NEWS

Pair of rhesus macaques. Photo: Lauren Brent. (RALEIGH, N.C.) – The skin is the largest organ of the human body and the main barrier against the external world. Microbes on the surface of the skin often work in symphony with host skin cells to mediate body odor and, more importantly, overall health. For example, the… Read More >

A biologist holds a handful of salamander mussels (Simpsonaias ambigua). Photo: Megan Bradley/USFWS. The Museum’s Research Curator of Mollusks, Dr. Art Bogan, was interviewed by Pittsburgh’s NPR station WESA.  The article begins: A species of freshwater mussel found in pockets of the Allegheny River might soon be protected under the Endangered Species Act, as proposed… Read More >

(RALEIGH, N.C.) — It’s time to get buggy with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences as they host BugFest, the largest one-day bug-centric event in the country. Satisfy all your web weaving, wing flapping, dungball rolling, creepy crawling and (of course) bug munching pursuits in one day: Saturday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. It’s… Read More >

From the Head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, Adrian Smith: Wow, bat flies are bizarre creatures! I went out to find one of these extraordinary ectoparasitic insects with my museum colleague, Lisa Gatens, as she was trapping and banding bats in the North Carolina’s Coastal Plain. The bat fly in this… Read More >

  Sci NC Producer Rossie Izlar heads to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh for a closer look at the spoonworm. Found almost exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean, the spoonworm uses its handy proboscis to guide food to its mouth. Museum curator Bronwyn Williams puts one under the microscope to show us how…. Read More >