IDWGS 2025
Today we're celebrating the #InternationalDayofWomenAndGirlsInScience!
Tell us your favorite female scientists down in the comments!
Bennu release
“This is the kind of finding you hope you’re going to make on a mission.” – Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites and lead author on a new paper out today.
New analysis of samples from the asteroid Bennu reveals that evaporating water left a briny broth where the elemental ingredients of life intermingled to create more complex structures like salts and minerals. Bennu’s parent asteroid, which formed around 4.5 billion years ago, was home to pockets of liquid water. This water evaporated and left behind brines that resemble the salty crusts of dry lakebeds on Earth; this is the first time that some of these compounds have been observed in extraterrestrial samples.
The discovery suggests that extraterrestrial brines provide a crucial setting for the development of organic compounds. “We now know from Bennu that the raw ingredients of life were combining in really interesting and complex ways on Bennu’s parent body,” said McCoy. “We have discovered that next step on a pathway to life.”
In addition to McCoy, Smithsonian-affiliated co-authors included Cari Corrigan, Rob Wardell, Tim Gooding and Tim Rose. Read more here: https://s.si.edu/3EgZz16
Don’t forget behind the ears! Henry, our beloved 11-ton African elephant that has graced the Rotunda since 1959, recently got a deep clean. In 2015, Henry was carefully patched with special hand-colored beeswax. In this video, taxidermist Paul Rhymer shares more about the cleaning process, which is designed to preserve and protect this wax layer. Henry’s platform includes information on African elephant ecology, the threat of poaching, and the animal's place in geologic time.
Rocktober 5
In summer 2024, our scientists went to northern Canada to collect some of the oldest rocks on Earth. Now back at the museum, research geologist Michael Ackerson and postdoctoral research fellow Wriju Chowdhury are processing these samples with one goal in mind - extracting zircons. These elusive crystals are some of the only remaining material from the earliest history of our planet. The chemical makeup of these tiny crystals could reveal the geochemical steps that transformed the planet into the lush biosphere that we live on today.
Learn more about the extraction process from Mike and Wriju!
National Trivia Day 2025
#DYK that today is National Trivia Day? Brush up for your next trivia night with some of our staff's natural history fun facts!
Giving Tuesday 2024
Happy #GivingTuesday!
This year your gifts will be used to upgrade our hands-on science exploration programs with a suite of modern, kid-friendly microscopes for Q?rius, the Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center.
Thanks to a generous offer made by the Chair of our NMNH Advisory Board, Matt Kelly and his wife, Jessica Mailloux, for a limited time, your donation to the museum will be matched up to $25,000. With this special matching gift opportunity, you can double your impact with any gift up to that amount made before December 31, 2024.
Click here to donate: https://s.si.edu/3Vn8R1r
Thanksgiving 2024
You think your turkey came out too dry? It's got to be better than this. While turkeys have been in North America for more than 20 million years, this wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) humerus dates to about 20,000 years ago.
Rocktober 4
How do field geologists know which rocks are the oldest rocks on the planet?
Learn more from Mike, one of our research geologists and curators.
Spider myth busting
Scared of spiders? Our Curator of Arachnids Hannah Wood is here to help!
Fear of spiders is extremely common and this time of year, spiders are often portrayed as vicious, scary creatures. In reality, spiders are one of the most diverse groups of organisms on the planet and they play an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems in a wide variety of habitats across the globe.
Hannah's favorite spiders (besides the pelican spiders that she studies) are the cute and furry velvet spiders (family Eresidae) found through Africa, Europe, and Asia. Hear more from Hannah in this video!
Perpetual sun, a single engine prop plane, and some of the most scientifically valuable rocks on the planet, come spend a day in the field with Mike and Wriju!
National Fossil Day 2024
Happy National Fossil Day! Totaling over 40 million fossil specimens, only a fraction of the National Fossil Collection is on display at any given time. When a fossil is put on or taken off display, our collections and exhibit staff work to ensure the safety of the specimen. Enjoy this glimpse into the process of a fossil being taken off display!
Rocktober 2
If you gathered all the 4-billion-year-old zircons that have ever been collected on Earth, they would barely cover the bottom of a five-gallon bucket.
These extraordinarily rare minerals might be the key to understanding the further reaches of Earth's history. Hear more from Mike and Wriju about what makes them so special.
Join us as we explore the natural world and our place in it. Legal: 
