What remains of Skinny Dip Falls, next to a cell phone photo of the falls as they existed before the tropical storm.

Skinny Dip Falls — The Naked Truth

August 30, 2022

What remains of Skinny Dip Falls, next to a cell phone photo of the falls as they existed before the tropical storm. Photo: Chris Smith. By Chris Smith, Coordinator of Current Science Programs Picture in your mind the most pristine mountain waterfall you can imagine. Now, imagine a giant bulldozer driving down the middle of… Read More >

Artistic reconstruction of the reptile adaptive radiation in a terrestrial ecosystem during the warmest period in Earth’s history. Image depicts a massive, big-headed, carnivorous erythrosuchid (close relative to crocodiles and dinosaurs) and a tiny gliding reptile at about 240 million years ago. The erythrosuchid is chasing the gliding reptile and it is propelling itself using a fossilized skull of the extinct Dimetrodon (early mammalian ancestor) in a hot and dry river valley. Image: Henry Sharpe.

Global warming spawned the age of reptiles

August 19, 2022

Artistic reconstruction of the reptile adaptive radiation in a terrestrial ecosystem during the warmest period in Earth’s history. Image depicts a massive, big-headed, carnivorous erythrosuchid (close relative to crocodiles and dinosaurs) and a tiny gliding reptile at about 240 million years ago. The erythrosuchid is chasing the gliding reptile and it is propelling itself using… Read More >

During mating season, migratory Prairie Warblers are found in overgrown shrubs and along the edges of regrown forests throughout the east coast and much of the southern United States. Photo: Cameron Stuart.

Flight Interrupted — Bird Banding in Central NC

August 17, 2022

During mating season, migratory Prairie Warblers are found in overgrown shrubs and along the edges of regrown forests throughout the East Coast and much of the Southern United States. Photo: Cameron Stuart. By Cameron Stuart, NCMNS Marketing & Communications Intern Museum ornithologist John Gerwin drove his van slowly down a grassy, bumpy path into the… Read More >

Figure showing salinity and species distribution in the Mar Chiquita Lagoon under variable environmental conditions.

Silversides’ Surprising Hybridization

August 5, 2022

Salinity and species distribution in the Mar Chiquita Lagoon under variable environmental conditions. Image: Yamila P. Cardoso. Summary – Lily C. Hughes, Ph.D., the Museum’s Curator of Ichthyology In Buenos Aires province, Argentina, the Mar Chiquita Coastal Lagoon is an estuary that has been designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve due to its rich biodiversity and… Read More >

The bright blue arrows point toward specks of nickel and iron on the interior face of Tarda. Photo: R. Smith/NCMNS.

Extraterrestrial Amino Acids Fall to Earth

July 13, 2022

By Dr. Rachel Smith, Head, Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Lab and Curator, Meteorites On August 25, 2020, over the Moroccan Sahara near the village of Tarda, a rock from space was seen as a blazing fireball falling to Earth. As it exploded, pieces of the rock that survived the journey – the Tarda meteorites –… Read More >