{"id":762,"date":"2015-06-26T16:27:03","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T21:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/?post_type=news&p=762"},"modified":"2015-07-30T11:20:05","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T16:20:05","slug":"dig-it-the-secrets-of-soil-explores-the-world-beneath-your-feet-opens-may-16","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/news\/dig-it-the-secrets-of-soil-explores-the-world-beneath-your-feet-opens-may-16\/","title":{"rendered":"“Dig It! The Secrets of Soil,” explores the world beneath your feet, opens May 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

RALEIGH \u2014 How much do you know about the world beneath your feet? The soil we walk on is teeming with life \u2014 a quarter of all species on Earth, in fact. And the life and processes in soils are responsible for the vast majority of our food, fibers, construction material, clean water, medicine, and climate regulation. In other words, without soil you would be hungry, naked and homeless. \u201cDig It! The Secrets of Soil<\/a>,\u201d a new traveling exhibition that explores the profound ways soil supports our lives, opens at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on May 16. Generous support from BASF, the Soil Science Society of America, and other NC donors enables free entry to this exhibition.<\/p>\n

The message about the importance of soil has never been more seasonable than it is today. The United Nations General Assembly has established 2015 as the International Year of Soils to raise awareness about our dependence on soil. \u201cWith a growing world population, new research and innovative practices are vital to managing this soil for increased food production,\u201d said Dr. Emlyn Koster, director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. \u201cSoil has also been making headlines lately as the source of a novel antibiotic whose target pathogens have yet to develop resistance to the drug. The benefits of soil are vast and still somewhat uncharted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using videos, hands-on models, interactive displays and real soil samples, the exhibition presents an eye-opening and engaging story about soil, the \u201cskin of the earth.\u201d Developed by the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Natural History, the majority of the exhibition explores the extensive role of soil in agriculture, architecture and construction, art and rituals, medicine, water filtration, and much more. The exhibition was curated by some of the country\u2019s leading soil scientists also delves into technical topics such as soil microbiology and its role in greenhouse gas emissions. Clay-rich soils form the underpinning of the state\u2019s status as the handmade pottery capital of the US. The exhibition also takes a look at both the art and science of pottery in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a perfect fit for Dig It! to appear in our state. Not only were several North Carolina soil scientists instrumental in developing the exhibition, but soil is also the foundation of North Carolina\u2019s number one industry: agriculture. In fact, it\u2019s the rich soil biodiversity across the state that allows a variety of crops to flourish and make North Carolina number one in sweet potatoes, number two in Christmas trees, and highly ranked in many other types of produce,\u201d said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.<\/p>\n

The Dig It! exhibition runs through August 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1584,"menu_order":1,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/762"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}