The exhibit “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” was created by the American Museum of Natural History and is currently on display at the Museum of Science in Boston. The exhibit looks at mythical creatures from all over the world, from Greek legends of cyclopean giants to modern sightings of Bigfoot. It also compares similar regional myths, such as contrasting European images of the unicorn with similar Asian legends.

But the cornerstone of the exhibit examines the real inspirations behind these mythical creatures, displaying various models, animals, and remains. For example, the aeropyornis, a giant, now-extinct bird likely inspired the legends of the roc. Fossilized remains of the protoceratops found in the Gobi desert resemble descriptions of the griffin, alleged denizens of that region. Legend claimed that the skull once mounted in an Austrian town hall belonged to a slain dragon, but was, in fact, the head of a woolly rhinoceros. It might risk shattering your childhood dreams, but it’s also a fascinating object lesson in how “proof” of a creature’s existence has been misinterpreted as well a look at the genuinely remarkable animals that have tread the Earth.

The exhibit will be at the Boston Museum of Science through March 22, 2009.

Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids [American Museum of Natural History via Biology in Science Fiction]

Potter's props and things will be traveling the United States, but they're starting in that Chicago science museum... which makes perfect sense what with all the science in Potter films. The props and costumes from the film are being dubbed "iconic artifacts." There's no doubt that Harry Potter has influenced our culture greatly and should have some place in museums, but this money-making scheme to pollute my favorite museum (home of the creepy hall of babies) with hordes of children is upsetting. More importantly, how is this teaching anyone about science? Has our world blurred the differences between science and magic so much that we'll display Harry's wand and call it technology?

Do I want to go? Sure. But I'm a little thrown off by the location. It's kind of amazing how magic is truly taking over society, what with vampires and wizards, just as real science literacy is on the wane. I'm going out on a limb here, but maybe it's only a matter of time before children stop being able to distinguish between magic and actual feasible tech.

You can buy tickets at the Museum Of Science And Industry for the Chicago opening on April 30 2009.

[Harry Potter Exhibit]

In a museum full of dioramas — stuffed skunks and harmless alligators — the thrills have to come from somewhere. The Climate Change exhibit that was installed on Saturday conceptualizes the changes we're forcing on the planet with facts, figures, and taxidermy. After it is displayed here in New York, it'll embark on a world tour.

The exhibition has already come in for some griping: The Times picked on the selective facts and a misleading timeline of the exhibit, as if something next to a gift shop was going to address the issue in a sophisticated way. The tragic world tour begins with a wall-sized version of the Keeling Graph, illustrating the exponential rise in human-produced carbon emissions. Further on, an entire virtual installation asks you to determine how many trees you're going to plant. You can see the effect of your decision on the world's atmosphere on the accompanying viewscreen.

Opposite a wall of notes from people offering their own solutions (left), is a display of the eventual effects of global warming. Manhattan is swallowed up by the onset of water from the ice caps melting. Because a child isn't able to reuse clothing, we have to burn more fossil fuels, and you can see the rings of several trees that suffer as a result.

Overload sets in somewhere between the caps font on everything and the fortieth SUV. Our rich coastal areas will take the most punishment, bringing a vast refugee problem, along with a vast unemployed actor situation, to the middle of the country. The world will change if we don't. Curator Michael Oppenheimer convinces us of the fact that polar bears and other bear species will merge, creating the attractive prospect of a super-bear...strolling through our trash. But hey, climate change might not be all hurricanes and droughts, you know.

What crowds there were in the exhibit — it costs 9 dollars extra to learns how we will all die, per person — were watching a video full of economists that explained, "It's not too late." A second short documentary had no economists, just nonprofit experts opining about what kind of limits should be imposed on the entire world unilaterally, or at least developed countries. For most of the afternoon, this film went unwatched. One sad movie in a depressing exhibition is enough.

While there's a lot of talk about the costs of not doing something, the cost of doing something isn't enumerated. If, as some observers are suggesting, biotechnology could manufacture "carbon-eating" plants, could our strategy of burning coal with reckless abandon actually pay off? Then again, that might just be the carbon emissions talking.

Climate Change Faster Than Anticipated [Telegraph]

Murakami seems determined to remind us that cartoony characters aren't innocent. His massive sculptures Disney-esque characters include a sculpture of a woman with enormous breasts squirting streams of milk from fist-sized nipples and a man who looks like Cloud from Final Fantasy shooting a swirling plume of jizz into the heavens. But you'll also find Murakami's tamer t-shirt designs, wallpapers, animation (including a Kanye West video), and the Louis Vuitton bags he designed. One massive wall contains a stunning piece called Tan Tan Bo Puking (pictured up top), which features the dying moments of a bizarre Japanime god as he voids his stomach and bowels during death.

However, what really caught our eye was his Second Mission Project ko2 Advanced (Human Type) piece. It consists of three different sculptures, each one of a female mecha in the stages of transforming from a humanoid into a fighter jet. It's nearly life-sized and contains a ton of stunning detail. If there's any way you can get to this exhibit I'd highly recommend it, even if it's for this piece alone. Watch Murakami discuss it in the video below, and you can check out the other parts of his video tour here.

The MOCA didn't allow photography, but that didn't stop some people (including us) from sneaking a few camera phone photos, which you can see in the gallery above along with some NSFW images. You can also check out Eric Nakamura's Flickr set, which documents almost the entire exhibit. Just as a bit of a tip, though... the museums sell the book/catalog of the exhibit for $65, and it's tempting to walk home with it while you try to digest all the art you've just seen. However, you can snag it for only $40 at Amazon, with free shipping. If you can't make it, or the exhibit won't be traveling anywhere near you, it's the next best thing.

Top image is Tan Tan Bo Puking - a.k.a. Gero Tan, 2002 ©2002 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

The exhibit consists of four zones:
Zone 1: Aliens as imagination. This includes everything from movies in aliens, the movie Alien, and interactive games wher eyou get to stomp on animated monsters.
Zone 2: The science of aliens. Space exploration. Do aliens exist? If they do, where and how? This zone will tell ya.
Zone 3: A giant interactive display that shows you the world of aliens.
Zone 4: Communicating with aliens. How to send and receive signals to other planets. Images by Miraikan

Miraikan main page (Japanese)