The world is a vast place, but all life living on its surface sprung from the same origins. Everyone and everything on this planet is connected. Sometimes the connections may not be readily apparent, but they are there.. Our “Missed Connections” series is all about exploring the unexpected connections between objects in our different exhibits. […]
Sweet Serendipity Brings One of the World’s Top Sapphires to HMNS Hailing from an island of gemstones, the Siren of Serendip is one of the world’s largest blue sapphires. Considered one of the top five sapphires in the world, the Siren of Serendip weighs a phenomenal 422.66 carats and was discovered almost a century ago […]
There is a new addition to the Cockrell Butterfly Center Insect Zoo, a colony of leaf-cutter ants housed in a brand new exhibit! This leaf-cutter ant (Atta cephalotes) colony was acquired by the Cockrell Butterfly Center about 2.5 years ago from Guatemala. It began as a small, “softball-sized” colony that now has grown many times […]
By Jayme Schlimper, Overnight Programs Manager and Curator of Educations Collections Hello! I’m back! Apparently I didn’t do too bad last time so I’ve been invited back to the blog! Lucky for you, we’re going to talk about something different but still stay within my realm of expertise – educational and after-hours programming. This is […]
Educational fun. Is that an oxymoron? At the Houston Museum of Natural Science it isn’t! Case in point: this week’s awesome schedule of activities. We have a lecture about the Bullet Train that will soon connect Houston and Dallas presented by Michael Moore, the Vice President of Texas Central, the company developing the high speed […]
It’s that time of year again: the weather’s changing, the jingle bells are ringing and there’s an infectious energy in the air that just makes you want to go out and have some family fun! Well, what better place for that than the Houston Museum of Natural Science? This week’s schedule is packed with all sorts […]
Lecture – Medieval Arms Race Throughout the Middle Ages competition between offensive and defensive arms resulted in a constant stream of innovation and evolution that resulted in the magnificent suits of armor and gracefully proportioned weapons on display in the current collection. Historian David Wise will explore the science behind the arms race […]
A few weeks ago I was shadowing David Temple, our Associate Curator of Paleontology, as he and a specialist from the Medical Center examined the levels of radiation given off by vintage luminescent watch dials in preparation for our new special exhibit Death by Natural Causes. After the examination was over, David decided we […]
Lecture – Hearth, Heart, Home: Skara Brae’s Early Stone Age Dwellings by Martin Carruthers What was it about an ancient windswept place in the remote Orkney Islands that caused people to invest so much effort in creating one of the earliest examples of permanent homes? Skara Brae, a Stone Age village and UNESCO World […]
Every year on Valentine’s Day, we in the Cockrell Butterfly Center like to think about all our favorite insects and the methods they use to find mates. From special pheromones to elaborate mating rituals, every insect has a way to find a mate (or more often, multiple mates)! It’s the smell that counts […]
