As we prepared to suspend our newest celestial installation Mars by Luke Jerram in the Glassell Hall, summer interns in the museum’s astronomy department set up a Martian Farm. With the farm, interns are conducting experiments to determine how different plants react to Mars soil compared with Earth soil. They planted different types of plants […]
In something of a surprise, we have a naked eye comet this month, comet NEOWISE! Astronomers discovered this comet on March 27, 2020 using the NEOWISE satellite. This satellite is the Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer, later used to search for Near Earth Objects. After its discovery, Comet NEOWISE continued to approach the Sun. It […]
One of the most common questions I’m asked as Curator of Vertebrate Zoology is “Where and how do you get your specimens?” The standard answer is that they died of natural causes or from medical complications in captivity or at a wildlife rehabilitation facility, which is how we get the bulk of our specimens. However, […]
I love everything ancient! That particularly goes for ancient writing systems. My fascination started with Egyptian hieroglyphics, but soon turned toward cuneiform. Cuneiform is an ancient writing system that developed in Mesopotamia around 3400 B.C., and it is the oldest form of writing in the world. Cuneiform is not an alphabet, but rather a set […]
The invention of printmaking changed the world. Printing was invented in China between the years 618 to 906 A.D. The earliest prints were made using wooden blocks that were carved with pictures and writings. The process wasn’t complicated, but it took great skill and time to prepare the blocks for printing. First, the text or […]
If you don’t have one already, a field journal is a must-have for any budding scientist! Field journals are used by all different types of scientists (such as paleontologists, geologists, biologists and many others) in order to record and keep track of the things they learn and observe while working out in the field. These […]
When learning about wildlife, we often focus on the far away and exotic, but there are plenty of fascinating plan and animal species outside around your home or local park. Use this scavenger hunt to help you discover them! Find a Rollie pollie. These are also called pill bugs, doodle bugs and woodlice. They are […]
Ever since she was a little girl, Tina Petway has been enthralled with shells. Living along the Texas Gulf Coast, it just comes naturally to many of us. The Houston native, now the associate curator of the George W. Strake Hall of Malacology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, spent every moment she could […]
Mercury continues an excellent apparition for the first half of June. Look for it low in the sky at dusk, over the point of sunset. Mercury is highest June 4-5, then gets lower and dimmer until it is lost in the Sun’s glare by June 15. Mars is higher in the morning sky each day […]
It’s been hard to avoid the online memes and gags about hairdos in the time of corona. Have you let it all go wild, or taken matters into your own hands? As it happens, something in the Hall of Ancient Egypt reminds us that the Egyptians had hair concerns of their own. And, as today, […]
