After weeks of unseasonally blistering heat, the background of fluffy white clouds behind the Royal Exhibition Building was a welcome sight...

Photo: Meg Lomax  Source: Museum Victoria

... as was the rain that bucketed down from them.

Photo: Meg Lomax  Source: Museum Victoria

Good job that those big water storage tanks are being installed under the REB western forecourt as the second phase of the archaeological excavation that is happening there at the moment. The tanks will be able to capture up to 900,000 litres of rainwater from the roof of the building to sustain the surrounding fountains and gardens. Have a look at the World Heritage, World Futures blog for more information about the progress of the project.

Meanwhile, a more modest vessel was capturing (or not, judging by the puddles on either side) excess rainwater in the foyer of the Discovery Centre today.

Photo: Meg Lomax  Source: Museum Victoria

Resident Discovery Centre chameleon Leon did something really weird this morning - he just about doubled his size.

Photo: Nicole Davis  Source: Museum Victoria

We know he can flatten himself out to increase his height to look all tough and menacing to rival males or predators, but this morning, he was both twice his size in height, and width. He looked like he was about to explode. Or that mysteriously overnight he had been replaced by an entirely different, larger animal. His colours were also really, really dark.

We panicked, thinking he was ill, and phoned one of his keepers in the Live Exhibits department and told her that he was big and fat - she immediately asked if he was really dark too. We said yes. She told us not to worry about him exploding - apparently he has been known to do this of a morning; he will stretch himself out and puff himself up to maximise the surface area of his skin so he can absorb as much light as possible to warm himself up - presumably the darker he is the more light he will absorb as well.

So, today we learned yet another interesting thing about chameleons... although, fat and puffy isn't exactly how I'd like to look while sunning myself on the beach...

Photo: Nicole Davis  Source: Museum Victoria

4 - 11 October was Senior's Week in Victoria, and to celebrate, Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum offered a series of 'Internet for Seniors' sessions, where seniors had the opportunity to come into the centre for a two-hour session to learn about and practice on those new-fangled computer-machines and that 'information-superhighway' (as one of our distinguished students called it) that is the internet.

Although many came into the sessions with deep concerns, for example that they might break the internet, our seniors came away fom the sessions having proved that its never too late to learn a new skill and with an expanded vocabulary including such new words as 'website', 'email', 'blog', 'laptop' and 'mouse'.

Well, mouse isn't quite a new word, but hopefully if they understood its alternative meaning correctly they won't go home and try and sick the cat onto it...

Photo: Nicole Davis  Source: Museum Victoria

What?

Photo: Meg Lomax  Source: Museum Victoria

No really, there is an explanation...

So, the enquirer who inspired Philip's posting below about the yellow and worm-like beastie was standing in the centre having his planarian identified when he noticed our "pre-loved" stuffed quoll, sitting high up on a shelf, leering down on us all. And by pre-loved, I mean dusty and earless. We brought him down from his position on high so the enquirer could do a bit of leering back. It was a leer-off. I think the quoll won.

The quoll remained down with us for the next few hours, during which the Museum's Manager for Corporate Risk and OH&S wandered past and also could not help but be drawn in by the quoll's extremely intense gaze... or maybe it was just his dusty and earless appearance, since the subsequent question was: "When was the last time that quoll was vacuumed?"

Said quoll is now out the back of the centre awaiting his chariot/goods-trolley to the "Day Spa"/Preparation Department for some apparently much-needed R&R (restoration and rejuvenation).

Back in April this year the Museum ran a children's activity celebrating the launch of the new Dinosaur Walk exhibition where kids could make their very own dinosaur masks. Discovery Centre staff member Jo was particularly impressed with this activity and had a go herself - her results are well-documented in my earlier post, Bad-Jo-Jo-A-Saurus.

As the mask-making activity went down so well with both Jo and the kids, a similar activity (among many others) was developed for the recent winter school holidays to celebrate the opening of the blockbuster Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition A Day in Pompeii, where kids were able to construct their own Roman gladiator helmets.

Once again, the activity proved popular with both the kids and the staff - witness below Discovery Centre volunteer staff member Susan, eagerly awaiting the thumbs-up or thumbs-down from the Emperor...

Photo: Meg Lomax  Source: Museum Victoria