Latest news with #ClareBrown
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Clean bill of health for giant bird skeleton
The giant skeletal remains of a rare bird stored at Leeds Museum have been given a clean bill of health by curators. The skeleton of the heavy-footed moa, an enormous flightless bird which once roamed parts of New Zealand 570 years ago, were first brought to the city in 1868. At the time the skeleton was the only example of the species in the country outside the British Museum in London. The remains have now been carefully cleaned by experts and checked over for signs of deterioration to ensure the bird can continue to be seen by future generations. According to Leeds Museum, the bird was brought to West Yorkshire after it was acquired by Henry Denny, the then curator of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. Like many objects in the Leeds collection, it was damaged in 1941 after Philosophical Hall - then the city's museum - was bombed during World War II. In 2011 curators rediscovered the bird's bones and, after a full restoration, they were put on display in the Leeds City Museum's collectors cabinet. Driven to extinction by hunting and deforestation around 570 years ago, the species was one of the largest birds which ever existed, standing almost 6ft (1.8m) tall and weighing more than 300 lbs (136kg). Clare Brown, Leeds Museums and Galleries' curator of natural sciences, said: "The moa is a truly historic specimen which really captures the imagination and brings a completely different world inhabited by extinct and bizarre giants to life. "Having animals like this on display is not only a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era, it's a thought-provoking reminder of our responsibility to do what we can to protect the natural world both now and in the future." The moa is one of a number of extinct species on display at the museum including a dodo and giant Irish elk. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. More stories like this Rare butterfly collection goes on display Museum launches 'choose your own price' admission Stuffed hippo helps reveal science of whiskers
BBC News
21-05-2025
- BBC News
The GAA Social with the family of Sean Brown
On this week's GAA Social podcast, Thomas and Oisin are joined by the family of Sean Brown, a father of six, was abducted and shot dead by members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) as he locked gates at Bellaghy GAA club in was 61 years old when he family have sought to have a public inquiry heard into his murder and earlier in May, the Court of Appeal affirmed a previous court ruling, compelling the UK government to hold a public inquiry into his government said it intends to seek a Supreme Court appeal over the wife Bridie and daughter Clare talk about Sean's life and legacy on the GAA Social and you can listen on BBC Sounds right here.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- BBC News
The GAA Social The life & legacy of Sean Brown. Explained by his daughter Clare and 87-year-old wife Bridie.
In 1997, less than a year before the Good Friday Agreement, Sean Brown was locking the gates of Bellaghy GAA club. He was abducted and killed by loyalists, his body dumped beside his burnt out Ford Sierra. 28 years later, the Brown family continue to search for answers. Bridie Brown lost her husband, she also lost her son Damian. The entire Brown family were flanked by 10,000 people in the Co Derry village recently, and their search for 'what' and 'why' continues. But who was Sean Brown? What was he like? Why was he so important to the broad Bellaghy community, a friend of Seamus Heaney and how has the family moved on? This podcast talks to his daughter Clare and his wife Bridie. It is, a powerful listen.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ancient Egyptian breadcrumb found in museum store
A crumb of bread entombed thousands of years ago alongside an ancient Egyptian mummy has been discovered among a collection of previously uncatalogued items. The microscopic morsel was unearthed during a volunteer project at Leeds Discovery Centre and is being recorded in a national database so it can be viewed and accessed by experts and the public. Leeds Museums and Galleries curator of natural sciences Clare Brown, who supervised the project, said the breadcrumb was found alongside a host of other remarkable items. She said: "Discovering Egyptian bread was particularly surprising, and the fact we can connect the Leeds collection to bread baked thousands of years ago on a different continent is fascinating." Believed to be up to 3,000 years old, records show the bread was originally found in Thebes. In the 19th Century it was collected and preserved by an unknown Victorian microscopist and has since been stored as part of a collection of hundreds of previously uncatalogued slides. Stored in small, wooden trays, the items are being reviewed by volunteer Stephen Crabtree, who began working with the museum to study fossilised plants. While cataloguing the slides he also found a mote of dust from the Krakatoa volcanic eruption of 1883. It is thought the speck landed on the deck of a ship called the Arabella, which was sailing 1,000 miles to the west of the Indonesian island. Specimens of microscopic sea creatures found by the HMS Challenger are also among the array of slides. The ship left Kent in 1872 on a mission to circumnavigate the globe and explore the deep seas for the first time. Returning three and a half years later, the crew had gathered marine plants and animals, sea-floor deposits and rocks, which changed scientific understanding of the oceans. Examples found in the Leeds collection today include small disc-like fossils called orbitolites, which were gathered off the coast of Fiji. Ms Brown added: "We don't know exactly how or where many of these slides were collected, but we do know that each one of them was meticulously preserved for study and posterity by a diligent microscopist more than a century ago. "That in itself is evidence of how important they thought these specimens were and how much they wanted future generations to see and be inspired by them." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here. Museum to stay open as council budget finalised Museum showcases 200-year-old children's books Leeds Discovery Centre
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ancient Egyptian breadcrumb found in museum store
A crumb of bread entombed thousands of years ago alongside an ancient Egyptian mummy has been discovered among a collection of previously uncatalogued items. The microscopic morsel was unearthed during a volunteer project at Leeds Discovery Centre and is being recorded in a national database so it can be viewed and accessed by experts and the public. Leeds Museums and Galleries curator of natural sciences Clare Brown, who supervised the project, said the breadcrumb was found alongside a host of other remarkable items. She said: "Discovering Egyptian bread was particularly surprising, and the fact we can connect the Leeds collection to bread baked thousands of years ago on a different continent is fascinating." Believed to be up to 3,000 years old, records show the bread was originally found in Thebes. In the 19th Century it was collected and preserved by an unknown Victorian microscopist and has since been stored as part of a collection of hundreds of previously uncatalogued slides. Stored in small, wooden trays, the items are being reviewed by volunteer Stephen Crabtree, who began working with the museum to study fossilised plants. While cataloguing the slides he also found a mote of dust from the Krakatoa volcanic eruption of 1883. It is thought the speck landed on the deck of a ship called the Arabella, which was sailing 1,000 miles to the west of the Indonesian island. Specimens of microscopic sea creatures found by the HMS Challenger are also among the array of slides. The ship left Kent in 1872 on a mission to circumnavigate the globe and explore the deep seas for the first time. Returning three and a half years later, the crew had gathered marine plants and animals, sea-floor deposits and rocks, which changed scientific understanding of the oceans. Examples found in the Leeds collection today include small disc-like fossils called orbitolites, which were gathered off the coast of Fiji. Ms Brown added: "We don't know exactly how or where many of these slides were collected, but we do know that each one of them was meticulously preserved for study and posterity by a diligent microscopist more than a century ago. "That in itself is evidence of how important they thought these specimens were and how much they wanted future generations to see and be inspired by them." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here. Museum to stay open as council budget finalised Museum showcases 200-year-old children's books Leeds Discovery Centre
