News & Blogs

Research posts Ancient Octopuses Hunted by Piercing Shells Much Earlier Than Thought New research unveils the earliest evidence of octopus predation in the fossil record. February 22, 2021 Research posts Researchers Find a New Hidden Gene in COVID-19 Virus Hard-to-spot overlapping genes can advance efforts to find new ways of controlling the SARS-CoV-2 virus. November 10, 2020 Research posts New Fossil of Extinct Human Relative Suggests Climate Change Led to Rapid Evolution Paranthropus robustus fossil shows species changed as its environment cooled 2 million years ago. November 9, 2020 Research posts “Sea Pickles” May Glow Because of Newly Discovered Gene Finding may indicate first bioluminescent gene from a chordate, the group that includes all vertebrates. October 20, 2020 News Posts Museum Astronomer Jackie Faherty Receives Vera Rubin Prize Prestigious award recognizes Faherty’s broad-reaching research efforts and effective public outreach about space science. October 16, 2020 Research posts Ancient Rainforest Indicator Should be Reconsidered, Museum Scientists Find Researchers look back at ancient ecosystems by studying diets in the fossil record, and one standard is being reassessed. October 8, 2020 News Posts NSF Funds Museum Research on Bats, Brown Dwarfs, and DNA Techniques Multi-year grants awarded to Museum scientists to conduct research in wide-ranging areas. October 1, 2020 Research posts Earth’s First Organic Molecules May Have “Hatched” in Hydrothermal Vents Researchers find a chemical process that may have led to life emerging on Earth—and could occur elsewhere in the universe. September 16, 2020 Research posts Mastodons Marched North When Ice Retreated Researchers found that as regions thawed, mastodons moved toward new food sources—but became more vulnerable to extinction. August 31, 2020 Research posts Warming Oceans Mean Extinction for Reef-Building Corals, Study Finds While hard corals won’t survive changing oceans, softer-bodied relatives like sea anemones will endure. August 31, 2020 Education posts Museum Receives Grant to Study COVID-19 Impact on STEM Students The research team will look at how students from the Science Research Mentoring Program and similar programs navigate 2020. August 25, 2020 Research posts Citizen Scientists Discover Almost 100 Cool Brown Dwarfs Some of these newly found cool worlds near the Sun have temperatures that approach those on Earth. August 17, 2020