Beyond Bones

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. […]

We are pleased to present our newest exhibit, a scale model of the Moon just in time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of our Apollo missions! Without the moon, life on Earth as we know it would not exist. Our moon is unusually large for a planet Earth’s size. (Other moons of similar size in […]

Today the Houston Museum of Natural Science is hosting a fascinating lecture titled Black Pharaohs: Egypt, Nubia and Cultural Merging. The lecture will be presented by Dr. Peter Lacovara, who has been working in Egypt for over 30 years. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Lacovara during a recording for the upcoming season of the Beyond Bones Podcast. This […]

In Russian Orthodox tradition, Easter is the most important celebration of the year, even more so than Christmas. It’s probably for that reason that the Russians took the ancient tradition of decorating Eater Eggs to a whole new level near the end of their Imperial Age at the turn of the 20th century. Beautiful, Easter […]

By Dr. Michael Tinkler, Associate Professor of Art and Architecture, Hobart and William Smith Colleges The good news from Paris this week is that medieval builders worried about church fires. Remember, all light before Edison involved open flame – whether torches or candles. Candles in churches today are mainly symbolic, but reading inside churches called […]

The other day as I was walking past the beautiful displays of sporting arms from the 16th to the 19th centuries in our new special exhibition Art of the Hunt, I found myself completely awed by the beauty of the utilitarian devices being exhibited. It seems like everything made during the age when monarchs ruled is so beautiful. […]

By Jayme Schlimper, Overnight Program Manager and Curator of Education Collections HEY EVERYONE LOOK HERE I HAVE SOMETHING SUPER IMPORANT TO TELL YOU! Xplorations camps at HMNS are no more! Just kidding! Did I scare you? Don’t worry we’ll still be having camp here, with all your favorite topics, but now we’re calling ourselvesSummer Camps […]

Long ago, in a galaxy that is actually the one we’re in now, the ancient Egyptians had a myth about a time when beer saved the world. In honor of National Beer Day, I thought I’d share this interesting historical tidbit with you on today’s edition of Beyond Bones The story begins with the sun […]

By Jeff Cummins, Butterfly Rearing Coordinator at HMNS It’s the beginning of April, spring is in full swing, and I’ve seen the first of the migrant monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) females searching my garden for milkweed on which to lay their eggs. I know these are migrants, meaning they are the same individuals that spent […]

April is the last month to see the full set of brilliant winter stars which now fill the western evening sky.  Dazzling Orion is in the southwest at dusk.  His three-starred belt is halfway between reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel.  Orion’s belt points rightward to Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull.  To Orion’s upper left are […]