National Museum of Natural History
Crabs Nab Grand Prize in Art Competition
Coastal America’s Ocean Art Contest promotes awareness about the integral role the ocean and its inhabitants play in our daily lives through works of art.Aspiring artists—even kindergarteners—sent in their works and the winning entries—selected by an all-star panel of judges including ocean explore...
January 29, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events, 1/26-30: Michael J. Fox and Mali's Architectural Treasures
Monday, January 26: Tibetan Gifts: 10 percent off at the Freer/Sackler Shops!The Dropenling Handicraft Development Center in Tibet is a nonprofit organization that works to preserve and promote Tibetan culture and their offerings—which include clothing, toys and other handcrafts—are now 10 percent ...
January 26, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
I Spy, in Sant Ocean Hall
The Washington Post Magazine wasn’t kidding when it rated its popular photo feature "Second Glance"—a segment that juxtaposes an original photograph with an altered version and asks readers to name the differences—an "extreme" in terms of degree of difficulty. Check out the link above.The photo was...
January 14, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Inaugural Balls on the Mall
If you're the socialite who will be hitting up the slew of black tie balls in DC, then you must have a bottomless wallet and a dance card that's loaded to the hilt. Even with tickets selling for a couple hundred bucks a pop on the low end, these events are already sold out. Take a look at all the p...
January 12, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Weekend Events: American Indian Holiday Celebration, Extended Hours at Natural History Museum
Friday, December 26: Holiday Celebration at National Museum of the American IndianIt's a jam-packed day of festivities at the National Museum of the American Indian!Father and Son Storytelling (3rd level, Resource Center, 11 AM and 1 PM)Owen and Lyle James share present Native stories passed down t...
December 26, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
American Art Showcases Two Sides of Nature in Photographs
Frank Gohlke's pictures of Midwestern grain elevators and small Texas towns have appeared in more than ten books. On a tour of his new show at the American Art Museum, the guide referred to Gohlke's work as a "challenge" to the popular, almost romantic nature photos of Ansel Adams. Adams was a ma...
December 17, 2008 |
By Anika Gupta
Smithsonian Weekend Events December 12-14
Friday, December 12: Bootleg FilmThe best of friends, a gangster and a cop go on a road trip to attend the funeral of a woman who was married to one and had a "bit on the side" with the other. A darkly comic road trip movie with some unexpected twists and turns. In Japanese with English subtitles. ...
December 12, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of December 8-14
Monday, December 8 Tour Arts of JapanIf you only know Japanese art by way of manga, broaden your horizons by coming on out to the Freer Gallery for a guided tour of its extensive collection of screens, paintings, lacquerware, prints, ceramics and sculpture. Free. Meet at Info Desk. Freer Gallery of...
December 08, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events Week of 12/1-7
Monday, December 1 Resident Associate Program LectureFor some, the holidays can be disastrous. Not because the turkey came out overcooked or you couldn't find the one "gotta have it" toy for your kid—but because you live along a fault line or in the shadow of an active volcano. Come hear geologist ...
December 01, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
'South Park' Hits the Natural History Museum, Aims for the Hope Diamond
Stealing the Hope Diamond from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is about as easy as getting Eric Cartman to share a pot pie. However, reliable sources—the creative team behind South Park—indicate otherwise. You remember all the head butting between Obama and McCain, right? Turns o...
November 07, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Deep Sea 3D: Even a Four-Eyes Can Have Fun
The seaweed may usually look greener on somebody else’s plate, but I’m unconvinced that 3-D movies are going to be better than 2-D, at least not anytime soon. Putting my technologically conservative notions to the test, I was invited to attend a screening of the new IMAX film Deep Sea 3-D.On enteri...
September 24, 2008 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Sleep Over Party at the Zoo
I like to camp. But I’m living in DC, without a car to get me out to the Shenandoah on the weekends. And I’ve always wanted to go on a safari. But my pocket isn’t so deep. So I figured I’d try the next best thing—urban camping in the mock wild, at the Smithsonian National Zoo. Does that sound a bit...
September 11, 2008 |
By Megan Gambino
True to Form
An exact replica represents a particular North Atlantic whale
September 2008 |
By Owen Edwards
The Fresco Fiasco: Smithsonian Scientists Examine the Capitol's Art
Brumidi
Recent visitors to the United States Capitol might have noticed the frescoes. The building’s frescoes are like a sailor’s tattoos: each one tells a story. Take the famous Apotheosis of Washington, which dangles overhead in the Capitol rotunda and shows George Washington surrounded by Liber...
August 08, 2008 |
By Anika Gupta
A New Exhibition Gets All The Dirt on Soil
I don't know how dirt got its bad reputation. The word is a catch-all for every vile behavior humankind can muster. If you're corrupt, you play "dirty pool." A nasty politician, is a "dirt bag." A malicious gossip "gets all the dirt." There's dirt cheap, dirty old men and dirt poor. And please, do...
July 31, 2008 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Smithsonian's Crystal Skull Is Now on View at Natural History
The crystal skull sought by Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in this year's recent sequel has sparked a flurry of interest in the Smithsonian's very own crystal skull—which is perhaps becoming one of the world's best-known fakes thanks to the dogged research efforts of anthropologist Jane MacLaren Wa...
July 10, 2008 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
The Smithsonian's Crystal Skull
How the museum's quartz cranium highlights the epic silliness of the new Indiana Jones movie
May 30, 2008 |
By Owen Edwards
Chin Up for Butterflies
At a sneak-peek press preview of the Live Butterfly Pavilion at the Natural
History Museum earlier this week, a distinctly handsome specimen sporting
bold, gold spots on its black wings alighted on my chin.Of the dozen or more reporters crowding into the new 1,200 square-foot steel
and glass pod t...
February 15, 2008 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Big Bono
The IMAX movie "U2 3D," currently on view at the Natural History Museum, adds new dimension to the age-old concert movie. This is not Scorsese's "Last Waltz". This is a rock and roller coaster ride where a pair of red plastic glasses is the keypass to a whole new musical realm. This is U2, the band...
February 04, 2008 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Sneak Peak: Systema Naturae
Deus creavit, Linnaeus disposuit. Translation: God created, Linnaeus organized.This was Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus’s mantra. Considered the father of modern taxonomy, Linnaeus created a system that classified about 4,400 animals and 7,700 plants into an increasingly specific framework of kingd...
November 13, 2007 |
By Megan Gambino
