#the smithsonian

[creepykuroneko]

Smithsonian returns woman’s brain to family 90 years after it was taken - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/09/08/smithsonian-returns-brain-taken/

An 18 year old indigenous Alaskan woman's (Mary Sara) brain was removed (stolen) from her body without her consent, her family did not consent, no one knew about this, and was sent to the Smithsonian all because a racist physician wanted to add the brain to his collection that "proved" white superiority. File this under one of the many reasons why I don't care that white people get their feelings hurt when I say I don't trust white people.

I'm glad that Mary's brain has been reunited with the rest of her body. I'm happy that her family got to give her a ceremony. This never should have happened in the first place though.

#ndn #native american #indigenous #mary sara #the Smithsonian #science #America

[sonandheirofnothinginparticular]

#star wars #the Smithsonian

[archaeologysucks]

Mom: "Looks like you might be needed at the Smithsonian soon. Your cataloguing skills!" Mom: "This is the plan when things change for the better in the near future, and people will be given direct access to things available now to only the elites. Well, I can dream."

This is the kind of thing my mother sends me. I will tell y'all what I told her.

The Smithsonian's (and other museums') collections are not "hidden". All museums store artifacts that are surplus to current needs/space, or are not "museum quality". These collections may be accessed for study, but are not displayed, because the vast majority of visitors are not interested in boxes and boxes of broken pottery and rusty nails, etc.

The Smithsonian (and other museums) is working on digitizing its collections to make them more accessible to the public. This takes time and costs money. Money that often comes from taxpayer funding. So every time taxpayers/representatives vote to cut funding to the arts/sciences/education, there is less money available for projects like this.

No, there have never been any Egyptian artifacts found in the Grand Canyon.

tl/dr: The Right: *cuts funding for the arts/sciences/education* The Right: Museums are HIDING SECRET KNOWLEDGE from you!

#conspiratorial nonsense #u.s. politics #archaeology #the smithsonian #museums

[museeeuuuum]

We have come to the end of another year so I thought it would be a great time to discuss everything that happened in the museum world in 2022! We have a new museum definition from ICOM, repatriation efforts from the Smithsonian, some of the Parthenon Marbles are headed home, and protests that resulted in soup being thrown at a Van Gogh painting. If you haven't already, please be sure to like this video and subscribe

Let's dig in!

#happy new year everybody! #museums #icom #repatriation #archaeology #history #elgin marbles #british museum #the smithsonian #vincent van gogh

[emptyheadgamer]

went to the dc air and space museum recently. even half closed for renovation its a great visit.

#air and space museum #the Smithsonian #dc #airplane #jet #space #spaceship #museum

[thoughtportal]

Nowhere in the world are lawns as revered as they are in the United States. The picture-perfect patch of grass is so deeply rooted in the American psyche it feels more like a default setting than a choice. Americans spend countless hours every year seeding, watering, mowing, and fertilizing patches of grass that don't make much sense, economically or ecologically. But why? In this episode, we dig into the history of our lawnly love to learn where the concept came from…and how we grew so obsessed.

#Get Off My Lawn #sidedoor podcast #the smithsonian #grass #lawns #history #american history #garden #gardening #podcast #podcasts

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Smithsonian souvenirs

The stuffed stegosaurus and triceratops are in love, and the faux gemstone sauropod is officiating their wedding

Some knockoff legos

Ceramic origami crane (super cool, I just need 999 moreto make a wish), ceramic koi (for my mom), and a glass octopus (a baby sister for an octopus paperweight I got last Christmas; I'll show them both together later)

Some pressed pennies and tokens from the Natural History and American History museums. Air and Space, my favorite, was closed for renovations; I was so disappointed I wanted to cry!

#smithsonian #souvenirs #vacation #family reunion #washington dc #dc #natural history museum #american history museum #natural history #american history #the smithsonian

[gwydionmisha]

#Fox News #Trans Women #The Smithsonian #Trans Women Are Women #News

[indynerdgirl]

"The real barrier wasn't in the sky but in our knowledge and experience of supersonic flight." Seventy-five years ago, on October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager proved it was possible to fly faster than the speed of sound in the Bell X-1 "Glamorous Glennis,” reaching Mach 1.06. The Bell X-1 was the first in a series of supersonic aircraft which continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in aviation. That very Bell X-1 is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC and includes a signature from Yeager and the date of the record-breaking flight. Breaking the Sound Barrier: Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1

#otd #chuck yeager #aviation #aviation history #glamorous glennis #bell x-1 #history #us history #The Smithsonian #smithsonian #national air and space museum

[coochiequeens]

There is no way to have an “age appropriate drag show” because drag isn’t for kids. 

The Smithsonian American Art Museum hosted a “Pride Family Day” event over the weekend, featuring what it called an “age appropriate” drag queen show and crafts inspired by the LGBTQ Pride flag for children ages 3 and up.  

But critics countered that “there is no case” in which such performances “are ‘age appropriate’ for kids,” and condemned the event for being “sponsored by a public institution supported with our tax dollars.”

The event Saturday encouraged families with young children to march outside the art museum in Washington with D.C.’s Different Drummers, a band made up of LGBTQ musicians; to “enjoy a dance party” hosted by an LGBTQ+ advocate and DJ; and to observe a “lip-sync drag show” hosted by four drag queens labeled “some of D.C.’s best performers.”  

The art museum also encouraged families with young children to remain active throughout June by using its “Family Pride Zone” website, which offers Pride-inspired crafts, coloring sheets, and videos featuring drag queens and LGBTQ DJs. 

Jay Richards, director of The Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family, told The Daily Signal, “It is absurd to refer to a drag queen show as ‘age appropriate’ for 3- to 5-year-olds.” 

A drag queen, by definition, is a man dressed up in an extreme and hypersexualized stereotype of a woman. It’s hard to imagine what parents would want to expose their children to men painted in “woman-face.” And to add insult to injury, this is sponsored by a public institution supported with our tax dollars.

Added Jared Eckert, a research assistant with Heritage’s DeVos Center: 

The taxpayer-funded Smithsonian event is just the latest attempt to infect young minds with harmful gender ideology. Despite the event’s advertisement, there is no case in which adult performers are ‘age appropriate’ for kids. Now more than ever, we need … amendments to stop federal dollars from promoting harmful ideology in any of its forms.  

The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.

The controversial event came amid the Smithsonian’s larger efforts to celebrate Pride Month, seen through its National Museum of American History’s “Illegal to Be You: Gay History Behind Stonewall” exhibit that was on display from June 2019 through July 2021 and a wide array of LGBTQ stories on the art museum’s blog.  

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, which has hosted a Pride Month drag queen story timeonline for the past two years, did not respond to a request for comment.  

#The smithsonian #drag story time for kids #Drag around kids ages 3 to 5 #Maybe if the TQ+ community doesn’t want to be accused of being groomers they shouldn’t host kids drag story time

[grim-vs-lizard]

#Night at the museum #jedediah smith #jedediah natm #octavius natm #gaius octavius #natm #night at the museum secret of the tomb #night at the museum battle of the smithsonian #jedtavius

[eeotemo]

i’ve somehow only just learned about smithsonian open access,, i wanna make a game using nothing but items from it

#smithsonian open access #the smithsonian #thoughtsfromtemo #i’m just thinking like. #how sick would that be #with the WIDE variety of material #it would look so cool #all patched together but personally i’m a fan of that kinda thing #the idea wheel is TURNING #not a game post

[lionofchaeronea]

Night and Her Daughter Sleep, Mary L. Macomber, 1902

#art #art history #Mary L. Macomber #female artists #allegory #allegorical art #American art #20th century art #oil on canvas #Smithsonian American Art Museum

[creepypastacryptidd]

Remains of one of the most recently discovered early human species, Homo floresiensis (nicknamed ‘Hobbit’), have so far only been found on the Island of Flores, Indonesia. The fossils of H. floresiensis date to between about 100,000 and 60,000 years ago, and stone tools made by this species date to between about 190,000 and 50,000 years old. H. floresiensis individuals stood approximately 3 feet 6 inches tall, had tiny brains, large teeth for their small size, shrugged-forward shoulders, no chins, receding foreheads, and relatively large feet due to their short legs. Despite their small body and brain size, H. floresiensis made and used stone tools, hunted small elephants and large rodents, coped with predators such as giant Komodo dragons, and may have used fire.

#human history #science #the Smithsonian

[snailkites]

Walnut the Crane dead at 42

White-naped Crane Walnut and her keeper/husband, Chris Crowe, in 2021. (Photo: Roshan Patel via NZCBI)

Internet sensation Walnut the Crane became ill on January 2, 2024 and passed away at age 42 at her home at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) campus in Front Royal, VA. A necropsy revealed the cause of death to be renal failure. Walnut far outlived the average life expectancy for White-naped Cranes in captivity, which is 15 years. She leaves behind her husband, zookeeper Chris Crowe, with whom she had 8 offspring, including two housed at the NZCBI: daughter Brenda, age 18, and a granddaughter, age 1.

“Walnut was a unique individual with a vivacious personality,” Crowe said. “She was always confident in expressing herself, an eager and excellent dancer, and stoic in the face of life’s challenges. I’ll always be grateful for her bond with me. Walnut’s extraordinary story has helped bring attention to her vulnerable species’ plight.” (x)

White-naped Cranes are native to Mongolia, northeast China and southeast Russia, wintering in the Korean DMZ, Japan, and China. Habitat loss to agriculture, development, and ongoing droughts are factors in their decline, leaving them classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Walnut was an important contributor to efforts to restore the species.

Edit: for those unaware, I refer to the zookeeper as her husband because Walnut was imprinted on humans, meaning she considered him her mate and performed displays and courtship for him. As a zookeeper he was responsible for artificially inseminating the bird. This and more was the source of her viral fame.

#walnut the crane #conservation #crane husband #birds #white-naped crane #smithsonian #I visited the NZCBI last year and could hear various crane calling on campus

[thoughtportal]

As a kid, Bill Nye spent whole days wandering the halls of Smithsonian museums. Now the Science Guy is back… to find his own blue lab coat and periodic table bowtie on display at the National Museum of American History. We sit down with Bill Nye to get schooled on science education, comedy, and the 1990s hit TV show that turned him into an entire generation’s favorite science teacher.

#Bill Nye the Sidedoor Guy #Bill Nye #sidedoor podcast #the smithsonian #TV #1990s #National Museum of American History #science #podcast #podcasts #tv history