MUSE: a Mountain to Describe Life on Earth.

Bizarre forms of life
Dating back to about 570 million years ago, Ediacara biota contains the earliest known large-sized organisms in the history of life.
These bizarre forms are completely extinct and don't have documentable relations with any of the organisms that evolved later on.
Their anatomy is enigmatic: they don't seem to have internal organs or skeletal structures.
(Kimberella quadrata)

Hallucigenia

Agnathan fish and the origin of the jaw
"Fish" are a set of many different groups.
The agnathans, which existed in abundance between 500-400 million years ago, had jawless mouths and were often covered in heavy bone scales.
The subsequent evolution of the jaw is a revolution in the history of vertebrates, which led to experimentation with new diets and preying strategies.
(Dunkelosteus terrelli)

Isochirotherium inferni isp.
Archosaur reptile footprint

Grallator isp.
Theropod dinosaur footprint

Riffs and low seabeds
In the Middle Triassic, from 240 to 235 million years ago, in the area now occupied by the Alps large expanses of sea formed, inhabited by a rich diversity of organisms.
Among the dominant large predators were the marine reptiles, while the seabeds were alive with flourishing mollusk communities, echinoderms and brachiopoda.
(Tetractinella trigonella Brachiopoda, Rhynchonellata)

At the foot of the tree of Primates
The plesiadapiformes are considered the closest relatives of primates or the first true representatives of this group.
In the Paleocene era, they diversified and spread to Europe and North America.
Plesiadapis showed clear adaptations to arboreal life: prehensile limbs and strong claws.
It had an omnivorous diet, a key feature in the evolution of primates.
(Plesiadapis sp. - Primates, Plesiadapidae)

Carinated cup with incised decorations
7,000-6,800 years

Jade axehaed
Neolithic

Female figure on red deer bone plaque
Early Neolithic

Belt
Early/middle Bronze Age

Baltic amber necklace
Early/middle Bronze Age

Prehistoric picked stone (plant)

Prehistoric picted stone (shaman)

Prehistoric picked stone (Alpine Ibex)

The invisible economy of Nature
The current economy still does not take into account the value of the services offered by Nature, such as climate regulation and natural water purification, for example.
The capability of environmental systems to produce services is jeopardized by their excessive exploitation. Against immediate gain, this translates into long-term economic loss for the whole of humankind.

Up to 100 years old and in better health
The human lifespan is increasing and our demographic growth is non-stop.
Our global population is on the rise.
Better hygiene, lifestyles and safer food are influencing this trend too.
Key role, however, is played by development and the availability of new therapies, drugs and advanced medical technologies.

Radiation detector
Radiation detector (Geiger counter) used by the Japanese population after the Fukushima nuclear accident. The data obtained by the single citizens were uploaded to the web to allow the real-time knowledge of the radioactivity level on the entire national area.

Shinkansen
The Shinkansen, the Japanese world fastest train, had a problem. The change of the air pressure produced a loud thunder every time the train entered or emerged from a tunnel. Eiji Nakatsu, chief engineer of the japanese railways, had shaped the front of the train on the spout of king fisher. This bird in order to catch a fish in the water penetrates almost without splashing. Result: a quieter train with a top speed increased by 10% and energy reduction of 15%.

Minerals from the Alps
Minerals are a veritable snapshot of specific geological events. During the pre-Permian (450 million years ago) and Lower Permian (about 275 million years ago) volcanic phases, most of the central-eastern Alpine mineralizations were formed.
The elements put into circulation by the magma and the latter's reaction with surrounding rocks created the ideal conditions for mineral growth.
(Almandine with schorlite)

Mineral hunters in the Dolomites
Since the 18th century, the minerals of the Dolomites have attracted researchers from all over Europe and have boosted scientific research and collecting. The rich mineral resources of this area were generated by a volcanic event that in the mid Triassic (about 230 million years ago) produced two large volcanoes in the Predazzo (Val di Femme) and Monti Manzoni (Val di Fassa) areas.
(Dolomite)

Alteration minerals
Some minerals, such as tourmaline, take several million years to develop while others, such as rock salt, develop in just a few days. In mine areas, a few dozen years are sufficient for the creation of sulphide alteration minerals. If their chemical and physical environments do not undergo significant changes, the minerals can stay unaltered even for hundreds of millions of years.
(Calcite)

Upper Valsugana (Trento, Italy)
Pyrite, parchment processed with "sugarina" (pyrite powder) and writing set with ink and "sugarina".

Well hidden in an open field
In alpine pastures that provide hardly any shelter, predators and prey have colors that imitate those of their natural habitat.
The stoat and the mountain hare grow a brown coat in summer and a snow-white coat in winter.
The rock ptarmigan obtains the same result in a more gradual manner, with mixed feather colorings.
(Mountain hare
Lepus timidus)

How to survive a long winter
Alpine marmots live in families and dig networks of underground galleries with various rooms and many exits.
They spend almost six months in hibernation in the largest of these rooms, all together so as to keep warm.
Snow voles, on the contrary, remain active in winter. They dig tunnels between the snow and the ground in which they find shelter and dry grasses to feed on.
(Alpine marmot
Marmota marmota)

Alone beyond the treeline
The upper border of the forest is generated by climate conditions as well as by timber harvesting carried out by farmers to create pastures.
Solitary and contorted larches and Swiss pines often grow clinging to rocks well above this limit.
The spotted nutcracker collects Swiss pine nuts and buries them in various places as food caches for the winter. Forgotten nuts often grow into new trees.
(Spotted nutcracker
Nucifraga caryocatactes)

Staying warm
By fluffing up their plumage, birds trap air bubbles among their feathers, and this isolates them from the cold air outside.
For the same reason, the fur of mountain mammals is thicker, softer and warmer.
In water, a thick layer of fat under the skin provides insulation.
Rounded shapes and the habit of staying close to each other is another strategy that helps birds and mammals keep warm.
(European robin
Erithacus rubecula)

Real ice: life in extreme outdoors
Rocks, ice and arduous paths are the symbols of high altitude mountains.
Movement at these elevations can be difficult. Life is even more difficult.
Despite the extreme living conditions, glaciers are inhabited by insects, spiders and small plants that take root along their margins

History in ice
Not only glaciers are natural archives of past climates.
Ice preserves also the traces of the White War, the series of flights and battles that took place on summits and glaciers during the First World War.
There, the first problem for the soldiers was not fighting, but to survive the cold and protect against the constant danger of avalanches.

Studying glaciers using a "carrot"
Ice originates from the transformation of snow.
As it forms, ice captures and imprisons atmospheric gases.
By studying ice strata that formed in past eras, it is possible to study the changes in climate that occurred over time.
The ice core in display was extracted in Antartica by Italian researchers.

The scientist goes to the mountains
The Alps became a highly attractive venue for explorers, scholars and scientists.
Among the latter, the geologist Deodat Dolomieu in 1791 described "a sort of calcareous rock that does not effervesce in weak acid and is phosphorescent upon collision".
In his honor, this rock was named Dolomite and the mountain massifs where it is more commonly found were called the Dolomites.