Nezka Pfeifer

Tatjana Wood, Award-Winning Comic Book Colorist, Dies at 99

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/a...

Tree Rings Reveal Origins of Some of the World’s Best Violins

But the average tree-ring sequence for a sizable fraction of the violins in their sample correlated well with tree rings from near Trentino in northern Italy, and specifically the high-altitude reaches of the Val di Fiemme.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/s...

One more month to visit #SmellingTheBouquet! Closes March 31, 2026.

@mobotgarden.bsky.social bryologists in the news!

Painting of a park landscape with a row of bare trees in the foreground in front of a pond under a pinky blue sunset or dawn

Emma Haworth, contemporary London-based painter known for her observations of the streets and parks, with a hint of otherworldliness #womensart

Painting featuring a green field full of purple crocus flowers and yellow daffodils

'Crocus & Daffodils' by UK contemporary painter Susan Entwistle #WomensArt
#spring #March

In a first, researchers film treetops glowing during thunderstorms Glimmer sparked by electrical fields detected in nature for the first time

In a first, researchers film treetops glowing during thunderstorms | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Sniffing at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum! Discover how the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum uses scent to interpret living plant collections through olfactory storytelling.

Learn more about how #SmellingTheBouquet came together @mobotmuseum.bsky.social at the Olfactory Contractor blog post olfactorycontractor.com/stephen-and-...

#SmellingTheBouquet catalogue drop! Thanks to Stefanie Hermsdorf for the publication, to all the lenders, researchers, & olfactory contributors, perfumers Shawn Maher & Weston Adam, Virginia Harold for photography, & to donors Nancy Ridenour, and Nancy and Ken Kranzberg!
Download at linktree in bio

Extralibrary Loan: Making the Civic Infrastructure We Need Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.

Libraries are founded on the core journalistic values of openness and truth, and they’re widely accessible. With more than 17,000 U.S. locations open to the public, and another 100,000 in schools and universities, they are (almost) everywhere we need them to be. placesjournal.org/article/extr...

Luxury for All In the throes of Haussmannization in Paris, novelist George Sand argued passionately that everyone deserves public spaces that are not only safe and welcoming but also beautiful.

Luxury for All: placesjournal.org/article/geor...

Learn more about @mobotmuseum.bsky.social's #SmellingTheBouquet with the curator and @mobotgarden.bsky.social's Mónica Carlsen's scent research in Colombia 👃💐

Two sections of Jasmine plant stem with small green leaves and dried yellow flowers attached to paper with identifying label and number

One section of Jasmine plant stem bent in half with yellow and green leaves and dried yellow flowers attached to paper with identifying label and number

#SmellingTheBouquet Known for its scent, jasmine is an important plant whose flower buds are used in perfumery. 200+ varieties exist worldwide, yet only three species: (left) J. grandiflorum, J. auriculatum, & (right) J. sambac are commercially cultivated for their flowers. @mobotgarden.bsky.social

Multi petal white flower of gardenia blossom surrounded by shiny green leaves on shrub

#SmellingTheBouquet Gardenia flowers are too fragile for any type extraction method, so perfumers must use their skills to attempt to replicate the ephemeral & rich scent of a gardenia. Perfumer Weston Adam created an interpretive fragrance for the exhibition @mobotmuseum.bsky.social👃💐

Twig of leaves and browned blossoms attached to sheet of paper, with identification labels, number, and bar code of gardenia plant

#SmellingTheBouquet Gardenia is an evergreen flowering plant native to SE, E, & S Asia where its fragrant white blooms have long been desired by horticulturists. Cultivated in China for over 1000 years, it was introduced to English gardens in the mid-18th century. @mobotgarden.bsky.social Herbarium

#LunarNewYear #SmellingTheBouquet Scent or snuff bottle, ca. 20th c.; Courtesy of Eric Hoffman Collection
Jadeite came into prominent use in China in the 1700s, being admired for its colors. This container held scent or snuff (smokeless tobacco sniffed through the nose), and worn on a chain or cord.

#LunarNewYear #SmellingTheBouquet
Pomander, ca. 20th c.; Courtesy of Eric Hoffman Collection
Nephrite jade has been revered in Chinese culture for 8,000y, is tough to break, and a perfect material for this carved openwork. It would have been filled with aromatic spices or fragrant flower petals.

Museum gallery with three panels on history and use of vanilla orchid fruit and sniffing table with glass domes with deconstructed compounds that make up the Madagascar vanilla scent

#SmellingTheBouquet The principal molecules in the fruit of Vanilla planifolia include vanillin, benzyl cinnamate, ethyl cinnamate, anisic aldehyde, guaiacol, and para-Cresol. These compounds add spicy, floral, and fruity flavors and nuance to the entire vanilla fragrance. Pix: Virginia Harold

Global map highlighting native, introduced, and extinct populations of vanilla planifolia from Kew Gardens

#SmellingTheBouquet Vanilla planifolia has been domesticated in Madagascar, Comoros, Réunion Island, and Indonesia. In 2017, the plant population in Mexico & Belize earned an endangered designation. Habitat loss and unregulated exploitation for research are the species’ main threats. Map: Kew

Bunch of cured brown vanilla pods tied with brown string in the middle

#SmellingTheBouquet Vanilla planifolia is the only orchid that bears edible fruit, and is endemic to SE Mexico & Belize. The cylindrical fruit pods containing tiny black seeds are the source of vanilla used in food and perfumery, commonly (and incorrectly) called beans. Pix: Shutterstock: Jiri Hera