National Museum of Natural History
Why Are Museum Specimens Bugged?
The dead watch from glass bottles as John Ososky strips the flesh off yet another bird. A shorebird, he thinks, though he's a museum specialist, not an ornithologist.Ososky sits at a sink in the Smithsonian's osteology laboratory in Suitland, Maryland, where animals are reduced to their skeletal f...
May 21, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Events Week of 5/18-22: Art, Gardens and Butterflies
Monday, May 18: Docent's Choice TourTake a little risk at the art gallery today and let the docent lead you wherever they will! Will it be America's President's exhibition? Will it be one of the special shows on display? You won't know until you come over here and enjoy the unexpected pleasures of ...
May 18, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Weekend Events: Dancing, Alpacas and Mermaids
Friday, May 15: Asian Pacific American Heritage Music and Dance PerformanceCome enjoy the School of Indian Odissi Dance Troupe and the Mongolian Dance perform traditional Asian Pacific music and dance. Free. Natural History Museum. 6:30 PMSaturday, May 16: Mermaids, Serpents and Sea CreaturesI'm su...
May 15, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 5/11-15: Portraits, Presents, Star Trek and Sailing
Monday, May 11: Gallery Talk: June Wayne's Self PortraitIn tonight's gallery talk, National Gallery paper conservator Rosemary Fallon and Smithsonian American Art Museum curatorial associate Ann Prentice Wagner discuss June Wayne's technique in this self-portrait. While in the museum, be sure to ch...
May 11, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Field Trip to Plummers Island
Last Friday, I went on a field trip with botanists John Kress, Dave Erickson and Ida Lopez from the National Museum of Natural History to Plummers Island. Despite being unknown to most outside the circle of Washington area biologists, and maybe the fishermen that frequent its banks on the weekends,...
May 06, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Weekend Events: Bones, Stars and Crafts
Friday, April 24: Forensic FridayJoin Smithsonian forensic anthropologists as they study new cases from America’s historic past. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask the forensic anthropologists questions and observe first-hand the basic methods used for documenting human remains recovered fro...
April 24, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
C.S.I. Smithsonian on Forensic Fridays
The lives of forensic anthropologists Doug Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide have all the ingredients for a great television show:1. There’s murder: The team found the skeleton of a 17th-century Chesapeake indentured servant crammed in his employer’s cellar.2. There’s mystery: Piecing together clues, li...
April 24, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Events Week of 4/20-24: Commodores, Quilting, Keith Haring and Forensics
Monday, April 20: The Navy CommodoresThe Navy Commodores will be performing the jazz standards of Benny Goodman in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month. (Yes, note the word "navy" to avoid potential confusion with those other musical Commodores.) Free. American History Museum, 12:00 PMTuesday, April 21...
April 20, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 4/13-17: A Little Jazz, a Glass of Wine and a House of Gorillas
Monday, April 13: Easter Monday: Celebrating the African American FamilyEaster Monday has been a long standing multicultural tradition in Washington, DC—and why not celebrate at the National Zoo? The day is rife with food and activities, which include an Easter egg hunt, crafts, live musical entert...
April 13, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Museums: Extended Hours!
Are you stuck in the office, ticking away the moments that make up a dull day? Do you fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way? Well, fortunately for you several Smithsonian museums are offering extended hours throughout the spring and summer, allowing you to spend your evenings to explore the...
April 07, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
The Scientist Is In
"It's Dory from Finding Nemo!" squeaks the middle-school girl as she passes the coral reef exhibit in the Natural History Museum's Sant Ocean Hall.Ahead of her, in a convex glass bubble, dozens of small tropical fish peek out through the rocks, entertaining visitors with their colors and curiosity....
March 31, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Smithsonian Events Week of 3/30-4/03: Spartacus, Walt Disney and Duke Ellington
Monday, March 30: 2009 National Sciences Bowl CompetitionCome see high school students show off their oceanographic know how in this Jeopardy-style trivia challenge. Free. National Museum of Natural History, 10:45 AMTuesday, March 31: Spartacus: The True StoryYeah, we all know of Spartacus. At some...
March 30, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Natural History Museum's Spider Man Talks About Bourgeois
Our ears perked here at ATM when we heard that Jonathan Coddington, senior curator of entomology at the National Museum of Natural History, is giving a gallery talk tomorrow on Louise Bourgeois’ spider sculptures at the Hirshhorn. It’s not everyday that insect folks provide commentary on art.I chec...
March 27, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Smithsonian Events Week of March 16-20: March Madness!
Monday, March 16: Octopus FeedingI'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden—wouldn't you? But the question is: what do octopi eat that would merit them having a garden in the first place? Come out to the National Zoo where you can observe an octopus feeding! Free, but space is limited. Repe...
March 16, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Weekend Events: Zydeco, Birds and Horticulture
Saturday, March 14: Bird House InterpretersWell, everybody knows that the bird is the word—but what's the word on the birds? Come to the National Zoo and chat with the on-staff bird interpreters who will answer your questions and introduce you to the fascinating world of high-flying critters by way...
March 14, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 3/9-13: Bones and Lady Bird
Monday, March 9: Written in Bone Forensic LabAfter reading Joe Caputo's piece on the new Written in Bone exhibit, how would you like to try your hand at forensic science? Come to the Natural History Museum where you can get your hands on bona-fide bones and learn how to tell the stories they hide. ...
March 09, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Meet the Scientist Who Reads Bones
Doug Owsley is the Smithsonian's bone detective. Doug can read a human skeleton, like you can read this post. He's a forensic anthropologist and for the last two decades, Doug along with his assistant Kari Bruwelheide, has been called in to help with some of the country's most notorious crime scen...
February 27, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Weekend Events: Mardi Gras and Elephants on Parade
Friday, February 20: Santouri: The Music ManNot to be confused with the Music Man of "76 Trombones" notoriety, this Iranian film tells the story of a young musician whose life falls apart just as he reaches the height of fame and is left to pick up the pieces. In Persian with English subtitles. Fre...
February 20, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Visit with Smithsonian Scientists along the Evolution Trail
Today marks the 200th birthday of naturalist Charles Darwin, the father of evolution. In our featured video, take a walk with Smithsonian scientists Hans Sues, Matthew Carrano and Gene Hunt of the National Museum of Natural History on the museum's Evolution Trail, and see the numerous examples—the ...
February 12, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Grover Krantz Donated His Body to Science, On One Condition...
Grover Krantz (1931-2002) was known as a teacher, a loving pet owner, an eccentric anthropologist, and the first serious Bigfoot academic. Seven years after losing a battle to pancreatic cancer, Krantz's reputation is still well preserved, in more ways than one. His skeleton and that of his giant ...
February 11, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
