Natural History Museum
Sensorial Paradise | Natural History Museum and Seedlip
Go behind the lens and discover how nature inspires photographers to make the award winning photographs which feature in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. Explore what sensorial inspirations you can take from the natural...
Natural History Museum
Slow Down and Celebrate | Natural History Museum and Seedlip
The world is constantly speeding up. Now, more than ever, we need to slow down and appreciate the wonders of the natural world. Discover how wildlife photography offers us the opportunity to pause, take a moment and witness the beautiful...
Natural History Museum
Why are flamingos pink? | Natural History Museum
Flamingos are known for their pink plumage, but their feathers don't start out this way. Baby flamingos are grey and they only take on their characteristic bright colour as they get older. But what causes this transformation? Researcher...
Natural History Museum
Behind the lens: The Great Swim by Buddhilini de Soyza | Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Discover the story behind one of this year's most dramatic images through the lens of Highly Commended wildlife photographer Buddhilini de Soyza. When the Mara and Talek rivers broke their banks in January 2020 due to unseasonal...
Natural History Museum
Is a strawberry a berry?| Natural History Museum
When you think of berries, what kind of fruit comes to mind? Maybe it's a strawberry or raspberry. But what about a banana, pumpkin or aubergine? What makes a fruit a berry? Museum scientist Tom McCarter explains how, botanically...
Natural History Museum
Hidden Treasures: Fish or Flies? | Natural History Museum
Are you ready for episode two of Hidden Treasures, the behind the scenes live show where you're in control. We need you to decide where in the Museum we explore next: the fish collection or fly collection. Leave us a comment in the chat...
Natural History Museum
Behind the lens: Rich reflections by Justin Gilligan | Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 57 category winner Justin Gilligan draws attention to the importance of seaweeds off the coast of the remote Lord Howe Island. Learn how the presence of these marine plants can have a profound impact on...
Natural History Museum
Do scallops have eyes? | Natural History Museum
Did you know that scallops have loads of eyes? At a glance you may not see them because they're tiny. Scallop eyes are also some of the strangest eyes in the animal kingdom. Dr Suzanne Williams, a Museum researcher and mollusc expert,...
Natural History Museum
How to make a spi-pot bug viewer for minibeasts | Natural History Museum
Follow our steps to make a simple bug viewer, or spi-pot, that lets you safely and gently take a closer look at spiders, insects or other mini-beasts that you have found. For more easy how-to instructional videos, visit:...
Natural History Museum
Why do flies have nipples on their eyes? | Natural History Museum
Many flies have nipples on their eyes – but they’re not the kind you’re probably thinking of. Corneal nipples are raised protrusions on the surface of the eye. We asked Diptera expert Dr Erica McAlister why flies have them. Need more...
Natural History Museum
Whodunnit? How koalas could confuse crime scene investigators | Natural History Museum
Your fingerprints are unique to you. They're famously used in forensic science to identify individuals that were at a crime scene. But did you know that koalas might be able to confuse crime scene investigators? Museum scientist Eloise...
Natural History Museum
Climate Solutions | Wildlife Photographer of the Year | Natural History Museum
We are living in a period of great change. Explore the threats facing our oceans and the world of potential solutions through the work of #WPY57 photographers David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes who use the power of photography to tell the...
Natural History Museum
Hidden Treasures: The dinosaur collection
Join palaeontologist and dinosaur expert Prof Paul Barrett on an interactive live tour of the dinosaur collection, where you'll get to ask the questions and open the drawers. From Tyrannosaurus rex to Triceratops, the Natural History...
Natural History Museum
Breaking into a fossil jacket | Hidden Treasures live stream series announcement
A new and unusual specimen recently arrived at the Museum. We needed the help of expert fossil preparator Kieran Miles to help us break into it. Thank you to all of our subscribers for your continuing support - we couldn't have done this...
Natural History Museum
How fish challenge the sex binary | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Stop 2
We tend to think of males and females as existing in separate bodies, but if you go diving on a coral reef then around a third of all species of fish you see will be some form of hermaphrodite. Discover how life histories such as these...
Natural History Museum
Homosexuality in the natural world | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Stop 3
The first known image of non-human same-sex sexual behaviour is a drawing from 1896 of two male cockchafer beetles having sex. Find out how the sex lives of these beetles triggered a series of debates about homosexuality in the natural...
Natural History Museum
What can Darwin teach us about sexuality? | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Stop 4
Darwin is known for his theory of natural selection, but he also came up with a second theory of sexual selection. Find out what this theory involves, why it is overwhelmingly heteronormative, and what that means for our perceptions of...
Natural History Museum
Eugen Sandow: a Victorian sex symbol | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Stop 6
The Victorian strongman Eugen Sandow, considered the father of body building, rose to fame as an international celebrity and sex symbol during the close nineteenth century. But why did the Museum have his naked body cast? And why did it...
Natural History Museum
The fossil turtle named after someone's butt | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Extra Content
Go behind the scenes with one of the Museum's dinosaur researchers to find out about the fossil turtle Kallikobotian, named by the palaeontologist Franz Nopsca after his partner Bajazid Doda on account of the fact that it reminded Nopsca...
Natural History Museum
How some species of lizard are all-lady lizards | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Extra Content
We tend to think of animals as having two sexes, but there are many species of lizard that have done away with this. Come face-to-face with all-female species of lizards, find out how they have evolved and how they reproduce with the...
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum's beetle collections | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Extra Content
Go behind the scenes into one of the largest, oldest and most important beetle collections in the world with the Museum's Curator of Beetles. See some of the largest beetles in the world, specimens collected by Darwin himself, and other...
Natural History Museum
Lesbian seagulls: the discovery that rocked America | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Extra Content
In the 1970s researchers studying gulls in California discovered that up to 14% of all nesting birds were actually between two females. Find out how this discovery rocked conservative America and ended up being debated on the Senate...
Natural History Museum
How the sex life of penguins was hidden for 100 years | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Stop 8
It is thought that up to 5% of all penguins in zoos are in same-sex relationships. But this behaviour is also found in the wild, and was recorded by scientists on the 1912 Scott Expedition, before being covered up for 100 years. Find out...
Natural History Museum
Female spotted hyenas have a pseudo-penis | LGBTQ+ natural history tour | Stop 9
Could you tell the difference between and male and female hyena? This might sound simple, but is actually rather difficult as female hyenas develop a pseudo-penis which can look identical to a males. But what is this structure, and why...