Lystrosaurus copyright Victor O. Leshyk

Mass Extinctions Led to Low Species Diversity, Dinosaur Rule

October 10, 2017

Two of the earth’s five mass extinction events – times when more than half of the world’s species died – resulted in the survival of a low number of so-called “weedy” species that spread their sameness across the world as the Earth recovered from these dramatic upheavals. The findings could shed light on modern high… Read More >


Deer Sketching by Shannon Bueker.

Shannon Bueker’s “Deer, Oh Dear” at science museum’s Nature Art Gallery in October

September 29, 2017

  (RALEIGH, N.C.) — Chatham County artist Shannon Bueker has always drawn. “As a kid, there wasn’t any surface that was safe from me and my crayons.” Surfaces remain at risk. After earning a degree in studio art from the University of Texas she migrated to North Carolina, where for the past 24 years her… Read More >


Don’t breathe. Don’t look back. “Twister” touches down at Museum, September 29

September 19, 2017

(RALEIGH, N.C.) — There’s nothing more American than baseball, apple pie and … tornadoes? That’s right, the United States is the cyclone capitol of the world, with an average of 1,000 twisters touching down in the states each year. The second most tornado-prone country, Canada, records just 100 tornadoes each year. So, what makes tornadoes… Read More >


Bird banding at Prairie Ridge Ecostation. Photo: Mary Kolliner.

Museum hosts Internship Fair October 22

Looking for an internship? Visit the Internship Fair, Sunday, October 22, 1–4pm at the Nature Research Center. http://naturalsciences.org/calendar/event/internship-fair/


Chris Smith and Emelia Cowans are our emcees for the annual pre-BugFest Critter Cook-off. Photo: Karen Swain/NCMNS.

Contenders from Taverna Agora and Sullivan’s Steakhouse square off in BugFest Critter Cook-off 2017

September 13, 2017

(RALEIGH, N.C.) — The BugFest Critter Cook-off, the official start to BugFest, takes place on Friday, September 15 at 11 a.m. in the main building of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in the N.C. Treasures Hall (1st floor.) The Iron-Chef-style  competition features two local chefs who will go “knife to knife” for the title… Read More >