Toggle
Search
SUBSCRIBE (Left)
RENEW (Left)
GIVE A GIFT (Left)
September 2020 magazine cover
Search
Facebook
Twitter

National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has hundreds of scientists, researchers, curators and collection managers who connect people everywhere to life’s unfolding story. Here is a sampling of the unique voices that make up the chorus of ideas at the museum.

While digging through decaying carcasses, vultures expose themselves to dangerous pathogens. Gary Graves studies the unique microorganisms in the guts of these birds that help them resist infections. (Joyce Cory)

Meet the Scientist Studying Vulture Guts for Clues to Disease Immunity

September 4th, 2020, 6:00AM
/ BY
Smithsonian anthropologists hold up the world’s longest beard after it was donated to the National Museum of Natural History in 1967. (Smithsonian)

Five of Nature’s Best Beards for World Beard Day

September 3rd, 2020, 6:00AM
/ BY
Southern elephant seals normally live in the South Atlantic, often as far south as Antarctica. These are young male Southern elephant seals from the South Shetland and Anvers islands, Antarctica. (Daniel Costa / University of California, Santa Cruz under the National Marine Fisheries Service permits (numbers 87-1593 and 87-1851-00) and ACA authorization)

What A 1000-Year-Old Seal Skull Can Say About Climate Change

September 2nd, 2020, 9:00AM
/ BY
Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History that are similar to objects in the show “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” (Smithsonian)

Six Avatar-Themed Items in the Smithsonian Collections

August 25th, 2020, 6:00AM
/ BY
The Smithsonian’s National Mosquito Collection has about 1.9 million specimens from around the world that researchers use to study diseases like malaria. (Paul Fetters for the Smithsonian)

Get to Know the Scientist in Charge of Smithsonian’s 1.9 Million Mosquitoes

August 20th, 2020, 6:00AM
/ BY
Not much is known about the megamouth, which was first observed by scientists in 1976. A new specimen (not pictured above) has traveled to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, where researchers will study it to learn more about its behavior and life cycle. (Zola Chen)

Rare Megamouth Shark Arrives at the Smithsonian

August 11th, 2020, 6:00AM
/ BY
Scientists use a California condor specimen from 1835 — part of the Smithsonian’s very first collection of items — to study the critically endangered species. Pictured: a young California condor in Pinnacles National Park. (Gavin Emmons)

How Scientists Still Use the Smithsonian’s First Collections, 170 Years Later

August 10th, 2020, 6:00AM
/ BY
Smithsonian Geologist Liz Cottrell answers your questions in the National Museum of Natural History’s YouTube series, “The Doctor Is In.” (Smithsonian Institution)

How to Identify Rocks and Other Questions From Our Readers

August 6th, 2020, 10:00AM
/ BY
Bat ticks (Ornithodoros) under a microscope. These parasites primarily feed on bats and were collected from bats roosting beneath a Mayan Temple in Belize. Very little is known about these ticks and many species are unknown to science. (Kelly Speer)

Why We Need to Save the Parasites

August 3rd, 2020, 6:00AM
/ BY
Scientists plan to piece together the genetic code of all plants, animals, fungi and protists within the next ten years as part of the Earth BioGenome Project.

Scientists to Read DNA of All Eukaryotes in 10 Years

July 24th, 2020, 11:40AM
/ BY

Latest

Categories

Archive