HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

In our own Burke Baker Planetarium, Our own Dr. Carolyn Sumners trained the Challenger shuttle crew how to navigate by the stars. Podcast soon...but until then, enjoy this haunting article.
wheninyourstate.com/texas/seven-astronauts-trained…

1 week ago | [YT] | 77

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

October 31...it's going down. Get your tickets to Spirits & Skeletons today. They WILL sell out! 👻🦖♥️

Tix & info
www.hmns.org/spirits-and-skeletons/

1 week ago | [YT] | 127

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

She walked like us, but around 3.2 million years ago.

For five years now, a life-sized fleshed-out model of a female Australopithecus aferensis known as "Lucy", has stood in our Morian Hall of Paleontology. Let's talk about why Lucy is so important.

Her skeleton was nearly 40% complete, which is exceptional for such an ancient human ancestor. Studying her spine, pelvis, and leg bones revealed strong adaptations for bipedalism, while studying her long arms and curved fingers suggested she was adept at climbing trees--making her a kind of evolutionary bridge.

Lucy also debunked the theory of the time (1970s) that human ancestors developed large brains before learning to walk upright. She was in fact walking upright, but her brain (around 400-500 cubic centimeters) is about the same size of a chimpanzee's. She reversed the order.

Lucy may be the most famous australopithecine, but she is not the only representative of this species. Many other Australopithecus afarensis have been found eastern Africa. Living between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago, they were small compared to modern humans, with females often substantially smaller than males. She measured about three-and-a-half feet tall and probably weighed about 60 to 65 pounds.

#HMNS #anthropology #science #lucy

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1 week ago | [YT] | 574

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

Houston ghosts and ghouls! Spooky season candy grabbin' AND a T. rex? Come see us in Sugar Land, Saturday, October 18th from 10a-1p! 🦖👻🧡

Tix and more info! my.hmns.org/43174/55597

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 86

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

Houston peeps age 21+! Join us at our Sugar Land location October 10th 6p-8p to sip and learn about the history and science of bourbon!

Tix & info
my.hmns.org/43173

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 41

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

We love our YouTube subscribers, so here's some good news! Y'all know I like transparency...

We will not be uploading any more event promotion *videos* on this platform. All specific promotional content will live here in the Community Page.

Our YouTube Shorts and traditional wide content will be the educational, original, and organic content y'all love and subscribe to us for. No more "ads" for upcoming events within VIDEO content on YouTube.

Our promotional videos work better and fit more naturally on our other platforms (Meta...)

That said, this YouTube Community page isn't ONLY for posting promos. I'll still post science nuggets here...but *also* promotional content as necessary.

Just no more promo videos on the main video feed here on YouTube.

Y'all truly, truly rock! 🤘🦖♥️

Johnny, HMNS YouTube & Podcast Manager

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 110

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

Y'all know I like to be transparent here, so we got a few event promotional posts to upload, but PLENTY more "edutainment" in the pipeline as well! 🦖❤️

- Johnny, HMNS YouTube & Podcast Manager

1 month ago | [YT] | 108

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

DON'T GET IT WRONG, FATHER

youtube.com/shorts/xRM0r9SYFc...

1 month ago | [YT] | 82

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

Even our benches are ancient! Texas Limestone from the late cretaceous seas that covered much of Texas, hence the fossilized shells!

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2 months ago | [YT] | 552

HMNS - Houston Museum of Natural Science

Found this artifact in the museum gutty-works...

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2 months ago | [YT] | 284