exhibition Archives

image of cipher wheel — ^{Photo © Canada Science and Technology Museum}

Interested in organizing a school visit? See the end of this post for more details.

Pssst….want to know a secret? Better yet—want to decode a secret? The Bathurst Clark Resource Library is currently hosting the awesome Cipher Decipher exhibit that explores the past and present of encrypted communications. This large-scale exhibit includes hands-on puzzles and ciphers that demonstrate cryptology in practice, which children and adults alike will find entertaining (and maybe even challenging!).

So what exactly is cryptology? It’s a practice of hiding (and uncovering) secrets; for example, the translation of words into numbers and symbols that only certain people hold the key to. It’s something used by everyone from schoolchildren writing notes in code to higher-ups in the government and military.

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Royal Ontario Museum has a special exhibition on the largest creature on earth: blue whale. This exhibition is important not only in terms of global research on this mysterious animal, but also, it is a story close to home for Canadians; the exhibition showcases a Canadian effort on preservation and study of species.

Here is the background story:

In 2014, 9 blue whales were trapped and died on the coast of Newfoundland. Their loss represents about 3% of the Northwest Atlantic’s blue whale population; in Canada that’s almost equivalent to the human population of Saskatchewan. Blue whales usually sink when they die, but in an unusual occurrence two of the blue whales washed ashore in Trout River and Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador, offering an unprecedented opportunity for research.

A team of researchers and staff from the ROM salvaged one of the whales, preserved its bone and its heart, which was a first time internationally.

Image result for blue whale exhibition at ROM This exhibition is very well put together; it is both informative and interactive. In addition, it is aesthetically pleasing. I was in awe when I saw the complete skeleton of the blue whale in the middle of the room. It really made me aware of the world that we live in, and I cannot help but feeling so small. I learned a lot about these majestic giants, and the hard and often less celebrated work that put into exhibitions like this by scientists and researchers.