The new £78 million Darwin Centre at London's Natural History Museum is about to open.
Shaped like a giant coccoon, it is 92ft high and houses 17 million insects and 3 million plants on its eight floors.
Beetles collected by a young Charles Darwin on his 1831 voyage on the Beagle can be viewed in the new centre.
One of the plants in the new building was once thought to grow sheep as its fruit.
The cocoon: Amazing new Darwin Centre home for 17million insects and 3million plants at London's Natural History Museum
By Mike Swain
9th September 2009
The Daily Mirror
At 92ft high, it looks like it could hatch a giant bug straight out of a monster movie
But this spectacular concrete megacocoon is the new £78million Darwin Centre, a global treasure trove of 17million insects and three million plants.
As part of the new wing of London's Natural History Museum, it will exhibit everything from giant tarantulas to 3ft-high poisonous plants.
There will be interactive displays and films, and visitors can watch scientists at work in their state-of-the-art labs.
Charles Darwin with his son, William, in 1842. Darwin sailed the world on HMS Beagle in the 1830s, including a visit to the Galapagos Islands. The wildlife on the islands led to him creating his Theory of Evolution
Paul Bowers, the project's director, said: "The cocoon expresses the scale of what we are trying to do. We want to show how scientists really work."
The eight-storey centre will be kept at 17C and 45% humidity to preserve 300-year-old specimens. It is the biggest expansion of the museum - famous for its dinosaur exhibits - since it opened 130 years ago. Four million people are expected to visit a year. Prince William, Prince Charles and Sir David Attenborough open the centre next Tuesday.
Moths and fruit flies could soon replace millions of mice used every year for scientific testing after biologists found key cells react in the same way when attacked by infections.
Beetles collected by a young Charles Darwin on his 1831 voyage on the Beagle can be viewed in the new centre .
Strange plant, the Lamb of Tartary - obtained in 1698 - is on display. It was once thought to grow sheep as its fruit.
Plants gathered by voyager Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) are contained within a bound volume in the new Darwin Centre.
mirror.co.uk
Shaped like a giant coccoon, it is 92ft high and houses 17 million insects and 3 million plants on its eight floors.
Beetles collected by a young Charles Darwin on his 1831 voyage on the Beagle can be viewed in the new centre.
One of the plants in the new building was once thought to grow sheep as its fruit.
The cocoon: Amazing new Darwin Centre home for 17million insects and 3million plants at London's Natural History Museum
By Mike Swain
9th September 2009
The Daily Mirror
At 92ft high, it looks like it could hatch a giant bug straight out of a monster movie
But this spectacular concrete megacocoon is the new £78million Darwin Centre, a global treasure trove of 17million insects and three million plants.
As part of the new wing of London's Natural History Museum, it will exhibit everything from giant tarantulas to 3ft-high poisonous plants.
There will be interactive displays and films, and visitors can watch scientists at work in their state-of-the-art labs.
Charles Darwin with his son, William, in 1842. Darwin sailed the world on HMS Beagle in the 1830s, including a visit to the Galapagos Islands. The wildlife on the islands led to him creating his Theory of Evolution
Paul Bowers, the project's director, said: "The cocoon expresses the scale of what we are trying to do. We want to show how scientists really work."
The eight-storey centre will be kept at 17C and 45% humidity to preserve 300-year-old specimens. It is the biggest expansion of the museum - famous for its dinosaur exhibits - since it opened 130 years ago. Four million people are expected to visit a year. Prince William, Prince Charles and Sir David Attenborough open the centre next Tuesday.
Moths and fruit flies could soon replace millions of mice used every year for scientific testing after biologists found key cells react in the same way when attacked by infections.
Beetles collected by a young Charles Darwin on his 1831 voyage on the Beagle can be viewed in the new centre .
Strange plant, the Lamb of Tartary - obtained in 1698 - is on display. It was once thought to grow sheep as its fruit.
Plants gathered by voyager Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) are contained within a bound volume in the new Darwin Centre.
mirror.co.uk
