Wonders of the World Museum and Gallery

Create Beautiful Abstract Photos with Polarized Crystals | Tiny crystals on a glass slide may look unimpressive to the naked eye, but with a macro lens and some polarizing filters they become magical. We show you how to make your own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7mqCXL6QFM&t=13s

Tomanowos, The Rock With The Most Fascinating Story | An ancient name: Tomanowos, means the visitor from heaven in the extinct language of Oregon’s Clackamas Indian tribe. The Clackamas revered the Tomanowos also known as the Willamette meteorite believing it came to unite heaven, earth and water for their people. Rare extraterrestrial rocks like Tomanowos have a kind of fatal attraction for us humans. When European Americans found the pockmarked, 15-ton rock near the Willamette River more than a century ago, Tomanowos went through a violent uprooting, a series of lawsuits and a period under armed guard. It’s one of the strangest rock stories I’ve come across in my years as a geoscientist. https://theconversation.com/tomanowos-the-meteorite-that-su

Crystal-Covered Beetle Discovery Sheds Light | From the dramatic black and yellow stripes of wasps and striking spots of ladybirds to the dazzling metallic sheen of jewel beetles, insects show a kaleidoscopic array of hues, patterns and optical effects. But exactly why insects are so colourful isn’t always clear. How and when did insects evolve colours? We recently discovered some spectacularly preserved blue-green colours in the scales of 13,000-year-old fossilised weevil beetles. Our find sheds light on the evolution of the most complex colour-producing structures known in insects: 3D biophotonic crystals. https://www.rawstory.com//how-did-insects-get-their-colou/

Possible Dinosaur DNA Has Been Found | The tiny fossil is unassuming, as dinosaur remains go. It is not as big as an Apatosaurus femur or as impressive as a Tyrannosaurus jaw. The object is a just a scant shard of cartilage from the skull of a baby hadrosaur called Hypacrosaurus that perished more than 70 million years ago. But it may contain something never before seen from the depths of the Mesozoic era: degraded remnants of dinosaur DNA. Recovering genetic material of such antiquity would be a major development. Working on more recently extinct creaturessuch as mammoths and giant ground slothspaleontologists have been able to revise family trees, explore the interrelatedness of species and even gain some insights into biological features... https://www.scientificamerican.com//possible-dinosaur-dna/

Ammolite: Fossilized Ammonites Gem | Ammolite is an opal-like organic gemstone found primarily along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains of North America. It is made of the fossilized shells of ammonites, which in turn are composed primarily of aragonite, the same mineral contained in nacre, with a microstructure inherited from the shell. It is one of few biogenic gemstones; others include amber and pearl. An iridescent opal-like play of color is shown in fine specimens..., mostly in shades of green and red; all the spectral colors are possible, however. The iridescence is due to the microstructure of the aragonite: unlike most other gems, whose colors come from light absorption, the iridescent color of ammolite comes from interference with the light that rebounds from stacked layers of thin platelets that make up the aragonite. http://www.geologyin.com//ammolite-fossilized-ammonites-ge See more

National Geographic Museum's Virtual Tour of Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall Exhibit | Jane Goodall has been inspiring National Geographic audiences, young and old, for almost 60 years, said Kathryn Keane, vice president of public programming at the National Geographic Society. This exhibition allows us to experience her amazing life story in a highly personal and powerful way. Through immersive media, authentic scenics and interactives, this exhibition takes visitors into the field and around the world with Jane, walking in her shoes and experiencing her powerful message of hope firsthand. https://blog.nationalgeographic.org//the-national-geograp/