National Museum of Natural History

Two women stand in a field, holding bundles of grasses with a rainbow coloring the sky in the background.

To Bridge Heritage and Science, the Smithsonian’s Inclusive Education Programs Empower Learners Through Culture and Community

Through Indigenous weaving workshops and environmental science projects, the Smithsonian engages in co-learning projects to support culturally responsive education

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The Murder Mystery Linking a Bird Specimen at the National Museum of Natural History to the Mysterious Death of an Arctic Explorer

In 1871, a naturalist aboard the U.S.S. Polaris collected scientific specimens — and possibly poisoned the ship’s captain

Two men sit on a rock bed on top of a forested hill over looking a remote lake.

Searching for Earth's Oldest Rocks: Follow a Smithsonian Expedition to the Remote Northwest Territories

High in the Canadian wilderness, Smithsonian scientists search for ancient minerals that could explain the origins of the continents, oceans and life on Earth

Pink flowers bloom in front of a brick castle building across a field of green grass.

Enjoy Cherry Blossoms and More Natural History Programs this March

Enjoy environmental film screenings, gain an appreciation for spiders and more this month at the National Museum of Natural History

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Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Studying the Mysterious Mongolian Deer Stones

Archaeologist William Fitzhugh has spent the past two decades documenting carved stone monoliths in the Mongolian countryside to uncover the secrets of an elusive ancient culture

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Viking Women and Black-Footed Ferrets Are Coming to the Museum This Holiday Season

Have a holly jolly holiday and tune into exciting programming about the natural world at the museum this December

A landscape shot featuring a cloudy gray sky, snow-covered mountains in the distance above a turquoise expanse of glacial ice on the horizon and a dark blue expanse of water in the foreground.

Community Archeology Helps Bridge Gap Between Science and Tradition

Researchers and Indigenous people teamed up to use oral legends and science to discover an archeology site

While this year’s Arctic sea ice extended further than last year’s, there still wasn’t as much of it as there was only two decades ago. Thinner and younger sea ice in winter and less ice in the summer are two of the many elements of the Arctic’s new reality. (Credit: Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard. Public domain.)

Climate Change Redefines What 'Normal' Means in the Arctic

As Earth’s climate changes, people around the world are witnessing insidious changes and responding to their new normal.

These walrus ivory carvings were collected in the mid-1880s. They were featured in a catalogue for the exhibition

How Arctic Anthropologists are Expanding Narratives about the North

Researchers are studying past Arctic cultures and working with today's northern communities to address present-day socioeconomic and environmental challenges.

A team of Smithsonian scientists excavating the Hart Chalet site found a double tournois copper coin minted for French King louis XIII in 1634. In pristine condition, it would have looked similar to this 1638 double tournois coin. (Images courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Image composite by Anna Torres)

Some Archaeological Dating can be as Simple as Flipping a Coin

The appearance of European artifacts in the arctic helps archaeologists date Inuit sites.

The 2016 Arctic sea ice summertime minimum, reached on Sept. 10, is 911,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average minimum sea ice extent, shown here as a gold line (NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/C. Starr).

Can Science Help Policymakers Create the Arctic Policies We Need Right Now?

If the future of the Arctic is to be governed by evidence-based policies, scientists must accelerate the exchange of knowledge and engage with policy makers.

A new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History will dive deep into the Arctic world of narwhals to explore what makes this mysterious animal and its changing ecosystem unique and important. “Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend” will present Inuit perspectives on their relationship with narwhals and the latest scientific knowledge about these animals, while illuminating the interconnectedness among narwhals, people and their ecosystems (Smithsonian Institution).

Narwhals, Narwhals, Swimming in the...Smithsonian?

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the development process behind the new exhibition, "Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend" on view at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

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