We all learned in school that James Watt created the first useful steam engine, but did you know that his machine was still extremely inefficient until John Wilkinson’s method of boring holes through solid blocks of iron allowed precision cylinders to be produced? It turns out the element of “exactness” is very important to […]
By Ralph Philips. HMNS Sugarland Docent, edited by James Wooten, HMNS Astronomer May the fourth is coming, and with it some positively stellar events hosted by the Houston Museum of Natural Science to mark the occasion. There’s the May the Fourth mixer at our Main campus, and a Stellar Wars presentation with crafts and games […]
Every year on Valentine’s Day, we in the Cockrell Butterfly Center like to think about all our favorite insects and the methods they use to find mates. From special pheromones to elaborate mating rituals, every insect has a way to find a mate (or more often, multiple mates)! It’s the smell that counts […]
Cultural Feast – A Renaissance Condottieri Banquet…A Knight to Remember Art, warfare, intrigue, and cuisine often melded during the Italian Renaissance. Places such as Milan and northern Italy were important centers for the manufacture of the exquisite armor worn by kings and nobles throughout Europe during battles. Artists including Leonardo da Vinci often designed fortifications […]
Did you know that corundum is exactly half of everything you could ever want in a gemstone? The “big four” gemstones in the jewelry industry are diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald. Both ruby and sapphire are varieties of corundum, so although you may have never heard of it, the mineral we are discussing today […]
Trains Over Texas Departing from the station January 7, 2018! All Aboard! Create holiday memories by travelling across Texas by model railroad in this scratch built “O” scale model. The multiple trains crisscrossing the state will visit important and unique places in the state’s geology and physiography. Destinations include oil country salt domes, prairies […]
Busy planning your holiday shopping list that you haven’t even thought about your own wish list? We’ve created a list of 12 unique items that you’ll fall in love with. Pharaoh’s Sand Timer $34.95 Made of cold cast resin and hand painted, the Pharaoh’s sand timer lasts for 5 minutes. One end features the […]
I like to bake. I really, really like to bake. But I don’t have a problem. I can stop whenever I want….. I have no formal training other than my mom was a Home Ec. Teacher and I have access to the internet. I do, however, come from a long line of people […]
With camps starting this week (click here for our camp schedule) there is a whirlwind of activity in the education department as everyone gets ready for another exciting summer. 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 […]
Half a million school kids visit HMNS each year. They come from the Metro Area and all around. From the Woodlands to Westgate, no matter where in the Houston area their school is a kid is likely to visit us eventually. But the field trips mean different things to different students. Some kids […]
