Life with Biology

I don’t usually do this, but I saw this on my facebook page today, and just can’t stand by and let this happen.  »This is from the fb page of the new museum opening in Florida. «

This is absolutely egregious. Artists, especially scientific illustrators are some of the most skilled people out there. It’s a craft that takes a lifetime of study and draftsmanship to master. Scientific Illustrators offer an invaluable service to all fields of science.  Sure, it’s just a coloring book….of anatomical illustrations. They cant be that hard to make…. what of it? The exploitation of artists in science is HUGE problem.

In the past 15 years, underpayment and non-payment for commercial work has single-handedly destroyed the paleo-art as a field. The artists responsible for the iconic dinosaur illustrations of your childhood now struggle to make ends meet. Many of them cant even make it to conferences anymore because they don’t have the funds.  Museums, as an institution have increasingly come to expect more and more of artists for less and less. 

"I hate science."  In six years of graduate school, this has to be the phrase I’ve heard most frequently from my colleagues.

People who have dedicated their lives to science. 

People who made a decision when they were about 16 years old to focus on science, who went through four years of undergrad and an average 6 years of graduate school, and 4-10 more years of training. 

People who’ve spent every moment since 2000 entirely dedicated to making new facts using the scientific process.

"I hate science." Why this instead of, "I love science?"

The President

The 3200 year old tree so massive that it had never been captured in a single image until recently.

This giant sequoia stands 247 feet tall and measures 45,000 cubic feet in volume. The trunk alone measures 27 feet and the branches hold 2 billion needles (more than any tree on the planet).

This picture took a team of photographers from Nat Geo, 32 days and stitching together 126 different photos to make.

New biology app pinpoints famous research, history, people & places near you.

(Very cool!)

http://bit.ly/1z4bKEN

"In a place where rainfall averages two inches a year, rocks are being shoved around by mechanisms typically seen in arctic climes."