SECU DinoLab Manager Eric Lund prepares to saw through the tyrannosaur femur.

It’s what’s inside that counts

May 28, 2024

SECU DinoLab Manager Eric Lund prepares to saw through the tyrannosaur femur. Photo courtesy of NCSU. One of our research questions concerning the Dueling Dinosaurs is the age of the dinosaurs when they died. For our tyrannosaur, is it small because it is young or because it is an adult of a smaller species? Since… Read More >


Dueling Dinosaurs tyrannosaur skull in matrix.

Off with its head!

The Dueling Dinosaurs tyrannosaur skull. Photo: NCDNCR. Just like your skull, the Dueling Dinosaurs tyrannosaur’s skull once housed and protected essential soft tissues such as the brain, the inner ear and sinuses. Studying these tissues can help us understand the senses and physiology of our predator, but they decomposed long ago during the fossilization process…. Read More >


The final stages of the conservation project allow the students to release the grown fish into the Neuse River.

Shad in the Classroom project takes a dive with East Duplin High

May 21, 2024

Duplin High School students release shad fry into the Neuse River. Photo courtesy of Jackie Smith. By Nichole Heller, Duplin Times Editor BEULAVILLE — The Shad in the Classroom project partners with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, NC Wildlife Resources Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to embark on an adventure in… Read More >


Cosmic Cliffs of the Carina Nebula, taken with the James Webb Space Telescope.

‘Due South’ spaces out on mysteries of the universe with NC astronomer

May 13, 2024

Carina Nebula, taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. Photo: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI. By Leoneda Inge, Jeff Tiberii, Erin Keever After talking with a NASA astronaut, we at Due South wanted to learn more about research that’s happening here on Earth. Rachel Smith, an astrophysicist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences,… Read More >


Dr. Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The DinoLab will show real scientists at work studying fossils. Photo: Joshua Steadman.

Good Bones: Inside the SECU DinoLab at NCMNS

May 6, 2024

Dr. Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The SECU DinoLab will show real scientists at work studying fossils. Photo: Joshua Steadman. by Hampton Williams Hofer This high-tech research lab within the museum is open to the public. It will showcase ongoing paleontological study of the Dueling Dinosaurs. The… Read More >