HMNS has been a whilwifnd of activity for the past few months in preparation for our new Fabergé exhibit. Regular visitors to the museum might be surprised to hear this. After all, we’ve been displaying the Dorothy and Artie McFerrin Fabergé Collection at HMNS for years. What could possibly be so different about this […]
Walliserops trifurcatus is a weird looking creature. It’s a Trilobite, which is a kind of Arthropod that existed in great numbers from the Cambrian period (541 million years ago)to the end of the Permian (about 250 million years ago), long before dinosaurs evolved. They were so prolific, and there were so many species of trilobites […]
My office here at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is basically right outside a public hallway, so I overhear a great variety of things, from surprised exclamations as patrons look up and see the giant stuffed grizzly bear down the hall to hums of confusion as they examine a map (the Hall of […]
How long do butterflies live? It is one of the questions we get most frequently in the Cockrell Butterfly Center, and our replies vary. We may say an average of two weeks, which was the accepted standard based off of a few small scale experiments in the Butterfly Center over the years. We may say […]
Lecture – Sex in the Fossil Record by James Washington One of the driving forces of Darwinian evolution is reproduction in all its forms. In this presentation, paleontologist James Washington will focus on the myriad of methods used to continue species by passing on genetic material from one generation to the next. You will […]
Mosaics were common features, in both public spaces and private homes, in ancient Rome. Mosaics are beautiful, but also historically important. Mosaics provide a visual record, detailing everyday life, by depicting items such as food, dress, pets, and people. This common art form provides a looking glass into the past. The mosaic below depicts several […]
Road trips…they’re fun, but rough on your car’s paint job! Why? Bug splatter! We are all familiar with the mess all over the front of our cars from driving, especially long distances. But, what you may not know is all of the science that can be found in all of those little dead bug bodies, […]
When most people think of Native Americans, they imagine them either wearing a feather war bonnet or a headband with a small number of feathers in it, and that’s not a completely ridiculous assumption because this type of head wear was indeed worn by members of many Native American cultures as were the lesser-known bison […]
By Jill R. Moffitt HMNS Master Docent, Master Faceter Our Dorothy and Artie McFerrin Fabergé Gallery is back with a revamped exhibit space and over a hundred new Fabergé objects on display. In honor of opening of the “new” exhibit, we are featuring a whole series of interviews and blogs from curators and volunteer […]
Lecture – Evolution’s Bite: A Story of Teeth, Diet, and Human Origins by Peter Ungar Like living fossils teeth that can be studied and compared to those of our ancestors to teach us how we became human. Cutting-edge advances in understanding human evolution and climate change are leading to new approaches to uncovering […]
