shelf life from AMNH

Shelf Life from AMNH

Can’t get to New York to visit the American Museum of Natural History? No problem! We invite you to take a virtual trip behind the scenes. In this the first episode of Shelf Life from AMNH, you can walk in the shoes of a research scientist and explore the enormous collection of specimens, many of which aren’t on public display. Shelf Life from AMNH is a video series for curious minds—opening doors, pulling out drawers, and taking the lids off some of the incredible, rarely-seen items in the American Museum of Natural History.…

Dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch Paleontology Science Videos Zoology 

Shelf Life Video: The Dinosaurs of Ghost Ranch

Dinosaurs’ fossils have attracted paleontologists to the Badlands of Ghost Ranch, NM, since 1881. Here, they have found the best place to find early carnivorous dinosaurs in the world. This video is another in the Shelf Life series from the American Museum of Natural History.   After being unearthed, dinosaurs’ bones are very delicate, and paleontologists need to take really good care of them. Once they are safely brought to the Museum of Natural History, they are ready to be analyzed. By looking at dinosaurs’ fossils, researchers can figure out…

Shelf Life Video: Time Travel to Stars Astronomy and Astrophysics Science Videos 

Shelf Life Video: Time Travel to Stars

With the help of high school students, scientists at The American Museum of Natural History are creating an online catalog of stars’ distances and relative positions. This video is another in the Shelf Life series from the American Museum of Natural History.   Since the early 17th century, thanks to the use of telescopes, astronomers have been able to draw detailed star maps. However, because the Earth wobbles on its axis, today we see the stars in a slightly different position than in the past. So, students and scientists are…

Screening Biodiversity Biology Environment Science Videos Zoology 

Shelf Life Video: Screening Biodiversity

Scientists at The American Museum of Natural History explain why managing biodiversity is a key component in managing endangered species. This video is another in the Shelf Life series from the American Museum of Natural History. Even though one and a half million species of organisms have already been named and described, they represent just a tiny portion of the biodiversity of our planet. Having a distinct genetic identity is important because more variation tends to be better in the face of the changing world. And when populations get small and isolated…

Shelf Life Video: Fossils in the Gobi Desert Paleontology Science Videos 

Shelf Life Video: Fossils in the Gobi Desert

It’s been nearly a century since the Museum began their explorations of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert—a vast and imposing landscape that occupies an unparalleled space in the scientific record. The American Museum of Natural History gives some background on the Gobi Desert expeditions: One of the world’s richest locations for dinosaur, lizard, and mammal fossils, it was discovered in 1993 by a team that included Curators Mark Norell (now Macaulay Curator and Chair of the Division of Paleontology) and Mike Novacek (now Provost of Science at the Museum), and visited by…

Green Grow the Salamanders Biology Science Videos 

Green Grow the Salamanders: Shelf Life Video

Many people visit the American Museum of Natural History to view the preserved specimens of dinosaurs and extinct animals, but the Museum also has a collection of about 80 live cultures of microorganisms, including algae. Here is what the Museum has to say about episode 11, “Green Grow the Salamanders,” of their popular Shelf Life series:: This episode of Shelf Life looks at how Museum researchers are currently studying the surprising role single-celled algae play in the life of the spotted salamander—and comes on the heels of the opening of…

Giant Squid (Photo ©AMNH/P.Rollins) Biology Oceanography Zoology 

Shelf Life Episode 8: Voyage of the Giant Squid

Find out how natural history museum staff transport the body of a giant squid. These animals grow to the size of a school bus, or longer. This episode of the Shelf Life video series focuses on a simple transportation problem– how to  transport the body of a rare giant squid. But long before they were a quandary for customs officials, these mysterious cephalopods fueled fear and folklore all over the world. While they may not breathe fire or devour large ships, the animals that inspired their mythological counterparts are no…