Science at AMNH

Astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan, as she explains the science behind the essential ideas of dark matter and dark energy, and provides an understanding of how radical scientific theories gain acceptance.

This lecture took place in the Hayden Planetarium on October 3, 2016.

Support for Hayden Planetarium Programs is provided by the Horace W. Goldsmith Endowment Fund.

DNA detective work tracing the evolutionary history of crocodiles has led to several surprising discoveries. In this podcast, Evon Hekkala, a professor at Fordham University and research associate in the Museum’s Department of Herpetology, discusses how tissue samples from centuries old museum specimens shed light on the mysterious origins of the Nile crocodile—and may even explain the presence of crocodiles in medieval medicine cabinets.

This SciCafe took place at the Museum on October 5, 2016. Watch a video version of this lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XUjgNUwS3Q

The SciCafe series is proudly sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston.

Crocs: Ancient Predators in a Modern World was created by Peeling Productions at Clyde Peeling’s REPTILAND.

What can fashionable ideas, blind faith, or pure fantasy possibly have to do with the scientific quest to understand the universe? Acclaimed physicist and bestselling author Roger Penrose argues that researchers working at the extreme frontiers of physics are just as susceptible to these forces as anyone else.

This lecture took place at the Hayden Planetarium on September 19, 2016.

Support for Hayden Planetarium Programs is provided by the Horace W. Goldsmith Endowment Fund.

Dr. Paul Planet of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Jeffrey Shaman of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and Museum Curator Rob DeSalle discuss what they have learned so far from an active research project where visitors to the Museum donated their microbes to science. The event was moderated by Mary Harris, host of WNYC's podcast "Only Human."

This lecture took place at the Museum on July 14, 2016.

Generous support for The Secret World Inside You and its educational resources have been provided by the Paul and Irma Milstein Foundation and the Milstein Family.

The Secret World Inside You is proudly supported by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

The Secret World Inside You is supported by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The media partner for What Are You Made Of? is WNYC’s “Only Human.”

Darrin Lunde, collection manager at the National Museum of Natural History, presents the story of Theodore Roosevelt and how his lifelong passion for the natural world set the stage for America’s wildlife conservation movement.

This lecture took place at the Museum on June 29, 2016.

In this podcast, a panel of experts including W. Ian Lipkin, professor and Director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University; Catherine Spong, Acting Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health; and Jay K. Varma, Deputy Commissioner for Disease Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, discuss the latest plan of attack for dealing with Zika.

This panel, moderated by Museum Curator Susan Perkins, took place at the Museum on June 30, 2016.

The SciCafe Special Event: "Zika: What You Need to Know," The Secret World Inside You, and related activities are generously supported by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Meet an all-star cast of scientists who have secrets to share. Hosted by Faith Salie of NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!,” the program features Museum curators Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist, and Mark Siddall, a parasitologist, as well as experimental psychologist Steven Pinker, and nanotech researcher Rich Robinson.

The discussion took place at the Museum on May 24, 2016.

This program was produced in collaboration with The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers, an Emmy-nominated web series and website from PBS’s NOVA.

Join Museum scientists Ana Porzecanski and Angelo Soto-Centeno for a lively discussion about their recent expedition to Cuba and the new avenues for scientific collaboration on the island.

This lecture took place on June 1, 2016. Watch a video version of this lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6KsQRZUe3w

The Museum’s Explore21 Initiative is generously supported by the leadership contributions of Katheryn P. and Thomas L. Kempner, Jr., Linda R. and William E. Macaulay, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

The SciCafe Series is proudly sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston.

Join astronomer Jason Kalirai on a journey through space to uncover the latest evidence about where we sit in the universe and explore the possibility of life on other worlds.

This lecture took place at the Hayden Planetarium on May 9, 2016.

Support for Hayden Planetarium Programs is provided by the Horace W. Goldsmith Endowment Fund.

Psychiatrist Edmund Griffin explains how epidemiology, cocaine-addicted rats, and molecular neuroscience all help to shed light on one of society’s most troubling questions: Why is it that some people just can’t get enough?

The SciCafe series is proudly sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston.