Lecture – Cultivating the Next Generation of Female Space Pioneers by Carolyn Sumners Women have played a vital role in the U.S. space program since its inception in the 1940’s. While women were once considered unfit for space travel, the most recent NASA class is 50 percent female. As we begin celebrating the 50th […]
Behind The Scenes Tour of Our Cockrell Butterfly Center Plus Greenhouses Go behind the scenes with Museum entomologists and horticulturists who care for the plants and animals in the three-story rainforest terrarium. The tour includes areas not open to the public–the greenhouses on the 7th floor of the parking garage and containment room. Tuesday, July […]
Imagine a strange post-apocalyptic scenario in which you somehow became trapped in the Cockrell Butterfly Center alone, with no food or provisions. Pretty weird thing to imagine right? Well, it could happen! Many people come to the CBC to watch the graceful butterflies flit through the trees, but don’t actually realize that it is […]
How many of you readers collect something, whether coins, stamps, statues of elephants, vintage firearms, beanie babies (we’re dating ourselves!), shot glasses from places you’ve visited, etc.? Humans seem to have a predilection for collecting things. Some of these collections seem random, or nostalgic, or even silly – but in the case of museums, a […]
Take a look at this list. You are probably thinking, “ok, someone’s shopping list, so what?“. What if I told you that most of these things are not even for human consumption, but for butterflies, reptiles, and other various insects? You’d probably think I’m crazy! Well, you’re not alone. Have you ever bought Guinness at […]
By Kim Vera, HMNS Membership Copywriter In August and September we had plenty events to help ease your summer blues and celebrate the beginning of the fall season. Here’s a recap in case you missed out. And be on the lookout for your HMNS weekly newsletter because we are planning a lot of exciting […]
Before-hours at the Museum on June 26, we hosted one of our exclusive Pixel Parties — where we open select exhibits just for photographers (both amateur and professional). For summer of 2016, we gave photographers exclusive access to our Cockrell Butterfly Center . Below is a small sample of the fantastic photos submitted to our […]
by Marina Torres Texas heat is here, and school’s out for summer. With all that bright sun outside, it’s a great time to play under the open sky. In the spirit of the season, we took science outside with a do-it-yourself kit from our own Museum Store. This super fun and educational solar print kit […]
Meet Lois’s baby cousin, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius. It may not be as large or as smelly as the corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) that bloomed at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in 2010, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome! It’s blooming in the Cockrell Butterfly Center right now, and by the end of the weekend, it should be […]
The zebra longwing (Heliconius charithonia) is a common resident of the Cockrell Butterfly Center (CBC). This butterfly is easily recognizable with boldly striped yellow and black wings. When visiting the CBC, you’ll often spot them sipping nectar from the flowers and nectar feeders or sunning themselves with their wings spread open. These butterflies have some unique […]
