Mummy....I ratted on you!

Today was splendid! When we finally arrived in New York....via a GPS induced scenic tour of New Jersey, we arrived at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Carl Mehling greeted us all at the entrance to the museum and led us through the vast complex of corridors, elevators and exhibition areas...leaving little chance of us to orientate ourselves in the maze.

Dr Egerton (Jnr.) got started on working through our fossils collected last summer, while Dr Egerton (Snr.) explored the galleries of the AMNH. Leaving the Drs Egerton, I disappeared to find the AMNH paleontology collections manager to discuss excavations, loans, synchrotrons and suchlike...but then, haloed in a stream of light from flicking fluorescents was a cup of sheer delight, right at eye level, lidless eyes were starring back at me (with no eye-balls to boot!), for there I spied cupped in delicate wine glass perched on a shelf above Carl's desk, the mummified remains of a rat! Assuming that Carl did not intend to drink the said desiccated rodent, I realized I was staring at a potentially useful experiment....one that involved the mummified remains of the AMNH rat and a particle accelerator....

As I cupped the weightless remains in my hand, you could see that Carl was very proud of his mummified rat...as well he should be! The tale of this particular rat will be broadcast on later blogs....fun!