Beyond Bones

    Visitors to our new Dorothy and Artie Fabergé Gallery display a wide range of reactions to our collection; some smile, others gawk, some stare with glittering eyes and a few let out a high pitched squeal of excitement. Despite the variety of expression witnessed in reaction to the exhibit so far, relatively few […]

  This large diamond, responsible for catching the eyes of many patrons  in the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals was discovered in the late 1970s in Russia and acquired by the museum in 1985. Diamonds were first discovered in Russia during the placer gold mining operations in the Ural Mountains during the late eighteenth century. […]

  This star map shows the Houston sky at 10 pm CDT on May 1, 9 pm CDT on May 15, and dusk on May 31.  To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom. A swath of brilliant winter stars sets in the west at dusk.  Orion, the Hunter, is […]

  I find your lack of costume disturbing. Get ready for our May the Fourth Be With You Mixer with these costume ideas. Houston, we’ve detected signs of intelligent life…at Mixers & Elixirs! Grab your friends on Thursday, May 4th and head to HMNS to celebrate your inner rebel or join the dark side at […]

May the Fourth Be With You Mixer GET TICKETS Thursday, May 4 | 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Houston, we’ve detected signs of intelligent life…at Mixers & Elixirs! Head over to HMNS for our May the Fourth Be With You par-tay. Celebrate your inner rebel or join the dark side while enjoying music and drinks. […]

  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 […]