Museums
A Paleontologist's Long-Lost Lunchbox
Digging up fossils can be hard work, and it is important for any fossil hunter to pack a hearty lunch to keep their strength up. Apparently that is what the 19th century amateur paleontologist William Parker Foulke did. As reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Foulke's lunchbox has recently been f...
April 22, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaurs Get a Day at the Beach
If you live in the vicinity of Frankston, Victoria in Australia, you still have a few days to see gigantic dinosaurs made from sand. This year the theme for the Sand Sculpting Austrlia exhibition was "DinoStory," and an international team of sand sculptors has etched dinosaurs into the sand. They a...
April 21, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaurs and Cavemen (sigh) to Invade Binghamton in 2010
Right about this time in 2007, the creationist cartoonist Johnny Hart, creator of the "The Wizard of ID" and "B.C.," passed away. While many people have placed cavemen and dinosaurs together out of ignorance or artistic laziness, Hart truly believed that his cartoon B.C. contained at least a minor...
April 17, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Did Sauropods Hold their Heads High?
In museums all over the world, skeletons of sauropod dinosaurs are reconstructed with their heads held high. It seems like the most natural position for these animals, but a short letter recently published in Science has questioned whether it is correct. According to biologist Roger Seymour, saurop...
April 14, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Walking with Dinosaurs in Melbourne
If you're a paleo fanatic in the vicinity of Melbourne, Australia, you might want to stop by the Melbourne Museum this weekend. The museum has been undergoing a massive renovation and the first of the completed exhibits, the Dinosaur Walk, is now open.The exhibit promises to include some fossils no...
April 03, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
National Zoo Celebrates Birth of Rare Clouded Leopards
Notoriously difficult to breed, two new clouded leopards are born at the National Zoo’s research facility
March 25, 2009 |
By Cristina Santiestevan
Dinosaurs Invade Cleveland and New Orleans
New Orleans Audubon Zoo Exhibit
Exhibitions of robotic dinosaurs seem to be back on the upswing. They were very popular when I was growing up but have been harder to find in recent years. According to reports released over the weekend, however, zoos in Cleveland and New Orleans will be fea...
March 16, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Costume’s Cultural Reveal
The Los Angeles County Museum aims to draw new visitors and historic insights with a landmark costume acquisition
March 06, 2009 |
By Jeanne Maglaty
Nights at the Museums
You don't have to be Ben Stiller to spend the night behind the scenes at a museum
March 01, 2009 |
By Robin T. Reid
A Greener Smithsonian
In an Institution-wide pursuit of a greener future, researchers and engineers are furthering the cause of energy sustainability
February 27, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
How to Bring Dinosaurs Back to Life
How do paleontologists and artists bring dinosaurs back to life? Museums are filled with dinosaur skeletons and books are packed with restorations of what dinosaurs may have looked like, but how does a pile a bones get turned into a reconstruction of the living animal?It all starts with the bones. ...
February 11, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Dinos Alive Tour
If you happen to be in the vicinity of the Mall of Asia in Manila before January 11 you might want to stop in to check out the Dinos Alive! Tour. Promising over 12,000 square meters of “Dino Action!” the exhibit features lots of animatronics, movies, and dinosaur themed games. Walking With Dinosaur...
January 06, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Van Gogh's Night Visions
For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring paintings, as a new exhibition reminds us
January 2009 |
By Paul Trachtman
Enter the Dinosphere
When I was about five years old, my parents took me to a traveling robotic dinosaur exhibit at a local museum. I could hardly wait, but when I finally came face-to-face with the roaring beasts, I was terrified. I loved dinosaurs, but the gnashing teeth and waving horns were just too much for me; I ...
December 31, 2008 |
By Brian Switek
The Divine Art of Tapestries
The long-forgotten art form receives a long overdue renaissance in an exhibit featuring centuries-old woven tapestries
December 23, 2008 |
By Matthew Gurewitsch
The End of the Game, a Mystery in Four Parts
In a first-hand account of participating in an alternative reality game, one player gets caught up in the challenge
December 22, 2008 |
By Anika Gupta
The International Dinosaur Illustration Contest
For as long as scientists have been studying dinosaurs, illustrators have been drawing them. Whether it's precise depictions of their bones or imaginative restorations of what dinosaurs might have been like in life, paleo-illustration has been a diverse and popular field for over 150 years.In honor...
December 05, 2008 |
By Brian Switek
Gettysburg Address Displayed at Smithsonian
Lincoln's timeless speech during the Civil War endures as a national treasure
December 2008 |
By Owen Edwards
The Dinosaurs Devoted to Dixie
In 1863, a group of paleontologists discovered an abandoned mine shaft in Natural Bridge, Virginia. They were shocked to find that it led to a lost world where dinosaurs still lived, a discovery of great interest to the Union Army. The Yankees devised a plan to unleash some of the toothy beasts aga...
November 25, 2008 |
By Brian Switek
