Any visitor to Luke Jerram’s glass microbiology exhibition would be pleasantly surprised to see lethal pathogens sculpted in delicate glassworks that are unsettlingly fragile and transparent. His work is the first attempt to provide a detailed three-dimensional representation of microbiology in glass, and the Scientific American boasts, “You’ve never really seen a virus until you see this.” (1)

First developed in 2004, Jerram’s glass viruses have traveled to critical acclaim and commercial success in more than 10 cities including New York, London, Madrid, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo and Tel Aviv. 

Jerram aimed to represent viruses in their natural colorless states. “Early on in my research I discovered that viruses have no color as they are smaller than the wavelength of light,” said Jerram. “Because I’m colorblind, I’m interested in how we see the world and in exploring the edges of perception.” (1)

by Noah Schlottman '16

Authentic rock music, Creature Casts, wind drawings, the hydrology of Mars, and Brown STEAM all converged in a phenomenal event focused on “Pushing the Membrane” between science and art. Gina Roberti '14 put together the panel and presentations as part of the Gallery Opening for a new Science Center exhibit displaying her work. "As scientists, I believe we have a fundamental responsibility to communicate our research to those outside our discipline, to share the knowledge and engage with a broader audience," Gina expressed. "As an aspiring educator and artist, I believe creativity and creative arts expression is one of the main avenues over which this can happen."  

For any of you scientists with a “creative edge,” five students showcased their projects on creative communication in the sciences to a full audience in the Science Center on Wednesday, November 20th. Their work lay at the intersection between science and art, but all approached these crossroads from different perspectives. Find out more (in case you missed it, or were there but want to know more) after the jump!