly just beyond and to the left. A quick scan of the display text reveals they are 4.3 billion years old—or nearly as old as Earth itself. samples of sulfur from the Kawah Ijen volcano on the island of Java in Indonesia. The sulfur column and slab were collected on June 8, 1998—the very day the sulfur Watchful Waiting solidified on the volcano—by a team led by geologist James Webster, curator in the Forecasting eruptions in Indonesia is critical, Museum’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. The trip was one of dozens with more than 75 percent of its 260 million of reconnaissance and acquisition expeditions undertaken from 1996 through 1999 people living within range of an active volcano. in preparation for the opening of the hall on June 12, 1999, as Museum teams worked Scientists routinely monitor for increases in water with experts around the world to identify geologically significant specimens to show temperature in crater lakes and check the size the dynamic nature of Earth’s formation and ongoing existence. and frequency of earthquake tremors, while The yellow sulfur forms after volatile gases—in this case, sulfur dioxide and satellites scan for land surface bulges caused hydrogen sulfide—are driven up by a volcano’s solidifying magma, flow to the by magma exerting pressure from below. surface, and escape from vents or fumaroles. It’s perhaps the best-known mineral to form in this way, although volcanic gases sometimes result in other minerals Fatal Fame forming, such as silica and native gold. Indonesia is home to the volcano that triggered Kawah Ijen is distinguished by a crater lake so intensely acidic, the water the “year without a summer” in 1816. On April 10, would eat through clothing and human flesh. Foul-smelling gases—think rotten 1815, Mount Tambora erupted, resulting in eggs—vent from beneath the surface of the water, sometimes explosively in massive local fatalities. The next year, untold what’s called a phreatic eruption. But there are moments when the lake’s deep numbers of people died or were displaced across turquoise beauty can be enjoyed free and clear. Europe and North America when atmospheric Says Webster, “It depends on how the wind blows.” Where in the World conditions appear to have magnified a worldwide Catalog no. 16/8802 The Haida Gwaii archipelago includes about cooling trend that set off crop failures, famine, 150 individual islands located south of Alaska disease, and social upheaval. and north of Vancouver Island. Famous for its Chiefly Chest flora and fauna, Haida Gwaii is sometimes called Science and Art “the Galapagos of the North.” Mount Tambora’s 1816 eruption is recorded Earlier this year, Museum conservator Samantha Alderson took a cross-country in sulfur-rich layers in ice cores extracted in journey to a remote archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. Village Life Greenland and Antarctica. But its impact can Her task? To accompany an elaborately carved and painted historic chest from The islands are home to two principal Haida also be seen in contemporary artwork. The vivid the Museum’s collection back to its home nation for a celebration more than villages, including Skidegate, where the orange and red sunsets in landscapes by the a century in the making. Haida Gwaii Museum is located, and Old Massett, 19th-century English painter J.M.W. Turner are The chest, which measures 63 inches across and 27 inches in height, had been which is home to many artists. Old Massett thought to accurately reflect the residual effect carved sometime before 1880 by an ancestral holder of the title Gidansta, Chief features 17 contemporary totem poles, on the color of the sky. of Skedans Village in the Haida Gwaii archipelago. It features an elaborate crest the largest concentration in Haida Gwaii. of a mountain goat and a moon on each of the broad sides, and grizzly bears Hard Harvest on the ends. In 1901, the chest was sold to a collector named Charles Newcombe, Island to Island Sulfur is prized for its many commercial uses, who in turn sold it to the Museum the following year. Joint efforts between Haida Gwaii and the from volcanizing rubber to refining sugar. One hundred and sixteen years later, the chest returned to Haida Gwaii to Museum in the past few years have included Miners at Kawah Ijen hand-harvest the mineral, play a role in a milestone event: two days of potlatch ceremonies honoring the a series of projects to bring the stories and then trek out of the crater carrying their own memory of the most recent Gidansta and the inauguration of the name and title’s perspectives of contemporary Northwest weight—or more—in what is considered one of the new holder. The chest’s use is a novel and creative model of collaboration, says Coast people into the Museum’s historic Hall most difficult and dangerous jobs in the world. Curator Peter Whiteley, who was also in attendance. “This loan represents a new of Northwest Coast Indians. The new digital kind of partnership between indigenous communities and major museums,” says installation in the hall, which includes photos Dr. Whiteley. “It’s particularly important given our ongoing collaboration with and interviews with people of the Pacific the Haida Nation, and our project to update installations in our historic Northwest Northwest Coast, was created in collaboration Coast gallery in dialogue with First Nations representatives.” with Northwest Coast community members. The chest is now on display at the Haida Gwaii Museum at Kay Llnagaay, where it will be on view through spring 2018. “This important project continues Glimpse of Haida Gwaii to strengthen community pride, provide opportunities to observe and reflect Via a telepresence robot in the Museum’s Hall on the legacies of historical and contemporary Haida art, and the strengthening of Northwest Coast Indians, Sean Young, of Haida culture and identity,” says Scott Marsden, director of the Haida Gwaii an assistant curator at the Haida Gwaii Museum, Museum. Before the chest travels back to New York next year, Gidansta’s sons— connects to visitors in New York and offers views themselves accomplished carvers—plan to study it and create a replica that of his museum or interpretation of the Haida

Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org 6 7 Unlocking

Ever wonder how teachers spend their summers? For four of New York State’s newest science teachers—Deborah Fishbeck, Donna Gangadeen, Aline Gjelaj, and Alejandro Mundo—last summer was dedicated to studying the rocks of Riverside Park. Specifically, they were looking for pieces to a geological puzzle: how a belt of rocks along the Hudson River, known as the Manhattan Prong, took shape hundreds of millions of years ago. Their eight-week project, led by Museum geologists Nicholas Tailby, Curator George Harlow, and Curator Jim Webster, was a final requirement of the Museum’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. Heading into the last stretch of their 15-month program, the degree candidates had already museum’s spent one summer working with Museum scientists and education specialists, as well as a year in school residencies at partner New York State public schools. Now, they were coming to their final mat summer of fieldwork with a better view of how best to share science with students in the classroom. program They were also contributing to a multi-year effort to gather additional information about vital stats New York’s the ancient rocks of New York and their formation. Geologists know a lot about the structure of the Manhattan Prong—where the faults and folds are in relation to the local stress fields. But where the picture is less complete, if nonexistent, is the pressure and temperature path recorded in the rock belt, which would offer additional insights into the development of continental crust in New York. To better probe these questions, this summer the MAT group collected samples in Riverside Park, 5 Classes graduated then headed back to the lab to prepare them into polished slices—some as thin as 30 microns—for since 2013 analysis under an electron microscope or CT scanner at the Museum. “It’s not easy to do in eight weeks,” says Dr. Tailby. “Prepping samples, analyzing minerals, crunching the numbers. We really push them hard.” (Others in the cohort spent the summer working on projects with an astronomer and a geochemist.) The geology group’s work added to research conducted by other MAT candidates in Central Park last summer, and another MAT group will explore an area of the Bronx in summer 8,400 2018. Students in New “The ultimate goal is to produce science we can publish on the geologic history of the Manhattan York State being Prong,” says Tailby. In the meantime, each summer of fieldwork has had immediate results as well. taught by program Each group produces an in-depth field guide to use as a starting point for field trips with middle- and graduates high-school students, and shares the guides with the New York State Park Service, which approves the research in the parks and grants the permission to take samples. “We want to demonstrate we are doing science and contributing to the broader community,” says Tailby. And for the teachers about to enter classrooms in New York State’s high-needs middle and high schools, capping the pedagogical experience with an intensive summer of research offered a aspiring science teachers powerful toolkit to bring back to the classroom. “It’s a lot more meaningful to learn about rocks in the field rather than look at a single rock specimen, which is disconnected from the bigger picture,” 70 Alumni teaching in museum’s graduate says Fishbeck, who graduated with her class of 13 in September and is now teaching at the Bronx in high-needs program are tracing Center for Science and Mathematics. schools in New manhattan‘s geology Adds her classmate Mundo, who is now teaching at Kingsbridge International High School in the York State Bronx, “Before, as a geologist, I’d see the outcrop. But now I ask myself, ‘How can I get my students to see it as I see it?’” Rocks With deepest appreciation, the Museum acknowledges Kathryn W. Davis for her generous 100% Instructor Nick Tailby, center, leads a group of founding support of the Master of Arts in Science Teaching (MAT) Program. Leadership support Job placement

MAT candidates in Riverside Park. © AMNH/R. Mickens for the MAT program is provided by The Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund. for graduates

Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org 8 our senses: an immersive experience opens this fall

morethan meets

Scientists are experts at the observinge the yeworld around us. But sometimes, that means recognizing the limitations of our senses— and pushing beyond them.

Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org 10

perfect dark Sparks also studies underwater bioluminescence, bioluminescent organisms can make it look like broad in which organisms don’t require energizing blue light daylight,” says Sparks. to make themselves seen. Instead, they produce light via chemical reactions—similar to the ones you can see every blinded by the light summer in the flicker of a firefly’s glowing abdomen. Biologists studying the deep ocean aren’t the only Just as fireflies use their lights to communicate, some ones working in the dark. So are astronomers, who species of fishes and other marine organisms appear depend on interpreting the light from distant objects to use their bioluminescence to gain some advantage to study the universe. But sometimes, that same light in the dark. Sparks and colleagues are researching this can also get in the way, preventing scientists from phenomenon. One factor that may be key to learning seeing everything that’s out there. more about how fishes signal, hunt, and otherwise Since 1995, Curator Rebecca Oppenheimer in the interact with one another using light is keeping those Department of Astrophysics has been working with observations undetected. Dropping a shining LED into colleagues on new astronomical instruments to develop the midst of fishes that flash light signals at one another an advanced tool that filters starlight from telescope is, after all, pretty disruptive. images. By turning down the brightness of nearby stars, the technique, called a coronagraph, makes it possible for researchers to directly observe faint celestial objects Using fish-eye cameras, orbiting nearby stars. Studying marine life requires developing new “In 1995, we used a primitive coronagraph, now ways, and new tools, to see underwater. we can begin to better exhibited in the Cullman Hall of the Universe, to discover what other and study the first brown dwarf, an object intermediate understand between planets and stars,” Oppenheimer says. “Since then hether it’s listening to your Sparks and his colleagues have been developing new organisms see underwater. we have built three new, far more advanced coronagraphs dinner date at a busy bistro or reading right ways to keep out some wavelengths of light and better The current generation of deep-sea remotely operated in the astrophysics lab here at the Museum and actually visualize these dazzling displays, and in 2014 they vehicles—or ROVs, robots that scour the sea bottom for conducted some of the first reconnaissance of nearby solar through “Showtime!” on the subway, New identified more than 180 species of biofluorescent data—depends on some old-school tools to watch fishes systems quite different from our own. Yorkers—and humans in general—tend to species of fishes across 16 orders. In recent years, under water : noisy motors, bright lights, and inelegant The early coronograph on view at the Museum isn’t be pretty good at focusing their attention they’ve learned that turtles glow underwater, too. robotic grabbing arms. Even traditional nets can just an artifact of space exploration. It’s an early product and filtering out the noise. That sort of Now, Sparks and team are refining specialized lights, create pressure waves that disrupt delicate underwater of the research and development that took place only selectiveness is important to scientists as lenses, camera housings, and filters to make it easier ecosystems. That’s why Sparks and his colleagues are a few flights up from where it’s now exhibited. Much of for researchers to better understand biofluorescence developing and using new tools to make the studies the technology was produced by Oppenheimer and her well. When studying the depths of the ocean in marine organisms. they conduct less noticeable to their subjects, including team, then taken into the field for detailed studies of the or the reaches of outer space, Museum cameras that can shoot in ultra-low light. atmospheres and orbits of alien solar systems—revealing researchers are developing tools that help what the fish saw “Using modern ultra-low-light cameras, you can parts of our universe previously hidden from us by the us shut out some of the data—and make it To get a look at biofluorescence in action, Sparks and film at night 200 meters below the surface of the glare of other stars. possible to discover things we never expected. collaborators, including Yale neuroscientist Vincent ocean, and the small amount of light emitted from Pieribone and Museum Research Associate David shocking pinks…and greens, Gruber, try to get a fish-eye view. and oranges How? By designing their equipment—including Beneath the surface of the ocean, everything looks blue. camera filters, which were developed specifically That’s because once you’re 20 to 30 meters down, ocean for underwater research—to see like a fish. The water absorbs other colors of light—oranges, greens, reds, team can dissect the eyes of a fish specimen to learn and yellows—and leaves the world cyan-hued—to us, that which spectra of light a particular species can see is. It turns out, we’re seeing blue because we’re looking underwater, then use that information to create filters To improve their view of at the underwater world through the eyes of land lubbers. that mimic that absorption spectra. The result is gear the universe, astronomers To natives of the seas, that world looks very, very that lets the team experience the world the same way are using new tools to different. It’s highlighted with biofluorescent light their research subjects do. filter out starlight. emitted by all kinds of fishes, corals, anemones, and “Using these ‘fish-eye’ cameras, we can begin to even sea turtles. Molecules present in these organisms better understand what other organisms see under absorb the high-energy, blue-tinged sunlight that water,” says Sparks. filters down to them and re-emit it in vibrant displays “That has let us learn how catsharks, for example, of orange, red, green, and yellow. can enhance their ability to communicate by producing While these lightshows are technically visible to green biofluorescent light. Light at these wavelengths the human eye, they get lost in the ambient light of the is visible to other catsharks, but is otherwise filtered Sun. That means they have been largely unseen—and out at these depths.”

unstudied—by scientists, until recently. Curator John Previous spread: D. Gruber. This page: ©. K. McBurnie. Opposite page: Courtesy R. Oppenheimer

Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org our senses: an immersive experience opens this fall The Sound of Silence how earth’s quietest places help us better understand our senses What do you think of when you think of quiet? A night camping sounds of self in the woods, away from the bustle of the city? Or maybe a library Visitors to these super-silent reading room? rooms become aware of things they can’t usually Trust us—you haven't heard quiet yet. To truly escape sound, there’s hear, like their own just one option: enter an anechoic chamber. breathing and even their heartbeat, and human Initially developed for testing audio equipment, these “no-echo” voices sound clipped chambers are like sound studios on steroids. They’re typically housed without the reverberation in in double-walled rooms surrounded by thick layers of concrete or brick, catching the room around them. then lined with insulation to absorb every trace of sound. They’re so waves quiet, in fact, that NASA tests equipment—including antennas, pictured Our ears pick up below and right—and trains astronauts for space flight in chambers sound waves as like these—the closest simulation of silent space found on Earth. they bounce off our surroundings. Anechoic chambers are designed to catch and mute those reflections with walls made of wave- suppressing foam or fiberglass wedges.

springs eternal Many anechoic chambers are supported by lost in space springs rather Sound is an important part of how than traditional humans navigate a space, and foundations, without the the perceptual cues preventing vibrations provided by echoes, many people will from affecting find their sense of balance disrupted. the space. Some who use anechoic chambers even report difficulty standing up, and technicians recommend a chair for anyone spending more than 30 minutes here.

mesh pit how quiet is an anechoic chamber? The floor of an anechoic Compared to an chamber is often a mesh of Photos by Karen Kasmauski/Getty Images (p. 12) and © Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis/VCG 12) and © Roger Images (p. Kasmauski/Getty Photos by Karen 13) Additional design by 5W Infographics. via Getty Images (p. anechoic chamber, -23dB -20dB 0dB 40dB cables or wires suspended even a whispered secret over yet more sound- is more like a shout suppressing foam wedges. brownian motion anechoic chamber human limit quiet library than a murmur. Here’s The movement of air Microsoft's Building Sounds you can Hushed voices You won't find an anechoic chamber in our senses: an immersive experience, how anechoic chambers molecules in space is, 87 set the world barely hear likely register about here. but you'll be able to explore 11 galleries that test your perceptions. stack up in the sound theoretically, as quiet record for silent register about 0 dB. department, decibel As always, Members can see the new exhibition before it opens to the public as a place could get. spaces at -20.6 dB. by decibel. when Member Preview Days begin on November 17. For more details, see page 3.

Pull-Out Poster 14 Next at the Museum 15

October November Programs and Exhibits Endurance with Astronaut 2017 Margaret Mead Roosevelt Island Family Halloween Celebration SciCafe: Humans and Conflicts Scott Kelly Film Festival: Activate with Sidney Horenstein Saturday, October 28 SciCafe: Are We Alone For more programs and with Bears: Oh My! Monday, October 16 Thursday, October 19– Saturday, October 21 2–6 pm in the Universe? to purchase tickets, Wednesday, October 4 7:30 pm Sunday, October 22 10 am–noon See amnh.org for ticket Wednesday, November 1 visit amnh.org/calendar. 7 pm $12 Screenings: $10 $25 information 7 pm For updates and reminders, Free for 21+ with ID Hayden Planetarium Space Theater Opening Night: $12 Join us for a Members-only More than 30 of the Museum’s Free for 21+ with ID sign up for monthly Calendar Conservation scientist Join astronaut Scott Kelly— Activate a connection to your walking tour of Roosevelt popular halls will be open Lisa Kaltenegger explores how Highlights for Members by Rae Wynn-Grant offers a veteran of four spaceflights community and others around Island with geologist Sidney for trick-or-treating, arts we can use our own planet sending your membership insights into black bear who has spent more the world at the 2017 Margaret Horenstein. Take in the and crafts, fun with roaming and its wide range of biota number and request to subscribe behavior and ecology and consecutive time in space Mead Film Festival, featuring breathtaking sights of Four cartoon characters, and live as a Rosetta Stone to detect to [email protected]. The shares tips on what humans than any other American-- more than 40 ground-breaking Freedoms Park and learn performances. signs of life on exoplanets over Museum does not trade, rent, can do to improve relations and Frederick P. Rose Director nonfiction films and stories about the history and geology vast interstellar distances or sell this information. with our ursine neighbors. of the Hayden Planetarium from around the world, of Roosevelt Island. to answer the question— Neil deGrasse Tyson for a new Mead Mixed Media are we alone in the universe? Tickets a conversation all about Lounge, and opportunities Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt: the extreme challenge for filmmakers, scholars, and Birding at Green-Wood Tickets are available by phone A Site-Specific Opera of long-term spaceflight. audiences to mingle and Cemetery Take Flight: An Evening Bat at 212-769-5200, Monday–Friday, for Families exchange ideas. Saturday, October 28 Astronomy Live: Encounter and Reception 9 am–5 pm, or by visiting amnh.org. Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, A book signing will follow. 10 am–noon Spooky Astronomy Friday, November 3 Please have your membership October 6–15 Tickets and film listings $25 Tuesday, October 31 6:30–8 pm number ready. See amnh.org for times available at amnh.org. On the weekend before $12 $35 for 21+ with ID Availability may be limited. Free for Members Halloween, take in the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater Join us for a Members-only Please purchase tickets in advance. Join Rhoda as she hunts for splendor of the Gothic- Hall Tour: Finding Fossils On Halloween night, join Evening Bat Encounter with Please be aware that ticket missing fossils in the Hall Field Trip to the Moon style tombs at Green-Wood Sunday, October 29 Jackie Faherty and Lydia Maria Rob Mies, executive director sales are final for all Member of Saurischian Dinosaurs Friday, October 20 Cemetery and experience the 1:30 pm Petrosino for spooky stories of of the Organization for Bat programs. All programs go in this site-specific opera 6–6:30 pm, 6:45–7:15 pm exciting colors and sounds Free the cosmos. Come in your most Conservation. Learn more ahead rain or shine. There are with music by John Musto $12.50 adults, $8 children of the fall migration with Registration required; “Out of this World”costume and about the vital roles these no refunds unless the program and libretto by Eric Einhorn, Join us for a virtual trip Paul Sweet, collections call 212-769-5200 receive a special giveaway. creatures play as pollinators is canceled by the Museum. based on the real-life to the Moon in the immersive manager of the Museum’s Join a Museum tour guide of some of our favorite plants, Please check amnh.org for experiences of Rhoda Knight Hayden Planetarium. Feel Ornithology Department. on an expedition through Recommended for children ages including the Agave tequilana. Member ticket prices for live and her naturalist-illustrator the ground shake beneath Green-Wood Cemetery hosts the world’s largest and most 12 and up. See bats from around the animal exhibits and giant-screen grandfather Charles R. Knight. you as you experience a colony of Monk Parakeets diverse collection of vertebrate world and enjoy a cocktail with 2D and 3D films. a thrilling NASA rocket launch. and is also an ideal place fossils to learn more about renowned Museum scientists! Information about programs Take a guided tour of the to observe migrating birds. famous Museum explorers. is current as of September 1. cosmos and orbit the Earth Gain a deeper understanding Please check amnh.org/calendar to get an astronaut’s view This tour is appropriate for of how fossils are found, for updates. of a sunrise in space! participants ages 14 and up. excavated, and analyzed Children must be accompanied by scientists to uncover new by an adult. and exciting discoveries.

Exhibitions Mummies The Butterfly Conservatory Inside You Admission is by timed entry only. Free for Members This annual favorite returns with Inspired by the Museum’s popular opens soon Discover when, how, and why closes 1/7 up to 500 free-flying tropical opens 10/7 exhibition The Secret World Inside Our Senses: ancient Egyptians and Peruvians butterflies from the Americas, You, this new exhibition in the An Immersive Experience were mummified, and find Africa, and Asia. Find featured Akeley Gallery introduces visitors Free for Members out who they were in life. This species such as iridescent to microbes that live in, on, and We get to know our world through show features rarely exhibited blue morpho butterflies, striking around all of us. some or all of our senses—sight, mummies, as well as interactive scarlet swallowtails, and large smell, hearing, touch, balance, and touch tables, rare artifacts, and owl butterflies. taste—but they’re just parts of cutting-edge imaging. a much larger puzzle. This highly experiential exhibition delves into how our brains work with sensory organs to shape our perceptions.

Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org 16 Next at the Museum 17

December Family Astronomy: Hall Tour: Climbing Double Discount Days Sackler Brain Course Achakosuk (the Stars) the Tree of Life Monday, November 13– The Senses: Our Windows Hall Tour: Hidden Stories Saturday, November 4 Saturday, November 11 Sunday, November 19 to the World Saturday, December 2 6:30 pm 10:30 am (recommended for Get out in front of holiday Five Mondays, 10:30 am (recommended for Hayden Planetarium Space Theater families with children) shopping with twice your November 20–December 18 families with children) $10 Members 1:30 pm regular Member discount! For 6–8 pm 1:30 pm Join us for an evening in the Free a week in November, Members $240 for 18+ Free Hayden Planetarium with Registration required; save 20 percent on purchases Whether it’s a sunrise, Registration required; “The Star Guy” Wilfred Buck, call 212-769-5200 in the Museum’s retail shops a birdsong, or a light rain, we call 212-769-5200 who will share the legends Join a Museum tour guide and online store. Just have experience the world through Join a tour guide to learn how and stories collected from Temblor Tales: Detecting in the Gottesman Hall your membership card handy our senses. These intricate the Museum acquired some the Cree, Ojibwe, and Quakes in Cascadia of Planet Earth and the Spitzer at checkout. biological systems help Astronomy Live: “Voyagers” of its rarest and most beloved Dakota First Nations. Learn Wednesday, November 8 Hall of Human Origins our brains translate external Tuesday, November 28 treasures. Travel back in time how indigenous people 6:30 pm to examine how humans stimuli into meaningful 7 pm and across the globe with Animal Encounter: from the First Nations have Free fit into the remarkable perceptions. In this five-part $12 some of your favorite explorers Bats with Rob Mies connected to the sky for Registration required; biodiversity of life on Earth. course, participants will In celebration of the 40th to uncover the Museum’s rich Saturday, November 4 thousands of years. call 212-769-5200 Take a closer look at some learn the science behind anniversary of the Voyager and storied history. 11 am (recommended for younger The sudden and severe impact of our closest and most distant how our senses work from spacecraft, composer Gerald children), 1:30 pm, 3 pm (all ages Recommended for children of earthquakes makes them relatives to better understand expert neuroscientists. Cohen brings us Voyagers, This tour is appropriate for welcome) ages 4–11. feared worldwide. In the our place within the tree of life. a new musical piece for participants ages 12 and up. $15 Pacific Northwest, several clarinet and string quartet. Get an up-close and personal kinds of quakes threaten, The program features introduction to bats from including rips that could tear Frontiers Lecture: the Cassatt Quartet and Double Discount Days around the world! Conservation Seattle’s downtown apart. The Zoomable Universe clarinetist Vasko Dukovski Sunday, December 3– biologist and bat expert Rob Seismologist John Vidale Monday, November 13 accompanied by visualizations Saturday, December 9 Mies will host this unforgettable explains how new technologies 7:30 pm designed by Director of Get out in front of holiday presentation with many species may allow scientists to detect $12 Astrovisualization Carter shopping with twice your of bats, including a Rodrigues quakes minutes before the Inspired by the best-selling Emmart. Timothy Ferris, regular Member discount! For fruit bat, a straw-colored fruit strongest shaking hits. book and classic film Member Preview Days: producer of Voyager’s Golden a week in December, Members bat, a big brown bat, and a Powers of Ten, the award- Our Senses Record, joins as a special guest. save 20 percent on purchases Malayan flying fox. winning astrobiologist Friday, November 17 in the Museum’s retail shops Caleb Scharf takes you on Saturday, November 18 and online store. Just have an epic tour through all Sunday, November 19 your membership card handy known scales of reality, 10:30 am–4:30 pm at checkout. from the largest possible Free for Members at the $115 level magnitude to the smallest. and above. Tickets available starting A book signing will follow. November 1; call 212-279-5200.

experience life on the wing Earthflight Dark Universe Exhibition Credits Generous support for The Dark Universe was created by Presented with special thanks Narrated by Academy Award- 2d and 3d Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Butterfly Conservatoryhas been the American Museum of Natural to NASA and the National winning actress Cate Blanchett, this Space Show celebrates Our Senses is generously supported provided by the Eileen P. Bernard History, the Frederick Phineas Science Foundation. Earthflight takes viewers on pivotal discoveries and the cosmic by Dana and Virginia Randt. Exhibition Fund. and Sandra Priest Rose Center incredible flights to discover the mysteries that remain. Gaze up for Earth and Space, and the Dark Universe was developed by fascinating science of flight: how at the Milky Way from Mt. Wilson Mummies was developed by Inside You is made possible by Hayden Planetarium. the American Museum of Natural birds maneuver simultaneously Observatory in California, plunge The Field Museum, Chicago. the generosity of the Arthur Ross History, New York (www.amnh.org), in flocks a million strong, navigate into Jupiter’s atmosphere with a Foundation. Made possible through the in collaboration with the California across whole continents, and NASA probe, and find out what The Museum gratefully generous sponsorship of Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, collaborate with other animals scientists are learning about dark acknowledges the Richard and Inside You is proudly supported Accenture. and GOTO INC, Tokyo, Japan. to find food. matter and dark energy. Karen LeFrak Exhibition and by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Education Fund. Companies of Johnson & Johnson. The Museum also gratefully Captioning devices are available. Captioning devices are available. acknowledges major funding Mummies is proudly supported from the Charles Hayden by Chase Private Client. Foundation.

Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org NOW SHOWING IN THE LEFRAK THEATER 2D/3D SCREENINGS DAILY narrated by cate blanchett 18 Next at the Museum 19

october

The Neuroscience of Illusion Milstein Science Series: Winter Solstice 4 16 21 29 Tuesday, December 5 Celebrating Cephalopods Telescope Party wednesday monday saturday Sunday 7 pm Sunday, December 10 Wednesday, December 20 SciCafe: Humans and Conflicts Endurance with Roosevelt Island Hall Tour: Finding Fossils $12 11 am–4 pm 7 pm with Bears: Oh My! Astronaut Scott Kelly with Sidney Horenstein Member Program After-Hours Program Hayden Planetarium Program Member Program Seeing is believing—or is it? Milstein Hall of Ocean Life $12 Our brains perceive the world Free Hayden Planetarium Space Theater 31 through our senses, and Cephalopods such as octopuses Join Museum astronomers 6 19 28 Tuesday those senses can be fooled. and squids have fascinated and members of the Amateur Friday thursday saturday Spooky Astronomy That creates a gap between human beings for millenia. Astronomers Association on Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt Margaret Mead Film Festival Birding at Green-Wood Hayden Planetarium Program perception and reality—a Learn more about these the longest night of the year. (performances through October 15) begins Cemetery Family Program Member Program place where we find magic. marine marvels through Pick up pointers on how best Join master illusionist Apollo performances, presentations, to observe the night sky Save the Date! KWANZAA 2017 20 Family Halloween Celebration Robbins and neuroscientists and live animal encounters at and get a “sneak preview” Saturday, December 30 7 friday Special Program Stephen Macknik and Susana this family-friendly festival. of what it will look like from Free Saturday Field Trip to the Moon The Butterfly Conservatory Member Program we explore the Space Theater. Then, Join us for a celebration Martinez-Condeas returns to view the limits of our own visual weather permitting, we’ll head of African-American heritage perception and learn the outside to the Ross Terrace to rooted in seven principles scientific secrets behind some observe celestial objects. known as Nguzo Saba, which of magic’s greatest tricks. promote unity, culture, and community development. november Astronomy Live: The program will feature a live musical performance, SciCafe: Biodiversity and Astronomical Calendar 1 4 11 20 the Sixth Extinction Tuesday, December 26 an overview of the Kwanzaa wednesday saturday saturday monday Wednesday, December 6 Frontiers Lecture: 7 pm principles, and a marketplace SciCafe: Are We Alone Animal Encounter; Hall Tour: The Senses: Our Windows 7 pm Demystifying Black Holes $12 that showcases local artisans in the Universe? Bats with Rob Mies Climbing the Tree of Life to the World begins After-Hours Program Member Program Member Program Adult Course Free for 21+ with ID Monday, December 11 Hayden Planetarium Space Theater from the African-American Earth is losing biological 7:30 pm Prepare for your next community. Family Astronomy: Origami Holiday Tree diversity at an unprecedented $12 journey around the Sun 3 Achakosuk (the Stars) 13 goes on view rate. Could this lead to the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater as Ted Williams and Irene friday Hayden Planetarium Program monday collapse of Earth’s habitats and Black holes are both Pease share the highlights Take Flight: An Evening Bat The Zoomable Universe ecosystems? What might that astrophysical phenomena and of 2018, including celestial Encounter and Reception! Hayden Planetarium Program 28 Member Program 8 tuesday mean for humanity? Lamont theoretical “laboratories.” From sights and constellations from wednesday Double Discount Days begin Voyagers Curator Joel Cracraft presents gravitational raditation to X-ray January to December. Temblor Tales: Hayden Planetarium Program the evidence, drawing from his binary star systems, Steven Detecting Quakes in Cascadia experiences in Earth’s tropical Gubser and Frans Pretorius use Lecture 17 forests, and outlines the creative thought experiments friday Our Senses: difficult challenges ahead. to explain the fantastical An Immersive Experience properties of black holes. Member Preview Days begin

A book signing will follow.

Program Credits The Museum gratefully The Annual IRIS/SSA Lecture The Margaret Mead Film december acknowledges The Mortimer D. Series is presented in collaboration Festival is made possible with the The SciCafe series is proudly Sackler Foundation, Inc. for its with the Incorporated Research support of Governor Andrew M. 2 11 26 sponsored by Judy and support to establish the Sackler Institutions for Seismology Cuomo and the New York State saturday 6 monday tuesday Josh Weston. Brain Bench, part of the Museum’s and the Seismological Society Legislature. Hall Tour: Hidden Stories wednesday Demystifying Black Holes Astronomical Calendar Sackler Educational Laboratory of America. Member Program SciCafe: Biodiversity and the Hayden Planetarium Program Hayden Planetarium Program Support for Hayden Planetarium for Comparative Genomics and Support for the Margaret Mead Sixth Extinction After-Hours Program Programs is provided by the Human Origins, in the Spitzer The Milstein Science Series is Film Festival and Kwanzaa 2017 is 3 20 30 Schaffner Family and the Horace Hall of Human Origins, offering proudly sponsored by the Irma provided, in part, by the May and sunday wednesday saturday W. Goldsmith Endowment Fund. ongoing programs and resources and Paul Milstein Family. Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Double Discount Days begin 10 Winter Solstice Telescope Party Kwanzaa 2017 for adults, teachers, and students Inc. and the family of Frederick H. sunday Hayden Planetarium Program Family festival Family Halloween Celebration to illuminate the extraordinary Leonhardt. Milstein Science Series: Celebrating Cephalopods is made possible with support of workings of the human brain. 5 tuesday Family Festival The Rudin Foundation, Inc. The Neuroscience of Illusion

© C. Chesek, D. Finnin. R. Mickens, and M. Shanley with the exception of Scott Kelly and Moon(© 2015(NASA), The Field Museum, MummiesA115218d_003C, photographer John Weinstein), Earthflight (photo by Christian© John MoullecDowner Productions), Seattle earthquake (University of California Berkeley), Cassatt Quartet (A. Ablogina) Special Program

Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org 20 ExploreMembers at at the the Museum Museum 21

2017 By the Numbers

Not all the work the Museum does can be measured—you can’t put a number to the look of wonder when a child sees 2million+ T. rex or The Titanosaur for the first time. But there are some numbers that help quantify the discoveries made possible, the learning facilitated, and the many other contributions made to science and to sharing scientific knowledge that were made this year. traveling And none of these milestones would be possible without Our Facebook followers around the world have the support of our Members. So let’s count the ways you helped viewsbeen tuning in to go behind the scenes in Museum make the world a little more enlightened this year. 14 collections with scientists, tour exhibitions with exhibitions curators, and even find out what it takes to dust After opening in New the Barosaurus. York, the Museum’s exhibitions keep going, and going. Last year, brown they went on display in 1 24 venues in 3 countries.

This distant celestial object—over 100 million dwarflight years away from the Earth—was discovered new in February by citizen scientists working with Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, an online sky survey led by a team that includes a Museum astronomer.

16graduates In September, the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate help School celebrated 2017 graduates, including 3 doctoral graduates and 13 M.A. in Teaching 19 make graduates, who began teaching in New York State mummies middle and high school classrooms this fall. From the collections of The Field Museum, these rarely seen specimens—among the best-preserved mummies in the world—revealed to visitors what scientists are learning about ancient cultures thanks to new technologies . 2018even better specimen Each of our Members plays a vital role in The first-ever dinosaur fossil excavated by 223Museum helping advance the Museum’s work in science paleontologists finally got its collections number this summer. + and education. You can do even more by The fossil femur, from Diplodocus, is now on display alongside 4,000 teachers making a tax-deductible gift to the Museum’s The Titanosaur in the Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Orientation Thousands of teachers turned to the Museum this Annual Fund at amnh.org/annualfund. and brown dwarf (NASA). Center and on view 363 days of the year. Photos © AMNH/ C. Chesek, D. Finnin, and R. Mickens except Mummies (© 2015 The Field Museum, A115214d_016B, photographer John Weinstein) year for professional development, onsite and online.

Rotunda / SummerFall 2017 /2017 AMNH.org / AMNH.org 22 Members at the Museum 23

Origami Menagerie The Museum’s Origami Holiday Tree returns November 20

Planning for the Origami Holiday Tree, which returns to the Museum after Thanksgiving, has been underway for months. It’s a marathon, not a sprint— and it has to be, to give the volunteers from OrigamiUSA time to plan and create hand-folded models that decorate it every year. Just like the Museum’s halls, the Origami Tree is home to reliable favorites and special attractions alike. Origami models of Museum stalwarts like T. rex are perennial favorites that grace the tree every year, and some of the greatest hits date to the very beginning of the Museum’s tree-trimming tradition. One origami pterosaur, for instance, goes all the way back to the 1970s. But each year, these are joined by new models that reflect what’s happening at the Museum today. Last year, for instance, The Titanosaur got an origami model of its own—a sure sign that the new Museum icon had arrived. While models of Museum specimens like dinosaur fossils and animals from the dioramas are popular ones to spot, that’s not to say that the Department of Astrophysics is unrepresented—after all, what’s a holiday tree without the star? The Museum’s tree goes above and beyond, with 30 mobiles, each made up of multiple stars. What will you see on the tree this year? You’ll have to come by to find out! The Origami Holiday Tree goes on view November 20. If you need your folding fix before that, we’ve got you covered. Follow the instructions below to fold the last page of this issue into an origami model of your own. We picked—what else?—the blue whale.

origami 101

valley fold A fold that creates a valley in the paper—think a hot dog bun. mountain fold A fold that leaves the paper

standing up like a mountain. AMNH/ D. Finnin and R. Mickens

know how to fold ‘em: whale

6. Valley fold the top flap over. 8. Valley fold the model in half. 10. Your whale should be done!

need some help? OrigamiUSA volunteers will be on hand when 1. Start with a square, white side 2. Fold the sides in half, 3. Flip the square and fold 4. Fold length-wise, so 5. Pull the corners to the the Origami Holiday Tree (back of the magazine) up. Pre- to the center, then unfold. the sides in half. that bottom point meets right, allowing edges to lie 9. Reverse fold the right point goes on view. crease along diagonals as marked the top point. against the center. 7. Valley fold the flap over. upwards.

Diagram courtesy of origami.org. Rotunda / Fall 2017 / AMNH.org Your retirement savings is like a tree. It’s time — to take action! The longer it grows, the bigger it gets. The power of saving early. Every dollar you put away will help increase your retirement security and compound just the If you have a long time until retirement, increase your contribution rate in your workplace For more seeds of financial wisdom, keep reading. same. But money actively saved at a younger age could be worth more than money saved later retirement savings plan and take full advantage of the potential of compounded interest. in life because it will have the chance to compound for much longer. Give your money the time it needs to grow. The sooner you start, the better off you’ll be.

If you’re already contributing to your workplace retirement savings plan, congratulations! Let’s compare the retirement savings of two people who saved $2,000 a year for 20 years, If you have fewer years until retirement, consider how important it is to save what you can You’ve taken a wonderful step toward increasing your retirement security. But what if you earning the same 6% interest, but at different times in their lives. Jennifer saved between ages now. Chances are, every dollar you save is money you’re going to need in retirement to could be saving more effectively and growing your savings at a faster rate? 45 and 65. Lisa saved between ages 30 and 50, giving her money the chance to grow for 15 cover basic expenses. more years. It doesn’t take a lot. In fact, in some cases, it may only take one thing — time. This brochure will explain why time is such an important factor for growing your money. The accumulated value of Jennifer’s savings at age 65: $77,985 Increasing your contribution rate is easy. The accumulated value of Lisa’s savings at age 65: $186,897 All you need to do is log on to your account by visiting www.cpg.org/myaccount. You can also perform a contribution increase over the phone by calling Fidelity Investments Ever hear of compound interest? Savings tip: If you have fewer years to save, increasing how much you’re saving each year at (877) 208-0092, Monday – Friday, 8:30AM – 8:30PM ET. It’s the financial term for how interest accumulates. Whether you know it or not, at some point will help make up for lost time. You can afford to contribute less each year if your money will you’ve benefited from it. be benefiting longer from compound interest. The more you plant now, the more you’ll reap when you retire. Here’s how it works: The early bird gets the worm — and a more comfortable future. You save money and start to earn interest. Then, you’re not only earning interest on your initial savings, but on that interest as well. Every year thereafter, you’re earning interest on a greater amount of money, and consequently, earning a greater amount of interest. How long it takes to double your money. Albert Einstein said, “Compounded interest is the most powerful force in the universe.” Eventually Here’s a simple example: your money will double. How fast depends on the interest you earn. You can calculate how long it will take to double your money by using the rule of 72: If you invest $5,000 and earn 6% interest, after a year you’ll have $5,300. That second year, you’re Membership no longer earning interest on $5,000, but $5,300. See how much you would have after ten years. 72 ÷ Interest Rate = Number of Years to Double Your Money Central Park West at 79th Street New York, New York 10024-5192 Here’s a hint. It’s a lot! Example: How long would it take to double your money earning 6% interest? amnh.org 72 ÷ 6% = 12 years Try calculating how long it will take to double the money you have earning interest. 72 ÷ ______% = ______Years

All investments involve risk, and there is potential for profit as well as the possibility of loss. The Church Pension Fund does not guarantee any minimum level of investment performance or the success of any investment option available under the defined contribution plans. Please note that this document is provided to you for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as investment, tax, or other advice. Please contact your own financial or tax advisor for further guidance. In the event of a conflict between the information contained in this document and the official plan document, the plan document will govern. The Church Pension Fund and its affiliates retain the right to amend, terminate, or modify the terms of any benefit plans described in this document at any time, without notice and for any reason. Turn over a new leaf. Start saving more for your future. © 2017 The Church Pension Group, 19 East 34th Street, New York, NY 10016 1760 – 03/17 by n.1 Animalia General Information

Hours Phone numbers Carnovsky, 2010 Carnovsky, Museum: Open daily, 10 am–5:45 pm; Central Reservations 212-769-5200 closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Membership Office 212-769-5606 Museum Information 212-769-5100 Entrances Development 212-769-5151 During Museum hours, Members may enter at Central Park West at 79th Street Transportation and parking (second floor), the Rose Center/81st Street, Subway: B (weekdays) or C to 81st Street; and through the subway (lower level). 1 to 79th Street, walk east to Museum Bus: M7, M10, M11, or M104 to 79th Street; Restaurants M79 to Central Park West Museum Food Court, Café on Parking Garage: Open daily, 8 am–11 pm; One,and Café on 4 offer Members enter from West 81st Street. Members can park a 15-percent discount. Hours are for a flat fee of $10 if entering after 4 pm. subject to change. To receive this rate, show your membership card or event ticket when exiting the garage. Museum shops The Museum Shop, Dino Store, Accessibility Planetarium Shop, Cosmic Shop, Test your perceptions in the new exhibition Our Senses: Senses Shop, Mummies Shop, and An Immersive Experience, opening this November. Members see it first. Find out more about the exhibition Online Shop (shop.amnh.org) offer For information on accessibility, and Member Preview Days on page 3. Members a 10-percent discount. email [email protected] or call 212-313-7565.