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.

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 Erin Malsbury

Six Avatar-Themed Items in the Smithsonian Collections

August 25th, 2020, 6:00AM

/ BY Margaret Osborne

Pressed flowers can be used in journals, plant identification booklets and other projects. (Erika Gardner, Smithsonian Institution)

How to Press Plants from Your Backyard

May 22nd, 2020, 10:42AM

/ BY Margaret Osborne

Invasive species like lionfish can harm natural, human, and economic health. (Barry Brown)

Five Species to Wrap Up Invasive Species Week

February 28th, 2020, 1:01PM

/ BY Margaret Osborne

Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History are filled with all sorts of eerie specimens. (Clockwise from top left: Gilles San Martin via Wikimedia, Smithsonian Institution, NoahElhardt via Wikimedia, Karie Darrow)

Six Bewitching Smithsonian Specimens to Get You Ready for Halloween

October 29th, 2019, 1:09PM

/ BY Erin I. Garcia de Jesus

Past and present female scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have advanced humankind’s understanding of the natural world and its place in it. L to R: Adrienne Kaeppler, Hannah Wood, Marian Pettibone, Sorena Sorenson and Kay Behrensmeyer. (Smithsonian Institution).

Get to Know the Leading Ladies of Science at the Smithsonian

March 8th, 2019, 6:00AM

/ BY Anna Torres

Researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History traveled the world and made many new discoveries this year—including 18 new species of pelican spiders. (Nikolai Scharff)

Check Out Some of Our Most Popular Discoveries From 2018

December 23rd, 2018, 6:00AM

/ BY Eric Liu

The seeds of common poppy (Papaver rhoeas) only germinate when the soil in which they live is disturbed. Intense fighting during World War I decimated Europe’s physical environment, causing thousands of poppies to bloom where battles once raged. (Gary Houston, CC0 1.0)

100 Years Ago, Poppies Became More Than Just Flowers

November 9th, 2018, 9:13AM

/ BY Gary Krupnick

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History houses countless artifacts and specimens related to the American Presidency, like this meteorite which was presented to President Ulysses S. Grant by the Mexican government in 1871. (Paul Fetters for the Smithsonian)

Check Out These Unexpected Connections in Natural and Presidential History

February 16th, 2018, 10:06AM

/ BY Anna Torres

Scientists at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History traveled the world and made many new discoveries this year--like this Cyrtodactylis payarhtanensis, a new species of bent-toed gecko. (Daniel G. Mulcahy)

Countdown to the New Year: 7 of Our Favorite Discoveries from 2017

December 29th, 2017, 9:00AM

/ BY Rachel Wimmer

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