Open September 22

NC Museum of Natural Sciences Will Open to the Public Starting Sept. 22

September 3, 2020

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will be open to the public beginning Tuesday, Sept. 22 with new hours, new procedures, and new plans in place to help ensure the safety of guests and staff. The biggest change is that free, timed-entry tickets will be required as the Museum will be opening… Read More >


Nature Now! Magical Mushrooms

September 2, 2020

I welcomed the frequent rains that we had this summer. They nourished the plants, kept my stream flowing and produced magic in the woods behind my house. The magic is the arrival of mushrooms that seemingly appear out of thin air! The truth behind the appearance of mushrooms and other fungi in their varied forms… Read More >


Volunteer does a demonstration

IE, NCMNS youth program on climate resilience to begin Aug. 29 virtually

August 28, 2020

  On Aug. 29, 37 youth from North Carolina will begin the Youth Engaged in the Science of Resilience (YES-Resilience) Teen Climate Ambassadors program hosted by the UNC Institute for the Environment’s Center for Public Engagement with Science and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS). This yearlong program, originally planned for an in-person launch… Read More >


Cardamom Leaf-litter Frog

The Leaf-litter Frog mystery in the Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia

August 26, 2020

Cardamom Leaf-litter Frog (Leptobrachella neangi). Photo copyright by Thy Neang. Although Leaf-litter Frogs are found throughout the forests of Southeast Asia, only a single individual of an unknown species had been recorded in the vast Cardamom Mountains. This has now changed, with the scientific discovery of the Cardamom Leaf-Litter Frog, named in honour of Cambodian… Read More >


Flight video cover image: stonefly

Insect Flight: Capturing Takeoff & Flying at 3,200 FPS

August 25, 2020

From the Museum’s Head of the Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, Dr. Adrian Smith: Takeoff and flight sequences of insects spanning eight different taxonomic orders captured at 3,200fps!