Science Cabaret
Ithaca's Science Cabaret is sponsored by the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (http://www.bti.cornell.edu), a world leader in plant biology.
Science Cabaret was inspired by the Café Scientifique movement (http://www.cafescientifique.org/). Cafes Scientifiques promote public engagement with science by eschewing a lecture format in favor of informal talks on topics of broad interest, combined with artistic ideas, which are used as a jumping-off point for group discussion.
For more information, email sciencecafe@cornell.edu.
‘Mothra’ Invades Science Cabaret
By Larry Klaes
When looking for lessons in science, one might be forgiven for not considering the Japanese monster films of the latter half of the 20th century as a prime source for such material. Yet a lesson in science is exactly what was extracted from one particular member of that genre at the latest Science Cabaret. On the night before Halloween, Dr. Paul S. Robbins of Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experimental Station in Geneva alighted upon the Pancho Villa restaurant in Ithaca. The entomologist (a.k.a. bug specialist) and juggler had come to discuss “Moth vs. Myth: The Science Behind the BMovie Monster Mothra” with an eager crowd that filled up the second floor of the Science Cabaret’s new venue.
Warming up his audience with a series of slides of various insects in all their colorful glory, accompanied by techno music courtesy of Ithaca’s DJ Laika, Robbins began his talk with a personally edited version of the 1961 film Mothra.
The plot involves a gigantic moth that invades Japan in search of twin singing fairies that have been kidnapped by some explorers who had visited their native land, a place called Infant Island. The kidnappers hoped to make themselves rich by showcasing these unusual little creatures to the public. What they hadn’t planned on was the wrath of Mothra.
The film displays Mothra in all its stages of development, from its start as a giant egg to its becoming a giant swimming larva (caterpillar), to its mature winged form eventually emerging from a giant cocoon wrapped around Tokyo Tower. The adult Mothra wreaked havoc with numerous small-scale vehicles and buildings by flapping its giant wings, until the protagonists of the film finally figure out a way to return the fairies to the monster moth and stop the attacks.
Putting aside for a moment whether a member of the insect order Lepidoptera the size of a large aircraft could ever exist, let alone swim in the Pacific Ocean and attack major cities in search of some tiny singing fairies, Robbins then gave a brief lesson in insect anatomy.
Among the features common to most insects is a hard, waxy exoskeleton for the structural integrity of their bodies, rather than an internal skeleton made of bone. Another common element is the lack of lungs for taking oxygen into their bodies and removing carbon dioxide. Instead, insects use a collection of tubes called tracheae to diffuse these gases directly to and from their tissues.
The method of insect respiration having been established, Robbins questioned whether a moth as big as Mothra would be able to breathe. The much longer than usual distances the essential gases would have to travel around the monster moth’s body “means a slower delivery, but the larger tracheal diameters could also speed up the process,” explained Robbins.
Robbins also speculated on whether such a huge moth could actually fly, noting that “size really does matter” in this situation. Driving home the concept of surface area to volume ratio to the crowd, the Cornell entomologist — with the help of some juggled pingpong, tennis and bowling balls, among other items — demonstrated that the volume of an object increases far faster than its surface area.
What this means for the monster moth of Infant Island is that “a scaled-up version of your average porch light moth would be unable to manage the challenges Mothra faced,” concluded Robbins. “Mothra would never be able to get off the ground, due to the limited surface area of its wings.” Mothra would also be unable to swim in its giant caterpillar stage as it did during the film.
Introduced to the Science Cabaret audience by his colleague Mark Sarvary as “the most enthusiastic and most focused entomologist I have ever met,” Robbins has always been interested in these numerous and ancient small crawling, burrowing, swimming and flying creatures of the world, going back to his pursuits of nature and gardening as a youth.
“Half of all species are insects, and half of them are beetles,” said Robbins. “There are more named beetle species than there are green plants.” In regards to named beetles, Robbins had the privilege of naming a small brown beetle from Latin America after Maryann, his wife of 39 years.
One of Robbins’ current research projects also involves beetles, specifically their sex pheromones. He hopes to identify certain pheromones in these insects to create a non-chemical pesticide as one benefit from his work.
“Insects are endlessly fascinating,” declared Robbins. “I learn something new every day about insects. The real tales of the world are better than any fiction you could write.”
And while the reality of Mothra is iffy at best, Robbins suggested that when viewing this and most other such fictional entertainment, one should always “enjoy the story…but think about the science,” even if it is a giant moth that swims, flies and attacks models of major cities.
Ithaca’s Science Cabaret was inspired by the Café Scientifique movement, which started in Europe in the late 1990s and has spread rapidly. Cafés Scientifiques promote public engagement with science by eschewing a lecture format in favor of informal talks on topics of broad interest, which are used as a jumping- off point for group discussion. Ithaca's Science Cabaret is sponsored by the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (http://www.bti.cornell.edu).