Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

“This is the kind of finding you hope you’re going to make on a mission.” – Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites and lead author on a new paper out today. New analysis of samples from the asteroid Bennu reveals that evaporating water left a briny broth where the elemental ingredients of life intermingled to create more complex structures like salts and minerals. Bennu’s parent asteroid, which formed around 4.5 billion years ago, was home to pockets of liquid water. This water evaporated and left behind brines that resemble the salty crusts of dry lakebeds on Earth; this is the first time that some of these compounds have been observed in extraterrestrial samples. The discovery suggests that extraterrestrial brines provide a crucial setting for the development of organic compounds. “We now know from Bennu that the raw ingredients of life were combining in really interesting and complex ways on Bennu’s parent body,” said McCoy. “We have discovered that next step on a pathway to life.” In addition to McCoy, Smithsonian-affiliated co-authors included Cari Corrigan, Rob Wardell, Tim Gooding and Tim Rose. Read more here: https://s.si.edu/3EgZz16

Interested in writing about meteorites and mammoths, squids and sloths, diamonds and dinosaurs? Apply now for the paid Summer 2025 #SciComm internship at the National Museum of Natural History! This 12-week, part-time internship may be virtual. Work will focus on presenting science and natural history stories primarily through our Smithsonian Voices platform. Apply by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 21st. Learn more: https://s.si.edu/3BXZnma

Shining bright like a diamond this #MineralMonday? This 16.72 carat specimen is showing off a phenomenon known as dispersion. White light is passing through the stone and being split into different wavelengths of light. Each color is a different wavelength.

Don’t forget behind the ears! Henry, our beloved 11-ton African elephant that has graced the Rotunda since 1959, recently got a deep clean. In 2015, Henry was carefully patched with special hand-colored beeswax. In this video, taxidermist Paul Rhymer shares more about the cleaning process, which is designed to preserve and protect this wax layer. Henry’s platform includes information on African elephant ecology, the threat of poaching, and the animal's place in geologic time.

No need for snowshoes when you've got snow paws! Recognizable by its triangular, black-tipped ears and fluffy coat, the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis0 lives in dense forests in Alaska, Canada, and the northernmost reaches of the contiguous United States. Primarily nocturnal, their diet relies heavily on the snowshoe hare, making up nearly 100% of their diet, depending on the season.

Update! Today, Monday, Jan. 20, our Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The museum will offer more limited cafe and retail options than usual due to inclement weather. Also open today: Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum and National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Our Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and Conservation Biology Institute will open at 10 a.m. Other museums in the Washington, DC, area are closed today due to security measures, road closures, and other restrictions for Inauguration Day.

Allow us to brighten your #InternationalFlowerDay with one of January's birth flowers: carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) Wild carnations are found throughout the Mediterranean but are a popular cultivated plant. While the natural flower color is pink-purple, a range of colors including red, yellow, white, and green have been cultivated. This pencil and gouache drawing dates comes from France in 1840 and is now the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Congratulations to NMNH curators Dr. Andrea Quattrini (Invertebrate Zoology) and Dr. Sabrina Sholts (Anthropology) who have been named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers. PECASE recognizes scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership early in their research careers. The award recognizes innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, expands awareness of careers in science and engineering, recognizes the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhances connections between research and impacts on society, and highlights the importance of science and technology for our nation’s future. Join us in congratulating Andrea and Sabrina!

The National Museum of Natural History will be closed on Monday, January 20, 2025, due to security measures, road closures, and other restrictions for Inauguration Day.

The annual Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival is celebrating its first decade with ten days of programming! Local guests are invited to join the free in-person events from Thursday, February 20, through Sunday, February 23, 2025, which will be followed by a six-day online film festival, February 24 to March 1, 2025. Learn more here: mothertongue.si.edu #MotherTongue2025