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Tyrannosaurus Comes to New Jersey
For years the New Jersey State Museum has displayed the cast of a complete Tyrannosaurus rex skull collected by Barnum Brown at the beginning of the 20th century, but now it may be getting a T. rex of its very own.As reported last week in the Press of Atlantic City, paleontologists from the New Jer...
May 17, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Smithsonian Highlights Dinosaurs From its Backyard
Late last year, Maryland's Prince George's County got a new dinosaur park—a Cretaceous-age site which will continue to fuel the work of scientists and educate the public about the prehistory of the state. To help celebrate the establishment of this park, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural...
May 06, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
JAM: Jazz Appreciation Month at Smithsonian
Jazz Appreciation Month is in full swing Around the Mall and Beyond! Check out a schedule of upcoming events below or download a PDF for additional information.Tuesday, April 6CONCERTAn Evening with Jon Hendricks. James Zimmerman, Emcee7:30 pm, Howard University, Andrew Rankin Memorial ChapelWedn...
April 06, 2010 |
By Jamie Simon
Glimpses of the Lost World of Alchi
Threatened Buddhist art at a 900-year-old monastery high in the Indian Himalayas sheds light on a fabled civilization
April 2010 |
By Jeremy Kahn
Bringing a Dryptosaurus Back to Life
In reaction to my post about Dryptosaurus the other week, paleo-artist Michael Skrepnick told me about the efforts of his colleague Tyler Keillor to create a fleshed-out restoration of the dinosaur. I immediately e-mailed Tyler about the project, and he was kind enough to answer a few of my questio...
March 22, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaurs Unleashed Onto London Streets
At the climax of the silent 1925 adaption of The Lost World, a living "Brontosaurus" brought back from a remote Venezuelan plateau wreaks havoc in London. The scene was obviously fiction, but a new exhibit in the heart of the city now allows residents and visitors to imagine what such prehistoric b...
February 23, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
New Mural for Dinosaur National Monument
When I visited Utah's Dinosaur National Monument this past summer the main visitor center (containing the famous rock wall speckled with fossils) was closed, but when it reopens in a few years it will feature a brand new piece of art. Over the course of three months, scientific illustrator Liz Brad...
January 19, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Elvis Sightings: The King Holds Court in Washington, D.C.
What comes to mind when you hear the name Elvis? Musician. Icon. Sex. Spandex. Kitsch. Costello (kidding!). You can play the word association game all day long and no matter what your opinion of the man is—good, bad or indifferent—even the most suspicious minds have to admit that he is one of the g...
January 06, 2010 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Mary Anning, an Amazing Fossil Hunter
Though she had little formal education, Mary taught herself geology, paleontology, anatomy and scientific illustration, and her finds were key to the development of the theory of evolution
January 05, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway
Who's up for a fossil road trip? In 2007 paleoartist Ray Troll and paleobotanist Kirk Johnson published a travelogue of their journey to check out the fossils of the American west called Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway. It is not your average paleo book. Filled with Troll's whimsical pop-art illustrat...
December 18, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Samson the Tyrannosaurus Finds a Temporary Home
This past October, many paleontologists were worried about the fate of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed "Samson."With about 50 percent of his bones recovered, Samson is one of the most complete individual Tyrannosaurus skeletons found to date. This makes Samson a very important specimen. The ...
December 14, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
"Walking With Dinosaurs" Puppet Walks Off
For the past three years, the Walking With Dinosaurs live show has been entertaining arena audiences all over the world, but when the show stopped in Guadalajara, Mexico the crew noticed that one of their cast members was missing. A robotic baby Plateosaurus (which is devoured by the predatory dino...
December 11, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Shopping Maul
The first rule of holiday shopping: There are no rules
December 2009 |
By Caitlin Kelly
Dinosaurs Get Ready to Go to Abu Dhabi
In the summer of 2008, "Einstein," one of the most complete Apatosaurus skeletons ever discovered, made its international debut in the arrivals hall of the Abu Dhabi International Airport. That is a long way from the Wyoming quarry in which it was found. What reason could there be for this unique s...
November 09, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Texas Citizens Stand Up For Paluxysaurus
Earlier this year Texas updated the name of its official state dinosaur, a sauropod dinosaur previously called Pleurocoelus but recently renamed Paluxysaurus. To celebrate the name change, a team of scientists is creating a full restoration of the dinosaur's skeleton for the Fort Worth Museum of Sc...
November 02, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Sighting: A Stegosaurus in Paris
Our latest Dinosaur Sighting comes to us from our very own Sarah Zielinski, who writes for the Surprising Science blog here at Smithsonian. During a recent visit to Paris, Sarah spotted this Stegosaurus outside the Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle, and while she did not see anyone on it while s...
October 16, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
250 Years of Wedgwood
Two new exhibitions celebrate the enduring wares of ceramics designer and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood
September 29, 2009 |
By Nancy Mann Jackson
The Old Meets the New at Odgen's Dinosaur Park
There are at least two ways to look at dinosaurs. You can examine their fossilized bones, the stuff that comes directly from the fossil record, or you can imagine what those bones would have looked like when they were clothed in muscle, sinew, and skin during the animal's life. At the George S. Ecc...
September 23, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Ancient Greece Springs to Life
Athens’ New Acropolis Museum comes to America in an exhibition highlighting treasures of antiquity
September 22, 2009 |
By Jamie Katz
Q and A: Smithsonian Channel Host Tom Cavanagh
Actor Tom Cavanagh discusses what it is like to go behind the scenes of the Smithsonian museums
September 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman


