Event name: Excursion to National Museum of Natural History
Event time and place: National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, 10/20/2024
One of the special exhibits at the museum was “Cellphones: Unseen Connections” which focused on the origin, progression, and impact of cellphones. There are many different kinds of presentations throughout the exhibit. There is an interactive presentation which allows guests to “activate” a large-scale display phone and different emojis appear over your face. It is a fun, intriguing experience provided at the exhibit’s entrance, providing a draw to enter the hall. It appeared effective, as it caught my eye, and was being used by children and adults alike. There also also informational boards filled with different topics to read about. These are the most effective to me, as these are what I tend to read the most in museums, and are where I learned the most from. There also was a wall dedicated to showing the development of technology, moving from “before” to “because of” cell phones. It begins with things such as a road atlas, moves to preliminary phones, to smart phones, and then the different decorations and gadgets provided for phones nowadays. This was effective because it was a large presentation that caught the attention of museum guests and there were also informative captions. There also is a tv screen discussing cell phones at various stages, from manufacture, to use, and disposal. It was told in a language other than English and explained one man’s thoughts on cell phones. He explains how it is essential to his everyday life. This was an information-packed part of the exhibit, but there were not many people watching it.
There is also some presentations that focused on the environmental issues of cellphone technology. There were stories about the people who work in the mines for the minerals required to make cell phones. These were told through written information as well as quotes. They describe the dangerous conditions of the mines, but also the benefits that having work gets them, such as being able to put their children through school. There also is writing that explains how extracting one mineral, Lithium, can have negative impacts on the environment. It can drain drinking water supplies and leach chemicals, but deep sea lithium mining may risk impacting oceanic biodiversity. The exhibit also discusses how cell phones use such a sheer amount of energy. Although there have been improvements in technology that has helped cope with the need for power, there still is power required. This power is provided sometimes with renewable energy sources, but also sometimes through fossil fuels depending on budgets and the companies themselves. There is a graph that maps the carbon footprint of phones. There is also an entire nook of the exhibit dedicated to the disposal of phones. It explains how people often do not recycle their phones, even though it would recover a large amount of materials such as copper and silver. This section of the exhibit calls attention to itself through a large stand of old phones and sound effects.
The exhibit also discusses the technological and social impacts of cellphones. Technologically, cell phones have grown at the same rate that engineers have improved server systems. Internet traffic has increased significantly, but power usage has managed to remain relatively flat because of the technology developed to increase the efficiency of data centers and to improve computing functions. This is an ongoing process, and there is a focus on finding effective ways to cool down servers, as this currently utilizes more power than actually running the servers themselves. This information was provided by display boards to read. In respect to social impact, the exhibit explains the sheer speed of communication that cell phones provide. This makes socializing and communication much easier. Phones are nearly always connected to provide online services and therefore make everything from calling a friend to booking a dinner reservation that much easier. This information was provided on a board to read, along with a model of a cell tower. There is also a wall in the exhibit in the form of comics that catches your eye and describes the emotional, mental, and educational impacts of cell phones. Because of cellphones, anxiety levels are up, in part due to poor self-image that is facilitated by “fake social media”, when people compare themselves to what they see online and their insecurities grow. Also, people can sometimes make false or inaccurate conclusions due to blatant misinformation or bias spread through the internet.
In the Hall of Human Origins, there is a section called “Humans Change the World”. One topic that this section discusses is the progression of tools. From hammerstones, strike stone cores, and sharp flakes, humans have made everything that is now considered modern technology. There are visual displays through glass cases of these original tools, as well as touchable examples. Museum guests are invited to compare the past to the present, providing technology from various lengths of time ago, ranging from 2.6 million years, with the rock tools, to fire 800,000 years ago, and to 100,000 years ago, when technology exploded. There are also doors to flip to compare Stone Age technology to modern. There is also a section focused on the progression of brain size. There is a progression from length of time ago when human brains were about the same as chimpanzees 6-2 million years ago, to 2 million to 800,000 years ago, to 800,000-200,000 years ago when brain size increased rapidly. There are model brains provided to help guests visualize the progression of brain size, as well as an explaination of how brain size is found through endocasts. Another section focuses on the progression of social life. Again there is the progression from 2.6-1.8 million years ago, to when fire was tamed 800,000 years ago, to 130,000 years ago when groups regularly exchanged resources. People now use cell phones and other modern tech to socialize. The museum provides visuals to display the change in socializing.
The museum also received criticism stating that the Hall of Human Origins downplayed the human impact on the environment and climate. I do not agree with this criticism because there is a section of the exhibit called “Our Survival Challenge” that discusses human impact on global warming. The section sites specific examples of human activity that have had a negative impact on the environment, including the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
In the Sant Ocean Hall, there are interactive video displays where guests can pick short clips to watch. One video was called Ghost Ships Off the Golden Gate. It was a highly informative video for only being two minutes long, and described how there are an estimated 300 undiscovered shipwrecks, ranging from late 1800s to modern times. The video also explained how because shipwrecks are accidental, they are therefore unbiased and show life for how it truely is and was. It continues to discuss how new technology and missions to find shipwrecks have been successful, finding a 1910 and 1863 wreck. Sonar scans of two other wrecks have also been taken, which can be used for research to find errors and to learn more about currents and oceans. It also can be used to learn about biological habitats that can form on wrecks. Overall, this video was easily understood and simple. Another video was called Deep Ocean Creatures. This video focused on research being done in deep ocean waters and is a collection of clips of various deep sea creatures. There is not a lot of information given, but the audio is real clips from ocean explorers making observations and identifications of what is being shown. There is a lot of emotion behind the video, with the scientists being clearly excited and passionate about the animals. It is an easy video to understand for a general visitor to the museum.
Also in the Sant Ocean Hall, there is a Global Ocean Video. The video describes and shows the ocean’s currents and explains their impact on weather and Antarctica. It also explains the different effects of the ocean on people through natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes. It continues to discuss how the continents of the Earth used to be arranged, including when it was in the form of Pangea. It discusses the movement of Earth's tectonic plates and their impact on the ocean, specifically about tsunamis. The spherical presentation was interesting in that it was an intriguing, unique way of presenting information. It was also effective in that it provided the visuals necessary to understand the topics discussed, especially the currents and el niño la niña. This was effective for me because I found the visuals both intriging and helpful in that it made it easier to understand what the audio was explaining.
In the Hall of Fossils, there are sets of pylons that have small reconstructions of environments at different points in geologic time. One of these pylons depicts lush rainforests in Willwood 56-53 million years ago. The global sea level was about 650-720 ft higher than today, the average global temperature was 14-25 degrees Fahrenheit higher than today, and the CO2 levels were 5 times higher than today. The other shows grasslands in Nebraska 19 million years ago. The global sea level was about 330 ft higher than today, the average global temperature was 5-12 degrees Fahrenheit higher than today, and the CO2 levels were 50 percent higher than today. I think that both of these exhibits are nice looking, but were not very effective. The information was in small font and not obviously presented.
Also in the Hall of Fossils, there is a display of graphs describing climate change in the past and the present. On Earth 56 million years ago, CO2 doubled in a few thousand years. This was found using fossils. The rapid change resulted in ecosystems changing, plants becoming less nutritious, and therefore animals getting smaller. This is then compared to how fast carbon levels and temperatures are currently rising. There are graphs from the past and for the possible future that can be compared. It shows how important our choices as a species are to work against the carbon levels. This exhibit was highly effective because it used good visuals to explain the information easily.