Thank you! What Happens Next and Beyond Extinction!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 12:25:33 AM

Hello, everyone!

WE DID IT! THANK YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH! I'm celebrating today by reviewing Cretaceous Amber specimens!

What Happens Next?

During the next 14 days, we will continue preparations for the first production run of Age of Dinosaurs. At the end of this 14-day period, Kickstarter will release the campaign funds and we’ll move forward to the next stage of production.

In mid-November, we will begin gathering addresses through BackerKit. We’ll also make a number of additional items available as add-ons, including the special Age of Dinosaurs T-Shirt, additional Mini Museums (for those of you who would like to add an extra), Illuminated LED Stands, and other items from the shop. More details to come about this soon!

Along the way to shipping, we'll have production updates to keep you informed about various milestones in the project and share additional behind the scenes details about specimens like those pictured above. I'll also share details about my trip to Téngchōng, China and another stop I made earlier this summer in the Himalayas. 🏔️

Beyond Extinction

Next week, we'll begin the setting pages up for the Companion Guide and putting the finishing touches on the essays you'll find inside. Thinking about the work to come, I thought I'd take a moment to share another wonderful book recently published by my friend Wolfgang Grulke: Beyond Extinction: The Eternal Ocean. Climate Change & the Continuity of Life.

This book is the third in his series about life in the ocean. You might recall that I mentioned the first book during the Second Edition campaign:

Beyond Extinction came out while I was in China, but I was lucky enough to see a preview and it is magnificent. So, I sent Wolfgang a few questions, and I have to admit it was fun to play the interviewer for a change!

What inspired you to write this book?

This new book BEYOND EXTINCTION is the third in my trilogy - all loosely based and inspired my fossil collection and thousands of dives in the world's oceans. The first book HETEROMORPH focused on one of the most prolific and bizarre life forms in the ocean to go extinct. The second, NAUTILUS, focused on the longest living complex animal that survived five extinctions and continues to thrive, almost unchanged from its original form. The third book BEYOND EXTINCTION encourages readers to look beyond extinction and celebrate the amazing continuity of life, especially in the eternal ocean. It takes a fresh look at evolution and includes a fold-out chart that illustrates the continuity.

My studies suggest that the continuity of extinction is a vital part of evolution - without which there would be no 'white space' for new life to evolve into. For example, at the time the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct the largest mammal was the size of a shrew. Mammals evolved into the white space left by the dinosaurs' demise. We would not exist if it wasn't for this and previous extinctions.

How long did it take you to write the whole trilogy?

The trilogy took me four years to write and would not have been possible without a world-wide network of like-minded people who contributed their ideas, debate, photos and artwork.

My fossil collection was an essential component, and my tribal art collection from the Pacific Islands enhanced the discussion of the effect of natural materials, such as Nautilus shells, on the development of human thought and culture- for example, the effect of spirals and 'the golden section' on art and architecture.

What are your favorite memories of the ocean?

Wonderful question! My favourite ocean memories will always be diving with the big ocean beasts (really close up amongst schools of sharks in caves off the coast of South Africa) and discovering the smallest denizens on coral reefs, and watching how their ecosystems interact. Most of the marine photos in the new book are a result of these dives.

More details about Beyond Extinction can be found on Wolfgang's website, including links to purchase the book on Amazon: http://beyondextinction.atone.org/home

Thank You!

As always, thank you all so very much for your support! We are so excited to move on to the next phase of this project and to share more with all of you!

Now, it’s back to work!

- Hans

5 Days Left! Greg and Mara Explore the Touch version of Age of Dinosaurs! Share the Love - Help Us Send Mini Museums to Kids Around the World!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Oct 10, 2019 at 11:43:08 PM

Hello, everyone!

There are just five days left in the campaign and I'm happy to say that everything here is still on schedule! The specimens for the run are nearly complete, so we should be on track to begin production once funds are released by Kickstarter near the end of the month!

Below are a few in-progress shots: 

We've even managed to get ahead on stamping the Certificates of Authenticity.  

In addition to the progress mentioned above, we're also ready to begin assembling the Touch version of Age of Dinosaurs. So, it seemed like good opportunity to take a closer look at the Touch since so many of you have backed it this time around!  (THANK YOU!)

Greg and Mara Explore the Age of Dinosaurs Touch Version! 

The Touch is a special version of the Mini Museum where all of the specimens are accessible for careful study.  The specimens are arranged in order inside acrylic specimen jars which are easy to open.

Not to keep the fun all to ourselves, we decided to ask a few friends to stop by MMHQ to explore the Touch! Allow me to introduce Greg and his daughter Mara!

Greg is a local history teacher who has a Third Edition Mini Museum in his classroom, which he received through our Educational Donation Program. His daughter Mara is an aspiring paleontologist, so she was eager to investigate the specimens in the Age of Dinosaurs!

As you can see above, Mara found that the most huggable of the specimens from the Touch Version was coprolite. Scientifically speaking, coprolites are fossilized poop. Over millions of years, minerals, such as chalcedony and quartz, replaced the original organic material. This process creates a rich, colorful matrix that allows us to study the diet and lifestyle of long-extinct creatures.

Like coprolite, each of the specimens within the Touch Version has a unique appearance and texture that can be experienced firsthand.

Once out of the Touch Version case, the specimen jars can be gently opened for direct examination of the specimens.

You will find that the porous bone of a Hadrosaur is quite different from the smooth surface and jagged edge of a Mosasaur tooth. These details are especially interesting to view under magnification. Above, Greg and Mara are looking at a fragment of Atlasaurus using the Carson eFlex Digital Microscope.

This particular microscope provides a good range of depth and magnification, allowing in-depth exploration of specimens in the Touch and Acrylic Mini Museums. Focus is adjusted by twisting the microscope, easily allowing explorers of all ages to view the specimens on their devices for further investigation. 

These amazing images tend to draw a crowd in our office, even though we see these specimens every day. Grant and Andrea snuck into the photoshoot (again and again) because they just couldn't stop themselves from coming over to take a closer look.

As is the case with all versions of the Mini Museum, the Touch comes with our full Companion Guide to spark further investigations and adventures, and hopefully a few cuddles on the couch if you're lucky.

I want to thank Greg and Mara for stopping by to visit. It's always fun to see people interacting with the Mini Museum and hearing all the questions they have. What kinds of questions and comments do you get when people see your Mini Museums? Let us know in the comments!

Share the Love - Help Us Send Mini Museums to Kids Around the World!

As noted above, Greg received a Mini Museum for his classroom through the Educational Donation Program. Most of you know that this program provides access to  Mini Museums to schools and other organizations that work with children all at no cost (including shipping). We did a little analysis recently on the applications we've received over the years and found 85% of donations went to rural and low-income locations where access to science and history materials (not to mention museums) is incredibly limited.

Here are a few comments just to give you a sense of where these donations go:

• "Close to 60% of our students receive lunch at a free or reduced rate. A large majority of our children do not visit museums with their families because they simply cannot afford to take trips to cities, purchase tickets, etc. Our parents are, however, supportive of their children and want a prosperous and successful future for them."
• "We were previously a Title I school, however funds were restructured and we lost the ID for Title I. This was difficult because we still serve the same population of students, but with very limited funding. The staff does a great job reaching each student, by providing fun learning experiences, oftentimes funded from their own pocket."
• "We are a very rural school and many of our students come from low-income families. We are always looking for 'being there' experiences or ways we can bring learning to life for our learners."

Our next round of donations will begin after the first of the year and it would be a HUGE help if you could share the Age of Dinosaurs project with people who might be interested in helping out. Email, Facebook, Twitter, whatever you feel comfortable with! They don't need to pledge for a Mini Museum. Simply backing the t-shirt tier makes a BIG difference! 

As always, thank you all so very much for your support of the Mini Museum! We're all looking forward to the coming days and getting Age of Dinosaurs into production!

Now, it's back to work!

- Hans

P.S. I should also mention that the t-shirt will be available in BackerKit. That was a popular question early on, especially with people who are new to our Kickstarter campaigns!

14 Days Left! Revisiting Gratitude, Theo and the Mega Croc, Plus How do you like your T. Rex (Feather or Scales)? 🦖
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 02, 2019 at 12:04:04 PM

Hello, everyone!

I hope this message finds you well! We have 14 days left in the campaign, and I'm excited to say that everything is on schedule... Well, except for me! 😴 

I am still a bit jet-lagged from the time difference between Téngchōng, China and Northern Virginia, though it's improving a bit each day. Of course, one would think after traveling the entire circumference of the globe twice this year I'd be perfectly adjusted to having no timezone at all, but somehow that is not how circadian rhythms work! 

Sleepy as I might be, I am happy to report that the team is working on reviewing and cataloging the amber specimens I brought back. We will have a more in-depth view of these incredible pieces soon but I just had to share some of the quick pictures we were sharing internally this weekend; really beautiful inclusions!

I'll have more to share about this fascinating amber and my trip to Téngchōng as well as a few other places very soon, but right now I want to take a moment to recognize a special anniversary.

Revisiting Gratitude

Five years ago, on September 25, 2014, I posted a long update about the work we were doing to prepare for shipments of the First Edition. I also told the story of the Benefactors' Plate, the large black rectangle in MM1 which is really a microfiche that bears the names of each project backer.

I've been thinking a lot about that update this year and really everything that's transpired since then. Now here we are all together once again and I am truly amazed and humbled. We are all so grateful for your support of this project as well as every past project because you are the reason the Mini Museum exists.

This feeling of gratitude is something we think about each day when you send us messages or post online. It's something we think about when we're preparing a package for you, or even when we're just going through some really amazing and beautiful pictures.

I know I say this quite often but truly your support has changed my life as well as the lives over everyone here at Mini Museum. We work hard each day to live up to that, to make every Mini Museum the best it can be, but also to think about each one of you and all those who might find a sense of joy in discovering and exploring the Mini Museum with you.

MM4 Flashback: Theo and the Mega Croc

Speaking of reasons the Mini Museum exists and past projects, I wanted to take a moment to share a wonderful picture and story from MM4 backer Colin Rayburn and his son, Theo. Colin sent this to us earlier this year and I've been waiting for a good moment to share it with everyone.

"We are very excited to have the newest Mini Museum! While we were looking through the book, we realized that the picture for the Mega Croc on page 39 is from the National Museum of Natural History right down the street from our home here in Paris. So naturally, we had to take a picture with our piece of the Mega Croc & the whole Mega Croc. It's been a blast getting to teach our son Theo about all the specimens and then having the chance for him to meet the Mega Croc in person!"

Would you like to know which specimen is Theo's favorite? Of course you would!

Colin: "Well, I will start by saying he just turned three. Right now, "favorite" is a pretty fluid concept. I’ll give you the specimen and his response: It’s a toss-up between the Mega Croc (« rawer!! »), Lunar Highlands (« Moooon?! » followed by an exasperated « MAZING!! » which is amazing without an A), and also the piece of the Columbia which receives a « SPACEMAN??! WOooooowww! » In all, hard to say, but definitely one of those three."

Thank you so much for sharing this moment with all of us Colin!  I can't think of a better way to illustrate the meaning of the Mini Museum and why we are so grateful for everyone's support!

How do you like your T. rex? Fluffy like a baby chick or without feathers? 🦖

I thought I'd end this update with a look at some very cool science about dinosaur feathers.

If you're following us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you know that we posted a little survey about feathery Tyrannosaurus rex. If you'd like to weigh in on the topic, please leave a comment on this update!

While there is evidence that juveniles and related larger species had proto-feathers/filaments, it's unclear whether adult T. rex sported any plumage. Still, we thought it would be fun to play around with this illustration as the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, not to mention the fact that this topic also is part of a larger section on dinosaur evolution in the Companion Guide.

I'm not going to go too far into this in this update, but I do want to share the work of Dr. Julia Clarke. Dr. Clarke is a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Her work is truly a showcase of what modern paleontology is capable of telling us about evolution. I highly recommend her brief essay "Feathers Before Flight" as a primer on the current thinking around feather development, but that's just the beginning...

From the iridescent plumage of microraptors pictured above, the evolution of penguin feathers, and early avian vocal organs (bird song of the Mesozoic anyone?), reading Dr. Clarke's work is a joy for anyone looking to discover the beauty and variety of our world but also the connections across deep time.

This also happens to be a key idea behind the Age of Dinosaurs collection.

Every edition of the Mini Museum has a hidden structure. There are connections between the specimens because to paraphrase the great Alexander von Humboldt, "Everything is connected."

"In considering the study of physical phenomena, not merely in its bearings on the material wants of life, but in its general influence on the intellectual advancement of mankind, we find its noblest and most important result to be a knowledge of the chain of connection, by which all natural forces are linked together, and made mutually dependent upon each other; and it is the perception of these relations that exalts our views and ennobles our enjoyments."

~ Alexander von Humboldt, Cosmos: A Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 (1845)

And in what small way we can, we are attempting to live up to this grand idea in Age of Dinosaurs by exploring the deeply connected world of the Mesozoic Era. From the floor of the ocean to the roof of the world and the cycles of life that are written in the lives of individual creatures and entire species stretched across millions of years, I can't wait to share it with all of you!

So as always, thank you so very much for your « MAZING!! » support! ❤️ 

I would say "Now, it's back to work" but it's really time to go back to bed!

- Hans

The Story Behind Raptor Storytime and a Plug for David Silva's New Dinosaur Campaign!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 04:37:29 PM

Hello, everyone!

As Hans is in transit and hopefully getting some sleep in between, we thought we'd take the opportunity to have a little fun of our own by throwing a pitch for another campaign that is near and dear to our saurischian hearts and very close to making its goal! ❤️

- Stephanie, Andrea, Jamie, and Grant -- who likes to play with dinosaurs, but then who doesn't?

The Story Behind Raptor Storytime!

 Did you catch this little guy nibbling on the Companion Guide? This is his story... 📚

While preparing for the release, Hans asked us to think of a fun way to introduce the Companion Guide for Age of Dinosaurs. We had a lot of fun ideas, most of which involved setting dinosaurs loose in the library across the street, but then we realized we could use our very own Office Raptor, Marshall!

Marshall is an Atrociraptor marshalli. This species hails from the Late Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada. Known only from fragmentary remains, this dromaeosaur was fairly small and the fossil record has yet to reveal any evidence of their literary tastes.

Phillip Currie and David Varricchio's study of this dinosaur can be found online and also in the book Feathered Dragons: Studies on the Transition from Dinosaurs to Birds.

Our friend Marshall comes from David Silva's Beasts of the Mesozoic Collection. We backed his Dromaeosauridae campaign back in 2016 and when the raptors arrived they were all snapped up by Grant except for Marshall. We placed Marshall on this high plateau (shelf) alongside the resin stir-stick beast who needs a name. (Suggestions in the comments please!)

And as it turns out, David has just launched a new campaign focused on Ceratopsids!

We backed the campaign and we're looking forward to receiving some new friends for Marshall (and Grant). We also thought you might like to stop by and have a look at these incredible figures too. David is very close to reaching his goal and it would be fun if we could put him over the top together!

- Team Mini Museum 🦖

P.S. If you have any suggestions for an appropriate name for the resin stir-stick beast who needs a name, please leave them in the comments! Thank you!

FUNDED!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 10:02:15 AM

27 MINUTES!!! OMG, YOU GUYS!!!

Hello, everyone!

I hope this message finds you well wherever you are in the world! Depending on your location, it might seem strange to see a picture in the dark but it's still early morning in Téngchōng, China!

Téngchōng sits very close to the border of Myanmar (Burma). I spent the last six weeks here in the amber markets, working with miners, traders, and carvers to get just the right pieces for Age of Dinosaurs.

I feel so fortunate to have had this experience. I've met so many amazing people and I even had the chance to learn some of the craft myself from true masters. In a few hours, I'll be on my way back home to Northern Virginia with a deep feeling of gratitude!

I'll have more to share about this trip in an upcoming project update, but for the moment, let me just say thank you all so very much for your generous support!

Contacting Us

If you have specific questions about the project or your pledge, the best way to get in touch is to send an email to [email protected].

Once again, from the entire team at Mini Museum, thank you all for making this journey possible! I'll be back soon with another project update!

ROAR!

- Hans

P.S. Oh, and that highly specific funding goal of $263,904? It represents the estimated cubic miles of lava (1,100,000 cubic kilometers) released by the main Deccan Traps eruption at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Also, it appears I am missing out on a rousing game of "Food or Fossil" at MMHQ.