What’s old is new, or so they say. That’s fine when it comes to fashion trends and music, but what about medicine? Surley modern medicine is superior in every way to the medicine of old? Not so fast, in 2015, researchers at Nottingham University “recreated a ninth-century Anglo-Saxon remedy using onion, garlic and part […]
This week the community that we are so proud to be a part of has suffered a devastating loss. In the midst of that suffering, many of you reached out to see how the museum was faring and if the collections were safe. We could not be more humbled, grateful and […]
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 […]
The Cockrell Butterfly Center at HMNS is one of the most unique locations in Houston. Among the over 1,500 butterfly species you spy as you wander through our enchanting rainforest conservatory, is the beautiful Yellow Tiger Longwing, Heliconius ismenius. This stunner of a specimen gets it’s name from—you guessed it—it’s beautiful striped markings, which are […]
This weeks entry in our “5 Most Magical…” series will discuss our cippus displayed in the Hall of Ancient Egypt. A cippus is essentially a magical amulet designed to protect Egyptian households from either negative spiritual influences or real-world perils such as scorpion stings and snake bites. The two figures seen at the front are […]
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 […]
Some of the Education staff started their careers at HMNS as campers in Xplorations Summer Camps; some of us started as part-time camp teachers in the summer; others started as Summer camp interns. A few of us have been here long enough that our own children, nieces and nephews are now too old for camp. […]
Some of you who have visited HMNS since the Opening of our epic new exhibit Gladiators: Heroes Of The Colosseum may have noticed a couple interesting characters roaming the exhibit halls. They are our gladiators! We got a behind the scenes look as Collin and Seth, who play our Retuarius and Secutor, prepared to terrorize […]
After-hours at HMNS on April 30, we hosted one of our exclusive Pixel Parties — where we open select exhibits just for photographers (both amateur and professional). This time around, we gave photographers access to our Hall of Ancient Egypt and special exhibitions Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum and Out of the Amazon: Life on the River. […]
Mosaics were common features, in both public spaces and private homes, in ancient Rome. Mosaics are beautiful, but also historically important. Mosaics provide a visual record, detailing everyday life, by depicting items such as food, dress, pets, and people. This common art form provides a looking glass into the past. The mosaic below depicts several […]
