Flying the drone through the skeleton of a Right Whale.

The Making of a One-Shot Virtual Tour of the Museum

August 19, 2021

Inspired by their love of the natural sciences and their interest in drones, the Museum’s Digital Media team, along with colleagues from across the Museum, came together to produce a virtuoso one-shot video tour. The video flies guests virtually through NCMNS, zipping through whale skeletons, encountering dinosaurs, catching glimpses of signature exhibits and seeing researchers… Read More >


Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus). Photo: Jeff Beane/NCMNS

Nature Now! Cicada Killers

August 12, 2021

Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus). Photo: Jeff Beane/NCMNS. By Colin A. Brammer, PhD, Coordinator of the Natural World Investigate Lab Late in the summer you may see sleek black and yellow creatures hovering over a patch of earth and possibly burrowing into it. Don’t worry! The Eastern Cicada Killer, Sphecius speciosus, is one of five species… Read More >


Volcanoes 3D: The Fires of Creation

Sharks and Volcanoes! NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Theater reopening August 13

August 9, 2021

[RALEIGH, N.C.] – The refurbished WRAL 3D Theater at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences re-opens to the public on Friday, August 13. Four short nature films are on the schedule for showings Friday through Sunday, including old favorites “Tiny Giants” and “Great White Shark,” as well as new offerings “Incredible Predators” and “Volcanoes.”… Read More >


Moths video by Dr. Adrian Smith

New video: 7 Spectacular Moths in Slow Motion!

August 6, 2021

Dr. Adrian Smith, Head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, has posted a new video showing off seven moths flying in slow motion. To quote Dr. Smith, “Whose day isn’t gonna be better after watching a pink and yellow Rosy Maple Moth fly in super-slow motion?” Take-off flight sequences captured at 6,000… Read More >


Shells of Eastern Mediterranean freshwater mussels within the Unioninae subfamily. (From the paper, Figure 5.)

Museum researcher co-authors paper on Eastern Mediterranean freshwater mussels

August 5, 2021

Shells of Eastern Mediterranean freshwater mussels within the Unioninae subfamily. Click to enlarge. Located at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean is a region of high diversity of freshwater mussels, including those that occur nowhere else. This is due to their evolutionary histories and ecological and geographical settings, which have changed… Read More >