82: International Space Law & Taxidermy
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Crocodiles of the Church: A Taxidermy Tale
This chapter uncovers the intriguing history of taxidermy, focusing on the display of crocodiles in churches, particularly a notable specimen from 1534 in Italy. The conversation highlights the captivating lore surrounding these crocodiles, their questionable provenance, and their symbolism in religious contexts. With humor and curiosity, the speakers explore the connection between crocodiles and legends like that of Saint George, enhancing the understanding of their cultural significance.
What laws are there to worry about in the moon? And what does space law teach us about Earth law? And what can we learn about societies throughout history from the lens of stuffing dead animals?
Images we Talk About:
Orbiting Space Debris
Fallen Space Debris
Hanging Christian Crocodile
Hanging Christian Crocodile
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:02) International Space Law
(01:03:25) Taxidermy
(01:46:48) Outro
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We also learn about: The splash zone of intro to astronomy, space NCIS, the bedrock of 1967 outer space treaty, the first earthling in space (2 tortoises), countries are responsible for their damage and no WMDs, that big tangible moon in the sky, unprecedented lunar traffic this year, potential water ice on the moon could be the next big space race, there’s no moon water regulation, no nation can own the moon, buuuut can an individual - former ventriloquest and used car salesman own the moon?? god don’t call it “untapped resources on the moon”, you can’t own the moon but can you own its resources, there’s a legal officer for the UN officer of outer space affairs! we can allll frack the moon (except no one signed the treaty anyway), we can’t even agree to share moon resources One Day, only “safe and sustainable” space mining allowed, it doesn’t have to be legally binding to make countries want to follow it, a radio telescope on the far side of the moon would be SICK, sorry about all the space junk us 3 put up there, 90 metric tons of re-entry, suing nasa over space debris, if it launched from florida and hit florida it’s actually local state space law, satellite light pollution, satellites don’t die they just crash into a farm upstate, starlink burnt 120 satellites in 1 month alone, there’s no laws about safely deorbiting - no one has to do this, how we treat space is a microcosm of how we treat earth, space law is real, why can’t we bring our optimism from space back to earth instead of the other way around? Ella’s mouse doing drugs, the art of skin arranging, apologies to our ancient Egyptian listeners, the various techniques of Egyptian preservation, arresting from decay, Frederik Ruysch’s wet specimens, crocodiles make a lot of sense for the first taxidermy cause they’re big and leathery - anyway it was hanging in a church…, Tom loses his mind about A SECOND TAXIDERMIED CROCODILE IN A CHURCH, a croc that’s at least from 1623, The Great Italian Taxidermy Crocodile Road Trip, about one third of the british population went to the 1851 great exhibition, the telescope and taxidermy exhibition sounds like a trap for Caroline and Ella, “whimsy and anthropomorphism in taxidermy of the Victorian era”, anthropomorphic taxidermy was considered grotesque, taxidermy didn’t die we just stuffed it back up, environment taxidermy requires knowing an animal inside and out (pun intended), the degrees of ethical taxidermy, ethical is not a binary, it depends on your personal code of ethics, taxidermy as a lens of moral feelings through history.
Sources:
UNOOSA: Outer Space Treaty
UN: International Space Law Explained
Royal Museums Greenwich: Who Owns the Moon?
Lunar Embassy: Buy Some Moon
Politico: Who Owns the Moon
Guardian: Moon Resources
Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Moon Resources
NASA Moon Mining Contracts
Business Insider: Mining Disrupting Science on the Moon
NASA Artemis Accords
ESA Space Environment Statistics
SpaceWatch: Satellites
Natural History Museum: Space Junk
Guardian: Florida Family Sues NASA
Scientific American: Samantha Lawler, Space X Debirs
Journal of Space Safety Engineering: Uncontrolled Re-entry
UNOSSA: United Nations 2007 Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines
ESA Space Environment Report 2024
Rolling Stone: Space Trash
FCC: Deorbiting Satellites Rule
Scientific American: Space Junk Polluting Stratosphere
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Britannica: Taxidermy
2019 Paper: Animal Bodies between Wonder and Natural History
BBC: Ancient Egyptian mummification 'recipe' revealed
Book: Practical Taxidermy
2020 Paper: The Animal Body As Medium: Taxidermy And European Expansion, 1775–1865
Museum of Idaho: A brief, Gross History of Taxidermy
Atlas Obscura: Crocodile at the Santuario Madonna delle Lacrime Immacolate
University of Dayton: Crocodile Hunting in the Marian Library
Wandering Italy: Grazie, Italy and the Crocodile Church
2006 Paper: The History of Taxidermy: Clues for Preservation
Journal of Antiques and Collectables: Taxidermy: Exploring one of the Most Complicated Collectibles
The Royal Parks: The Great Exhibition of 1851
2012 Thesis: The Shock Proved Fatal: Whimsy and Anthropomorphism in Taxidermy of the Victorian Era, 1851-1899
Cardiff University: Frequently Asked Questions in Taxidermy
Smithsonian: Why Taxidermy Is Being Revived for the 21st Century
Horniman Museum: Ethical Taxidermy
Guardian: Inside the Female-Led World of Ethical Taxidermy
Sussex Wildlife Trust: Putting the Ethical in Taxidermy
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