As visitors peered at skeletons and preserved animals in a London zoological museum during a U.K. heat wave, staff focused on a different attraction: a computer screen glowing with red and green temperature indicators.
With each one linked to a sensor in a different display case, the system allows staff to see when an exhibit is in danger of overheating.
Last year, during a hot spell, staff arrived one morning to find an antique specimen jar – containing a nearly two-centuries-old tabby cat – had "blown out" amid the heat.
By monitoring temperatures in the display cases, staff at the Grant Museum of Zoology hope they can prevent damage to other exhibits by identifying any needing to be preventively decanted.
"They are very precious and valuable to us," said Tannis Davidson, head of zoology at the 200-year-old collection home to some 100,000 specimens covering every major animal group.
