Acro dressed up for the holidays!

Top 12 science-y things to do over the holidays

December 8, 2016

During this holiday season, celebrate science with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. Here are just a few ideas of what you could do … 1 • Dec 18 Naturalist Center, 1–4pm Learn about the natural world using our “magic” tables or peruse an extensive collection of hands-on specimens, including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes,… Read More >


Lepisiota dispatching Pheidole ant. Photo: D. Magdalena Sorger.

New dominant ant species discovered in Ethiopia shows potential for global invasion

November 22, 2016

RALEIGH, N.C. — A team of scientists conducting a recent biodiversity survey in the ancient church forests of Ethiopia made an unexpected discovery — a rather infamous ant species (Lepisiota canescens) displaying signs of supercolony formation. According to D. Magdalena Sorger, a post-doctoral researcher with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and a key… Read More >


Eoconfuciusornis. Image Credit: Dr. Xiaoli Wang.

Keratin and Melanosomes Preserved in 130-Million-Year-Old Bird Fossil

November 21, 2016

New research from North Carolina State University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Linyi University has found evidence of original keratin and melanosome preservation in a 130-million-year-old Eoconfuciusornis specimen. The work extends the timeframe in which original molecules may preserve, and demonstrates the ability to distinguish between ancient microstructures in fossils. Eoconfuciusornis, crow-sized primitive birds… Read More >


Screenshot from "Soapy the Germ Fighter"

Museum’s Final Friday takes a closer look at “Those Naughty Germs” – Nov. 25

November 15, 2016

RALEIGH — Bacteria. We kill them with pills, spray them with bleach, and scrape them off our teeth every morning. But they also help digest our food, keep our crops healthy, and apparently they live in fancy yogurt. So how do you know the good from the bad? Enter the amazing world of germs when… Read More >


WRAL's Greg Fishel

Museum hosts Fishel Town Hall discussion of E.O Wilson’s Half-Earth Project, Dec. 1

November 10, 2016

RALEIGH, N.C. — Our survival is inextricably entwined with the survival of all species that call our planet home, yet our current destructive trajectory is resulting in mass extinction of species and irreparable damage to our world. How do we change our current course and better conserve, or even serve, the natural world? Join WRAL… Read More >