Event 2- Museum of Jurassic Technology

I am pictured in the middle with glasses on, with my other DESMA 9 friends with me

For my second event I attended the museum of Jurassic technology on a Saturday afternoon. My eyes were opened to all the weird and wonderful technological advances our world has gone through since the Jurassic period. The museum was really strange to me, it was in the middle of century city and had a very small entrance/ was very noticeable to anyone walking or driving past. However once you step foot into the museum you’re complete taken into another period in time.  It is a very oddly laid out building with many hallways, corridors and small rooms, which worked to its advantage I think. In a way I’m sure many people miss some of the rooms on display in the museum however every room, corridor or hallway was based on a different exhibit. The one interesting thing about the museum is there is not phones, photography or video allowed near the exhibits. I think this is a smart move by the museum because the viewers are not distracted by anyone else and can really just immerse themselves in the exhibits. The different exhibits were very interesting and opened my eyes to how we have evolved from the Jurassic period.

My favourite exhibit was the medical exhibit, where they displayed the different practices of the medical world in the Jurassic period.  There were a few interesting practices like how to treat whopping cough, or thrush or my favourite love. One technique is a ducks breath was used to children afflicted with thrush- by placing a bill of a live duck or goose in the mouth of the affected child for an extended period of time.  Nowadays there is different creams or anti-biotic treatments for thrush for different children affected to take, and this would not be possible without technological advances. My favourite is Muryam’s (ants) eggs as an antidote to love. This medical technique was used when they believed that love was a disease, that I find humorous as love nowadays is something everyone strives to find and will give a lot up for.  The scientific explanation to the administration of ant’s eggs as the antidote for love lies within the chemical composition of the ant’s pupae- The pupae contains naloxone hydrochloride that exhibits marked anamorphic (endorphin inhibiting) by effectively blocking the opioid receptor sites in the brain without producing the antagonistic response- therefore blocking the uptake of the chemical compositions of love.

 

All these techniques were taken seriously in the Jurassic period, and there form of natural medicine connected them to the world. The technological advances in medicine nowadays as seen in week 4 have taken major leaps and bounds to be where we are today. The administration of different pills versus the use of natural products is a big comparison that we can see today.  Also, the different illnesses or diseases that are treatable due to research and technology today is vastly different, like the love example above. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the museum of Jurassic technology, as I would have never known how technological advances in medicine have changed our lives.

Sources:

Harding, Mary. “Oral Thrush. Causes, Symptoms & Treatment of Oral Thrush.” Patient.info, Patient.info, patient.info/health/fungal-infections/oral-thrush-yeast-infection.

“Jurassic Period Information and Facts.” National Geographic, 6 Jan. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/jurassic/#close.

The Jurassic Period.” Basic Flight Physics, www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/jurassic/jurassic.php.

The Museum Of Jurassic Technology, www.mjt.org/.

“Top 20 Medical Technology Advances: Medicine in the Future.” The Medical Futurist, 15 Jan. 2018, medicalfuturist.com/20-potential-technological-advances-in-the-future-of-medicine-part-i/.

Images:

“Baroque Viola Da Gamba at The Museum of Jurassic Technology.” Curating Los Angeles, 27 May 2011, curatingla.com/cla/2011/05/26/baroque-viola-da-gamba-at-the-museum-of-jurassic-technology/.

“Love Potion Antidote - Glass Bottle Cork Necklace - Potion Vial Charm - Liquid Shimmer - Magic Spells.” Pinterest, 14 Mar. 2016, www.pinterest.com.au/pin/506162445602058198/?lp=true.