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National Museum of Natural History

Brown mussel shells sit in a white box with orange paper underneath.

Interested in Using Museum Collections to Better Understand Freshwater Mussels? There’s Now an App for That

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New Museum Display Showcases the Mineral Building Blocks of Cellphones

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“Endlessly Fascinating Devices”: Why the National Museum of Natural History is Exploring the Cultural Nature of Cellphones

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Get to Know the Planet’s Pollinators and More Natural History Programs This June

A chuck of natural, light blue and gray aquamarine beryl on white background.

How X-Rays Unlocked the Mystery of Crystals

This is a giant spindle magnetofossil, created by a mysterious creature over 50 million years ago. So far, the iron fossils have only been found during two periods of intense global warming. (Kenneth Livi, Courtney Wagner, and Ioan Lascu)

New Way to Study Magnetic Fossils Could Help Unearth Their Origins

Museum staff, Laura Donnelly-Smith and Sally Love, try out the new audio description app in the “Hall of Fossils – Deep Time.” (Lucia RM Martino, Smithsonian Institution)

New App Takes Smithsonian Visitors Beyond Visuals

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

With more disciplines working together, better use of big data, and more computer simulations and other quantitative approaches, archaeologists may be able to make meaningful predictions of the future. (Photo courtesy of Wendy Cegielski and Jay Etchings)

Convergence May Help Scientists Predict the Future

Tlingit Killer Whale Clan Hat digitized and repatriated by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in 2005. (Nick Partridge, Smithsonian)

Is 3D Technology the Key to Preserving Indigenous Cultures?

Four views of a Shee aan. SI Catalog #E7899. (Brittany M. Hance, Smithsonian)

3D Technology May Revive this Ancient Hunting Tool

Onboard science leads Drs. Chris Mah and Chris Kelley and NOAA Educational Partnership Program Intern Nikola Rodriguez discuss and take a closer look at deepwater habitats explored with remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer on Horizon Guyot. (Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2017 Laulima O Ka Moana)

Can Technology Bring the Deep-Sea to You?

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