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 >


Artistic interpretation of Troodon coughing up a bone-bearing gastric pellet. Illustration: Clarissa Koos.

Potential Troodon gastric pellets

August 4, 2021

Artistic interpretation of Troodon coughing up a bone-bearing gastric pellet. Illustration: Clarissa Koos. A new study led by William Freimuth, a PhD student of NCMNS Head of Paleontology Lindsay Zanno, and a team of paleontologists from Montana State University and the University of Washington describes Cretaceous mammals in fossilized gastric pellets potentially produced by the… Read More >


Venus flytrap

Captivating Carnivores: The Venus Flytrap

By Amanda Rossillo, Whiteville intern Wetlands are an essential component of southeastern North Carolina’s landscape. Swamps, lakes, and other wetland habitats provide important services to people and the natural world, from filtering pollutants and preventing floods to serving as homes for fish and wildlife. In this column, we’ll take deep dives into some of the… Read More >