Beyond Bones

I would like to formally introduce myself as the new manager of Beyond Bones. After a full year of working front line, as we like to call it, in the Visitor Services department, I understand that this blog is a trusted source for the latest in science, history, culture and the like and I hope […]

September is Member Appreciation Month here at HMNS! Every weekend will be filled with fun for all. Enjoy stargazing, photo bombing Victoria the T. rex and half-off member price tickets for choice venues, starting each Saturday. Featured exhibits will include the Cockrell Butterfly Center, the Burke Baker Planetarium, Wortham Giant Screen Theatre and HMNS at […]

Jupiter remains in the evening sky, well placed for observing.  Look low in the southwest at dusk for the brightest thing there.   Saturn is also in the evening sky.  Although it is not as bright as Jupiter,  you can find it easily at some distance to the left of Jupiter. Venus and Mars are lost in the Sun’s glare and […]

Between the years 1989 and 2009 the Houston Museum of Natural Science greatly expanded its footprint across the Houston-area, furthering its mission beyond its Hermann Park location in very ambitious ways.  The museum’s scope was changing ahead of a new century, because it had too. Just as Houston was evolving, so was the HMNS family, […]

HMNS may be known for its gigantic objects, like towering T. rexes, giant geodes and of course, our 23-ft diameter sculpture, Moon by Luke Jerram. But for every showstopping giant, there are plenty of minute specimens with big scientific value! For example, some of the shells in our newly renovated George W. Strake Hall of […]

Walking into the Cockrell Butterfly Center (CBC), one of the first things you’re likely to notice is the sound of a 50-foot waterfall. The conservatory’s high glass ceiling, forest of lush plants and thousands of fluttering butterflies couldn’t be further removed from the sterile, white walls of a science lab. But just beneath the tropical […]

Jupiter remains in the evening sky, well placed for observing.  Look low in the south at dusk for the brightest thing there.  Saturn is also in the evening sky.  Although it is not as bright as Jupiter,  you can find it easily at some distance to the left of Jupiter.   Venus and Mars are […]

Megalodon: The Monster Gets Virtual In celebration of Shark Week’s end, I see no greater reason to push the Mighty Megalodon to the surface. While the modern-day shark seems to be making recent headlines off the shores of Florida and Hawaii by way of attack, I tend to like my sharks a bit more pixelated […]

With their bright, fluttering wings and airy flight, butterflies are revered in cultures all over the world as beacons of hope and peace. It’s one of the many reasons we love the Cockrell Butterfly Center; the peaceful thrum of the butterflies creates a tranquil, tropical oasis. Now, a new piece on loan from Alan Bronstein […]

Last week we were excited to offer our Movie Monster Maker camp in Sugar Land, and boy there was a lot of ACTION! Everyone had a great week trying out some monsters, making stop motion animation shorts and investigating some monster mythology (and terrifying their parents at pick up). Check out their movies below. The […]