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  • We're in the antler room, part of the Mammal Division here at the Field Museum,

  • and there are lots of antlers.

  • And also some things that don't have antlers, like horses.

  • (Neighs)

  • Henry Trochez, @henry_trochez, asks:

  • I met a four year old fan whose father told me that she loved watching The Brain Scoop, especially the wolf dissection videos.

  • When I asked her if watching the Brain Scoop made her want to be a scientist when she grew up, she said, "yeah!"

  • And that she also wanted to be a dolphin trainer. And a mommy.

  • And the president.

  • Veronika, @Veronik95818950, asks:

  • Who comes up with those vs the long and Latin. And how?

  • Just to clarify, I think by "street name" you mean "common name."

  • "Street name" makes it sound like when you call something a dog, which is actually Canis lupus, you're referring to some kind of weird drug or something.

  • The common names come around mostly from folk etymology.

  • You have a guinea pig, which is a small rodent, but it's more closely related to capybaras than pigs.

  • And it's also not from Guinea; it's from South America, so that ultimately leads to a lot of confusion overall.

  • That's why scientists and the scientific community refer to the scientific name so we all know what we are talking about across language borders.

  • Skyen, @tbskyen, asks:

  • Ultimately and idealistically museums offer a better understanding of our world

  • and hopefully inspire a deeper appreciation for all of the rocks and plants and animals and people within it.

  • The world has not and will not exist forever. Species have abundantly risen and fallen over millions of years.

  • The tides evolving from splashing molten seas to the calm and polluted oceans of our current waters.

  • We've got a limited time here alive on this planet,

  • and how we choose to show appreciation for all the biological and technological advancements required in placing us here and now

  • can be informed by how much we contextualize ourselves within something that is so much greater than the individual.

  • Panda-Escapades asks:

  • I'd say you two should start hanging out a little bit more. Don't wait for the museum to make the first move.

  • Maybe go out a couple of times: go on a few dates, dinner and a movie... see where it goes!

  • Brittany Hardy asks:

  • For example, I am doing a research project on bats and want to know what it would take to approach a museum to look at specimens.

  • This answer is totally not glamorous but it is practical:

  • I would check out that museum's website, go to the staff directory and find out who the collection manager is for the department in which you want to do research.

  • So if you're studying bats, find out who the collections manager of zoology or mammalogy is and then you contact them.

  • Collections managers are responsible for processing loans, meaning they loan out specimens to other researchers, universities and museums, and they also accept loans for the same purpose.

  • They also facilitate researchers coming to the collections and studying so that's where you come in.

  • Arne Asada, ‏@tacotv69, asks:

  • Probably not.

  • Did he have two heads? Extra limbs?

  • Was he particularly aerodynamic?

  • Did he have fire breathing abilities?

  • If not, then I probably don't want him.

  • Nick Ulivieri, ‏@ChiPhotoGuy, asks:

  • The natural history of food!

  • It could talk about the ways our diets have changed as we've developed new technologies and different ways to prepare our food.

  • How food as a necessary substance can have negative or positive implications on our longevity.

  • It could talk about the trade of food, how people have fought over food. It could talk about all different aspects of food.

  • I don't really know. I was just kind of hungry when I started writing this.

  • Ronan Hart asks:

  • I probably would have told myself to take more math, because I think it's really useful when trying to understand things in an intangible or ambiguous context.

  • I also would have told myself that I really did look bad with pink hair.

  • And that prom doesn't matter.

  • And that I should read more books and go to class more often and eat dinner with my family every night.

  • Don't make farting noises with your mouth in A.P. History.

  • Don't eat your lunch in the bathroom.

  • If you're one of those kids that eats lunch in the bathroom, just cut it out right now.

  • It's, like, not even sanitary.

We're in the antler room, part of the Mammal Division here at the Field Museum,

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